Science Explorer
Exploring: Structured Decision Making
Promoting synergy in the innovative use of environmental data—Workshop summary
From December 2 to 4, 2015, NatureServe and the U.S. Geological Survey organized and hosted a biodiversity and ecological informatics workshop at the U.S. Department of the Interior in Washington, D.C. The workshop objective was to identify user-driven future directions and areas of collaboration in advanced applications of environmental data...
Evaluating trade-offs in bull trout reintroduction strategies using structured decision making
Structured decision making allows reintroduction decisions to be made despite uncertainty by linking reintroduction goals with alternative management actions through predictive models of ecological processes. We developed a decision model to evaluate the trade-offs between six bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) reintroduction decisions with the...
Distinguishing values from science in decision making: Setting harvest quotas for mountain lions in Montana
The relative roles of science and human values can be difficult to distinguish when informal processes are used to make complex and contentious decisions in wildlife management. Structured Decision Making (SDM) offers a formal process for making such decisions, where scientific results and concepts can be disentangled from the values of differing...
Attribution: Cooperative Research Units
"…action learning is both a process and a powerful program that involves a small group of people solving real problems while at the same time focusing on what they are learning and how their learning can benefit each group member and the organization as a whole" ~ Michael Marquardt
Amphibians are among the most threatened vertebrate taxa worldwide, and are facing a suite of potential stressors. In a recent synthesis, researchers identified four major threats - land use change, disease risk, climate change, and pesticide use - contributed to the local extinction of amphibian populations, but the strength and direction of...
EDUCATIONM. S., Wildlife, Louisiana State University, 2005B. S., Resource Biology and Biodiversity, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, 2001 RESEARCHHeather Baldwin is an Ecologist at the Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center. Much of her work has focused on understanding the impacts of management actions associated with plant and/...
This project centers on assimilation of data, interpretation of results, updating quantitative models, and providing policy-neutral, high-quality information to the agencies and stakeholders in the Missouri River Basin.
Michael Runge is a research ecologist at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, where he has worked since 1999. He received a B.A. in biology and philosophy (1989) from the Johns Hopkins University, an M.A.T. (Master of Arts in Teaching) in biology (1994) from Spalding University, and a Ph.D. in...
EDUCATION: Niagara University (NY), Sociology, 9/69-5/73 - B.A., 1973 University of Maine, Orono, Wildlife Management, 1/74-12/75 - B.S., 1976 University of Maine, Orono, Wildlife Management, 9/83-5/84 - M.S....
I am a research ecologist with a focus on structured decision making and spatially explicit decision support tools for environmental management and conservation. My current project focuses on the development of a decision support tool for identifying landscapes most important to achieving waterfowl population, habitat, and social goals of the...
Allan O'Connell currently directs the quantitative modeling, monitoring, and endangered species branch at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center and works on endangered species conservation, predator-prey interactions, and the development and use of estimation techniques to assess biodiversity and changes in the vital rates of...
Assessment/Assessment Tools:What are Assessment Tools used for? Impartial/Neutral Practitioners use assessment tools such as the Strength Deployment Inventory (SDI) and focus groups to provide insight into the individuals that comprise the group and/or the current climate within the group.
EDUCATIONM.S., Wildlife Ecology (Certificate in Women's Studies), University of Georgia, 2009B.S., Wildlife Ecology and Management, University of Georgia, 2005B.A., French, University of Georgia, 2005RESEARCHKate Spear is an Ecologist at the USGS Wetland and Aquatic Research Center in Lafayette, Louisiana, where she has worked on issues...
Currently Research Opportunity S29 is being advertised and will be filled depending on the availability of funds. The application closing date for Research Opportunity S29 is September 12, 2018.Endangered species determinations require reliable scientific analyses to assess species risk of extinction. Recently, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife...
Dave Smith graduated from Colorado State (MS in Fish and Wildlife Biology) and University of Georgia (MS in Statistics and PhD in Forest Resources). Currently, he is a biological statistician at the USGS Leetown Science Center where he focuses on...
What is Requirements Capabilities and Analysis for Earth Observations (RCA-EO)?RCA-EO is a cohesive set of analytical functions and information under development within the USGS Land Remote Sensing (LRS) Program. The activities of RCA-EO include collecting and interpreting the Earth observation (EO) requirements of USGS and other Federal agencies...
Natural resource decision makers face numerous challenges in terms of making choices to solve complex management problems. Many of these challenges stem from being overwhelmed by too many choices, uncertain or delayed outcomes, and multiple stakeholders with conflicting desires. Decision analysis (a.k.a. structured decision making) is set of...
USGS scientists work with decision makers and stakeholders to develop decision analytic frameworks to deliberately reduce the uncertainty that negatively affects the quality of decisions whether made once (i.e., Structured Decision Making) or repeatedly (i.e., Adaptive Management).
Today's natural resource managers must make effective decisions with broad–scale societal impacts.
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