Building Bonds While Exploring NYC
Our team of four began our journey in the most authentic way possible – by sharing pieces of ourselves through our favorite corners of New York City. We wandered through gardens, bookstores, and the Union Square Farmers Market, discovering each other’s special places and the stories behind them. We wrapped up our adventures with a sweet treat in the form of an unconventional ice cream flavor – pineapple salted egg yolk – which perfectly embodied our willingness to embrace new experiences together. We enjoyed our time as a group so much that we came together again, a few days later, stepping out of our comfort zones in a salsa dancing class in Chinatown. The laughter and missteps helped break down any remaining barriers between us. These shared moments, though seemingly simple, laid the foundation for the collaborative spirit we’d need in our upcoming research endeavors.
Diving Deep into Water Challenges
With our team dynamics solidified, we turned our attention to identifying critical water-related issues in our local community. Our approach was methodical yet creative – we first generated a large pool of potential problems before narrowing our focus to nine key areas that we were most interested in conducting deeper investigation in. These ranged from infrastructure challenges like aging water systems and the energy consumption of drinking water and wastewater plants, to environmental concerns such as coastal acidification and stormwater runoff. We also explored social justice aspects, examining limited access to clean water in marginalized communities and the challenges surrounding private wells. Other critical areas included lead contamination, hormonal disruptors in the water supply, and the need for better access to quality water information. Each issue presented unique challenges and by creating opportunity cards for each problem, we were able to identify potential key users, industry sectors involved, previous solutions implemented, and an overview of the systems involved in the issue.
Looking Ahead: CERN and Next Steps
Our journey is far from over. As we prepare to connect at CERN, there is great excitement about how our research into local water challenges could evolve into something even more impactful. The opportunity to collaborate in such an innovative environment could help us reshape our goals and approach to these water-related challenges. We’re eager to see how the intersection of our research with CERN’s resources and expertise might lead to unexpected solutions and new directions for our work. The foundation we’ve built through our team bonding and initial research has prepared us for this next exciting chapter in our journey.
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