Sustainable provision of food, energy and clean water requires understanding of the interdependencies among systems, as well as the motivations and incentives of farmers and rural policy makers. Agriculture lies at the heart of interactions among food, energy and water systems (FEWS). It is an increasingly energy intensive enterprise, but is also a growing source of energy. Agriculture places large demands on water supplies while poor practices can degrade water quality. Each of these interactions creates opportunities for modeling driven by sensor-based and qualitative data collection to improve the effectiveness of system operation and control in the short term, as well as investments and planning for the long term. The large volume and complexity of the data collected create challenges for decision support and stakeholder communication. The DataFEWSion National Research Traineeship (NRT) program aims to build a community of researchers that explores, develops and implements effective data-driven decision-making to efficiently produce food, transform primary energy sources into energy carriers, and enhance water quality.