Amanda E Cravens, Ph.D.
Amanda Cravens is a Research Social Scientist at the USGS Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center
Amanda's interdisciplinary research interests include the translation of scientific information into decision making, policies and institutions that influence environmental management, and understanding the cognitive and social processes that make decision support tools work effectively. Amanda's disciplinary training includes geography, policy/institutional analysis, and the learning sciences. Her research spans resource areas, with recent and current projects focusing on decision support for coastal hazards, human dimensions of ecological drought, socioeconomic aspects of water availability, and land manager decision making in the face of ecological transformation. She is also very interested in the practice of interdisciplinary science and has served as a member of multiple working groups as well as published on the role of creativity in science.
Professional Experience
Research Social Scientist, USGS Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, Corvallis, OR (2023-present)
Research Social Scientist, USGS Fort Collins Science Center, Fort Collins, CO (2017-2023)
Mendenhall Postdoctoral Fellow (Social Science), USGS Fort Collins Science Center, Fort Collins, CO (2015-2017)
Early Career Fellow, Gould Center for Conflict Resolution, Stanford Law School, Stanford, CA (2014-2015)
Dachs Fellow, Stanford Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources, Stanford University, Stanford, CA (2009-2014)
Information Architect and Web Editor, SustainAbility Ltd, London UK (2008-2009)
Fulbright Graduate Fellow (New Zealand) (2006-2008)
Internet Coordinator, Resources for the Future, Washington DC (2005-2007)
Education and Certifications
Ph.D. Environment and Resources, Stanford University, 2014
M.A. Geography, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand, 2008
B.A. History, Swarthmore College, 2004
Affiliations and Memberships*
Northwest Climate Adaptation Science Center (2023 to present)
North Central Climate Adaptation Science Center (2015 to 2023)
Science and Products
Identifying Characteristics of Actionable Science for Drought Planning and Adaptation
Developing and Testing a Rapid Assessment Method for Understanding Key Social Factors of Ecological Drought Preparedness
Policy Analysis and Decision Support
How and Why Upper Colorado River Basin Land, Water, and Fire Managers Choose to Use Drought Tools (or Not)
Eco-drought Actionable Science Working Group
How and Why Upper Colorado River Basin Land, Water, and Fire Managers Choose to Use Drought Tools
Science facilitation: Navigating the intersection of intellectual and interpersonal expertise in scientific collaboration
Murky waters: Divergent ways scientists, practitioners, and landowners evaluate beaver mimicry
Navigating ecological transformation: Resist-accept-direct as a path to a new resource management paradigm
Institutional barriers to actionable science: Perspectives from decision support tool creators
A science agenda to inform natural resource management decisions in an era of ecological transformation
Responding to ecological transformation: Mental models, external constraints, and manager decision-making
Engaging with stakeholders to produce actionable science: A framework and guidance
A typology of drought decision making: Synthesizing across cases to understand drought preparedness and response actions
Integrating ecological impacts: Perspectives on drought in the Upper Missouri Headwaters, Montana, United States
Assessing the feasibility of managed aquifer recharge in California
Resist-accept-direct (RAD)-A framework for the 21st-century natural resource manager
Identifying characteristics of actionable science for drought planning and adaptation: Final report to the North Central Climate Adaptation Science Center
Science and Products
- Science
Filter Total Items: 18
Identifying Characteristics of Actionable Science for Drought Planning and Adaptation
Changing climate conditions can make water management planning and drought preparedness decisions more complicated than ever before. Resource managers can no longer rely solely on historical data and trends to base their actions, and are in need of science that is relevant to their specific needs and can directly inform important planning decisions. Questions remain, however, regarding the most efDeveloping and Testing a Rapid Assessment Method for Understanding Key Social Factors of Ecological Drought Preparedness
Drought is a complex environmental hazard that impacts both ecological and social systems. Accounting for the role of human attitudes, institutions, and societal values in drought planning is important to help identify how various drought durations and severity may differentially affect social resilience to adequately respond to and manage drought impacts. While there have been successful past effPolicy Analysis and Decision Support
Social and Economic Analysis Branch Social Scientists investigate the process of environmental decision making and how stakeholder engagement strategies, policies, institutions, and decision support tools influence management outcomes.How and Why Upper Colorado River Basin Land, Water, and Fire Managers Choose to Use Drought Tools (or Not)
Preparing for and responding to drought requires integrating scientific information into complex decision making processes. In recognition of this challenge, regional drought early warning systems (DEWS) and related drought-information tools have been developed under the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS). Despite the existence of many tools and information sources, however...Eco-drought Actionable Science Working Group
The USGS National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center (NCCWSC) is currently engaged in an Ecological Drought initiative, focused on understanding the impacts of drought on natural ecosystems across the country. This project was designed to support the Ecological Drought initiative by creating a USGS EcoDrought Actionable Science Working Group. The goal of this working group was to identifyHow and Why Upper Colorado River Basin Land, Water, and Fire Managers Choose to Use Drought Tools
Preparing for and responding to drought requires integrating scientific information into complex decision making processes. In recognition of this challenge, regional drought early warning systems (DEWS) and related drought-information tools have been developed under the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS). Despite the existence of many tools and information sources, however, th - Publications
Filter Total Items: 31
Science facilitation: Navigating the intersection of intellectual and interpersonal expertise in scientific collaboration
Today’s societal challenges, such as climate change and global pandemics, are increasingly complex and require collaboration across scientific disciplines to address. Scientific teams bring together individuals of varying backgrounds and expertise to work collaboratively on creating new knowledge to address these challenges. Within a scientific team, there is inherent diversity in disciplinary culAuthorsAmanda E. Cravens, Megan Siobhan Jones, Courtney Ngai, Jill Zarestky, Hannah B. LoveMurky waters: Divergent ways scientists, practitioners, and landowners evaluate beaver mimicry
Beaver mimicry is a fast-growing conservation technique to restore streams and manage water that is gaining popularity within the natural resource management community because of a wide variety of claimed socio-environmental benefits. Despite a growing number of projects, many questions and concerns about beaver mimicry remain. This study draws on qualitative data from 49 interviews with scientistAuthorsTori Pfaeffle, Megan A. Moore, Amanda E. Cravens, Jamie McEvoy, Aparna BamzaiNavigating ecological transformation: Resist-accept-direct as a path to a new resource management paradigm
Natural resource managers worldwide face a growing challenge: Intensifying global change increasingly propels ecosystems toward irreversible ecological transformations. This nonstationarity challenges traditional conservation goals and human well-being. It also confounds a longstanding management paradigm that assumes a future that reflects the past. As once-familiar ecological conditions disappeaAuthorsGregor W. Schuurman, David N. Cole, Amanda E. Cravens, Scott Covington, Shelley D. Crausbay, Cat Hawkins Hoffman, David J. Lawrence, Dawn R. Magness, John M. Morton, Elizabeth Nelson, Robin O'MalleyInstitutional barriers to actionable science: Perspectives from decision support tool creators
Scholars have identified a ‘usability gap’ between science and its ability to inform real-world decisions as well as a range of factors that facilitate or impede attempts to span the usability gap with information products. However, most attention has focused on barriers related to information users; much less research focuses on the unique institutional and organizational barriers experienced byAuthorsOlivia Pearman, Amanda E. CravensA science agenda to inform natural resource management decisions in an era of ecological transformation
Earth is experiencing widespread ecological transformation in terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems that is attributable to directional environmental changes, especially intensifying climate change. To better steward ecosystems facing unprecedented and lasting change, a new management paradigm is forming, supported by a decision-oriented framework that presents three distinct management cAuthorsShelley Crausbay, Helen Sofaer, Amanda E. Cravens, Brian C. Chaffin, Katherine R. Clifford, John E. Gross, Corrine N. Knapp, David J Lawrence, Dawn Magness, Abraham J. Miller-Rushing, Gregor W. Schuurman, Camille S. Stevens-RumannResponding to ecological transformation: Mental models, external constraints, and manager decision-making
Ecological transformation creates many challenges for public natural resource management and requires managers to grapple with new relationships to change and new ways to manage it. In the context of unfamiliar trajectories of ecological change, a manager can resist, accept, or direct change, choices that make up the resist-accept-direct (RAD) framework. In this article, we provide a conceptual frAuthorsKatherine R. Clifford, Amanda E. Cravens, Corrine N. KnappEngaging with stakeholders to produce actionable science: A framework and guidance
Natural and cultural resource managers are increasingly working with the scientific community to create information on how best to adapt to the current and projected impacts of climate change. Engaging with these managers is a strategy that researchers can use to ensure that scientific outputs and findings are actionable (or useful and usable). In this article, the authors adapt Davidson’s wheel oAuthorsAparna Bamzai, Amanda E. Cravens, Alisa Wade, Renee A. McPhersonA typology of drought decision making: Synthesizing across cases to understand drought preparedness and response actions
Drought is an inescapable reality in many regions, including much of the western United States. With climate change, droughts are predicted to intensify and occur more frequently, making the imperative for drought management even greater. Many diverse actors – including private landowners, business owners, scientists, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and managers and policymakers within tribAuthorsAmanda E. Cravens, Jennifer Henderson, Jack Friedman, Nina Burkardt, Ashley E. Cooper, Tonya Haigh, Michael Hayes, Jamie McEvoy, Stephanie Paladino, Adam Wilke, Hailey WilmerIntegrating ecological impacts: Perspectives on drought in the Upper Missouri Headwaters, Montana, United States
Drought is a complex challenge experienced in specific locations through diverse impacts, including ecological impacts. Different professionals involved in drought preparedness and response approach the problem from different points of view, which means they may or may not recognize ecological impacts. This study examines the extent to which interviewees perceive ecological drought in the Upper MiAuthorsAmanda E. Cravens, Jamie McEvoy, Dionne Zoanni, Shelley Crausbay, Aaron R. Ramirez, Ashley E. CooperAssessing the feasibility of managed aquifer recharge in California
With aquifers around the world stressed by over-extraction, water managers are increasingly turning to managed aquifer recharge (MAR), directly replenishing groundwater resources through injection wells, recharge basins, or other approaches. While there has been progress in understanding the geological and infrastructure-related considerations to make MAR more effective, critical evaluations of itAuthorsNicola Ulibarri, Nataly Escobedo Garcia, Rebecca L Nelson, Amanda E. Cravens, Ryan J McCartyResist-accept-direct (RAD)-A framework for the 21st-century natural resource manager
An assumption of stationarity—i.e. “the idea that natural systems fluctuate within an unchanging envelope of variability” (Milly et al. 2008)—underlies traditional conservation and natural resource management, as evidenced by widespread reliance on ecological baselines to guide protection, restoration, and other management. Although ecological change certainly occurred under the relatively stableAuthorsGregor W. Schuurman, Cat Hawkins Hoffman, David N. Cole, David J. Lawrence, John M. Morton, Dawn R. Magness, Amanda E. Cravens, Scott Covington, Robin O'Malley, Nicholas A. FisichelliIdentifying characteristics of actionable science for drought planning and adaptation: Final report to the North Central Climate Adaptation Science Center
Changing climate conditions can make water management planning and drought preparedness decisions more complicated than ever before. Resource managers can no longer rely solely on historical data and trends to base their actions, and are in need of science that is relevant to their specific needs and can directly inform important planning decisions. Questions remain, however, regarding the most efAuthorsAdam Wilke, Amanda E. Cravens - News
*Disclaimer: Listing outside positions with professional scientific organizations on this Staff Profile are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of those professional scientific organizations or their activities by the USGS, Department of the Interior, or U.S. Government