Nirav Patel

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Faculty, Binghamton University

About Me

My research encompasses my teaching in its emphasis on experiential learning and the Food-Energy-Water(FEW) nexus in the Anthropocene as a universal point of introduction to the interdisciplinary nature of our connections to the natural world. What I enjoy the most is revealing for students through experiential trip the social connection that we maintain with this natural world. We have more connections then we can readily uncover. And the best part of the work is help students see this. on the personal likes--I am a mushroom forager, enjoy wine, and food. But above it all comes dogs!

Focus of current FEW-Nexus-based education work

I have been teaching FEW nexus in the Anthropocene as a class at three universities and I have developed a novel paradigm which utilizes experiential learning to teach at the confluence of Food-Energy-Water (FEW) nexus, environment, and planetary health. This novel confluence creates an intentional framework for student learners to be rigorous in their engagement with researching contemporaneous topics of social and environmental importance resulting in becoming knowledge creators. Using the confluence of the topics through a FEW nexus offers substantial opportunities in uncovering the invisible curriculum around the environment through research in teaching contemporaneous societal topics surrounding FEW nexus and One Health. I would be eager to discuss examples of how to uncover this curriculum for students at the workshop. I have implemented, directed, and assessed an experiential program that employs a problem-based learning model that engages students to work as groups to find localized solutions to FEW nexus. Given my demonstrated experience on action-oriented education on the FEW nexus and global health-- I am excited to apply this novel framework through the curricular offerings on fundamental earth science in creating a course that fosters an appreciation of urban land use and geological mapping. In my classes, I have been successful at creating a sense of belonging amongst students by asking to capture an image that represents the FEW nexus in society. They are asked to state six words that sums up the image. This experiential process of ideation leads to creativity, which is not discipline specific and therefore ideas facing. At its core, students engage with their ideas about reexamining the social, cultural, and their lived environment, which in turn, leads to an evolved body of knowledge and practices. I presented my findings at the recent American Geophysical Union meeting to highlight how we can expand on experiential learning opportunities for creative place-making and restoring planetary boundaries.

FEW-Nexus-based education experience, expertise and interests

I would seek to develop a case-based education that is focused on the use of the power of narration and photographic framing as means to highlight structural inequities by asking students to link problems such as houselessness and evictions to agriculture. Using data from the eviction lab, I would seek to promote critical thinking of the Food-Energy-Water (FEW) nexus as a concept for agroecological research that leads to an intentional curricular experience framed around health and agriculture within the local community. Additionally, I have experience in creating, directing, teaching, and assessing undergraduate and graduate level courses on environmental science and studies that engage in community building. I have established courses at Cornell University, Rutgers University and more recently at University of Padua (Italy) as well Binghamton University in a project-based learning model which requires them to collaborate with others in solving complex societal problems leading to social and humanitarian innovation. For all my classes, I engage students to work as groups through a problem-based learning model to find localized solutions to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs). They do so by experiencing their local ecosystem of actors and stakeholders. These localized experiences help to expose students to answer realistic scientific question(s) for students' capstone projects. This engagement method adds to the focus of creating engaged learning and research opportunities within existing curricula and promotes inclusion by allowing students to nourish a conceptual sense of belonging.