[DSRP Evidence](https://dsrpevidence.org/)

# Enriquez and Davis Selected for USDA ThinkWater Fellowship

## Details

**Authors** Fikes E

**Year** 2017

**Publisher** Cornell AAP

**Kind of work** press

**Discipline** Agriculture & Food

**Secondary disciplines** Environment & Sustainability

**Kind of engagement** press

[Read it](https://dac669.wixsite.com/thinkwater/single-post/2016/07/11/9-rules-for-responsive-galleries?utm_source=chatgpt.com)

## In authors' words

### What they set out to do (purpose)

The article announces the 2017–18 ThinkWater Fellowship, a USDA-supported initiative designed to teach systems thinking to professionals working on water-related issues so they could apply it directly to program design, education, outreach, and Extension. The cohort included ten professionals from universities, government agencies, nonprofits, and natural-resource organizations working with audiences ranging from farmers and community members to volunteers and youth.

### What they found (results)

Teaching water researchers, educators, and Extension professionals systems thinking can influence how they design programs, communicate complex water issues, conduct outreach, and engage diverse audiences. ThinkWater describes its broader mission as applying systems thinking to existing water education and research in order to address complex or “wicked” water problems.

## Commentary

### In short

Coverage of the work. The fellowship demonstrates that DSRP-based systems thinking was transferred into a USDA-supported national professional-development initiative and applied across multiple water-related disciplines and organizations. This is strong evidence of real-world adoption and cross-domain applicability

### In more detail

ThinkWater selected ten water professionals from across the United States for a cohort designed to integrate systems thinking into their existing work. Participants included specialists in environmental sociology, groundwater, water quality, aquatic ecology, forestry, sustainable communities, fisheries and wildlife, and environmental education. Unlike the first ThinkWater fellowship cohort, which consisted primarily of advanced scholars and faculty engaged in water research, this cohort was deliberately oriented toward professionals positioned to translate systems thinking into real-world education, program development, outreach, and Extension activities. ThinkWater’s broader program explicitly uses DSRP—Distinctions, Systems, Relationships, and Perspectives—as its systems-thinking framework.

**Patterns it shows** D, S, R, P

**How to cite this** Fikes E (2017). Enriquez and Davis Selected for USDA ThinkWater Fellowship. Cornell AAP.