Drew Jones, Environmental Scientist: System Dynamics Modeler & Advocate for Sustainability (specifically)
Andrew (Drew) Jones works with Asheville’s Sustainability Institute, a U.S. not-for-profit organization founded by Donella Meadows. Trained in System Dynamics modeling at Dartmouth College and MIT, Drew worked on the 1993 “Greening of the White House” as part of Rocky Mountain Institute and in 2008, as part of the CDC System Dynamics team, accepted the “ASysT Prize” for “a significant accomplishment achieved through the application of systems thinking to a problem of U.S. national significance.”
Currently his primary focus is helping improve the strength of international climate change treaties through the sharing of open-architecture, policy-maker-oriented climate simulations, which are available at climateinteractive.org. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in systems thinking and modeling in the schools of business and economics at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and Asheville.
The Interview
The Daily Norm: My readers and I would like to make sure you are, in fact, human – it levels the ‘normalcy’ playing field. So do you eat, go to the bathroom, bleed and cry? We’re happy to hear some proof if you want to supply it.
Drew Jones: I’m a serial sleepwalker and sleeptalker. Sometimes the speckled aliens hiding in the pages of my bedside magazine implant devices in my brain that can only be removed by opening the jar of spoiled mayonnaise I am sure is hidden under the sleeping llama on the corner of the bed. Have you seen “A Beautiful Mind”? That stuff happens to me most every night.
TDN: What’s your typical schedule on a normal day?
DJ: Make pancakes for son, Cador. Jog and wonder. Fair weather? Start a load of laundry. Commute upstairs. Type. Talk. Shower and wonder. Type. Talk. Still fair weather? Hang laundry. Type. Talk. Hang out with family. Wrestle with Cador and talk baseball with daughter, Annabelle. Resist checking email. Help put kids to sleep. Check email. Chat with wife, Anne Fitten, aka Edgy Mama.
TDN: Name one thing that you have to do on a regular basis that you despise.
DJ: Copying, adding up, and submitting travel receipts for re-imbursement. UGG!
TDN: What would you change about your work, industry, profession or self if you could change anything?
DJ: I’d have the industrial revolution gear up about 40 years later so today, as we are now waking up to its damaging effects (e.g., climate change), we’d have more of a head start at thriving amidst them. You said “anything”, right?
TDN: Is there any life stage or event you would have skipped (like geometry) on the way to where you are now? Would it have been missed?
DJ: How about getting teased for being such a nice nerd in middle school? I could skip that. Nope, wouldn’t miss it.
TDN: What was your main stepping stone to getting to where you are today? (Person, place, thing, luck, pluck, virtue?)
DJ: Connecting to my mentor, Donella Meadows, at Dartmouth. Together we set me on my professional path — systems thinking and modeling for sustainability. Connecting to my wife, Edgy Mama, in Colorado. And finding my family path with her.
TDN: What word or phrase do you say most often?
DJ: Great! (I use a lot of exclamation points!!)
TDN: What is your single biggest accomplishment?
DJ: When I was 20 I created a way to explore how you’d behave if you experienced the implications of your actions: carry your trash for a week.
TDN: Is there anything that you can’t live without? (besides food, water and oxygen)
DJ: Sleep.
TDN: (smart ass)
TDN: What’s the best part of your life?
DJ: Moments of true connection with other people.
TDN: And have you figured out how to get more of it?
DJ: Repeating to myself, over and over, “It is not about me.”
TDN: What is your ultimate motivation tool? (We won’t hold it against you if it’s Eye of the Tiger)
DJ: Thinking about Anne Fitten’s and my two kids, Annabelle and Cador. I imagine them in my mind and I feel my “defend my family” adrenaline reaction. Then I work to channel the “fight” impulse into something more creative.
TDN: If someone wanted to be you or do what you do, what would you say to them?
DJ: Get curious about math. Make opportunities to speak to groups often. Read everything written by Jay Forrester, Donella Meadows, Peter Senge, and John Sterman. Stay completely committed but completely uncertain. Love what you love. Find chances to apprentice. Practice. Practice.
Want more Drew? His recent TEDx talk is here.
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I love a scientist with a sense of humor. And having had the awesome pleasure of meeting him in person, it is very satisfying to know that there are people out there who are very serious, but also know that there is a world outside of their scientific models, etc. It looks like Drew has a great sense of balance!
This seems to be a very nice guy, hope to meet him soon!
Another human attribute:
Drew is also known as “Cowboy Drew” to my girls. He sings and plays guitar to preschoolers; probably singing fun environmental songs, knowing Drew.
I helped him make the TEDxAsheville Video. It’s definitely worth a watch. He has a hopeful climate message that we all need to hear.
Thanks,
David