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Ben Sherrouse

Ben Sherrouse is a Geographer with the Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center

Ben holds undergraduate degrees in finance and land use. He received his M.Eng. in geographic information systems from the University of Colorado Denver. He joined the Rocky Mountain Mapping Center as a student intern in 2003. He continued his service as a Volunteer for Science, student employee, and permanent employee at the Rocky Mountain Geographic Science Center and currently the Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center. His current research is focused on examining the relationship between human perceptions of non-monetary, environmental values and the characteristics of the environment that can help to explain these perceived values. As part of this research he designed and developed the Social Values for Ecosystem Services (SolVES) GIS application to assess, map, and quantify the social values of cultural ecosystem services, which has been applied across the globe in a variety of biophysical and social contexts.

 

 

Professional Experience

  • Geographer, USGS

Education and Certifications

  • M.Eng. GIS, University of Colorado Denver

Science and Products

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Location of SolVES (orange) and SolVES-related (green) studies

Social Values for Ecosystem Services (SolVES)

In response to the need for incorporating quantified and spatially explicit measures of social values into ecosystem service assessments, the geographic information system (GIS) application, Social Values for Ecosystem Services (SolVES), was developed. SolVES is designed to assess, map, and quantify the perceived social values of ecosystem services. Social values, the perceived, nonmarket values...
By
Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center
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Social Values for Ecosystem Services (SolVES)

In response to the need for incorporating quantified and spatially explicit measures of social values into ecosystem service assessments, the geographic information system (GIS) application, Social Values for Ecosystem Services (SolVES), was developed. SolVES is designed to assess, map, and quantify the perceived social values of ecosystem services. Social values, the perceived, nonmarket values...
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Icon showing overvalued value index area

Ecosystem Services Assessment and Valuation

Ecosystem services are the benefits that nature provides to human well-being: clean air and water, protection from natural disasters, fisheries, crop pollination and control of pests and disease, and outdoor places for recreation, solitude, and renewal. Ecosystem services underlie the functioning of our entire economy. They are neither worthless nor priceless, and by integrating the physical...
By
Land Change Science Program, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center
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Ecosystem Services Assessment and Valuation

Ecosystem services are the benefits that nature provides to human well-being: clean air and water, protection from natural disasters, fisheries, crop pollination and control of pests and disease, and outdoor places for recreation, solitude, and renewal. Ecosystem services underlie the functioning of our entire economy. They are neither worthless nor priceless, and by integrating the physical...
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Perceived Social Value of the Sonoita Creek Watershed using the Social Values for Ecosystem Services (SolVES) Tool, Arizona, U.S.A.

Mapping the spatial dynamics of perceived social value across the landscape can help develop a restoration economy that can support ecosystem services in the region. Many different methods have been used to map perceived social value. We used the Social Values for Ecosystem Services (SolVES) GIS tool, version 3.0, which uses social survey responses and various environmental variables to map social
By
Western Geographic Science Center
Filter Total Items: 22

Spatial social value distributions for multiple user groups in a coastal national park

Managing public lands to maximize societal benefits requires spatially explicit understanding of societal valuation, and public participation geographic information systems (PPGIS) are increasingly used in coastal settings to accomplish this task. Social Values for Ecosystem Services (SolVES), a PPGIS tool that systematizes the mapping and modeling of social values and cultural ecosystem services,
Authors
Zachary H. Ancona, Kenneth J. Bagstad, Lena Le, Darius J. Semmens, Benson C. Sherrouse, Grant Murray, Philip S. Cook, Eva DiDonato
By
Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center

Social Values for Ecosystem Services (SolVES): Open-source spatial modeling of cultural services

Social Values for Ecosystem Services (SolVES) version 4.0 is a fully open-source, GIS-based tool designed to aid in the creation of quantitative, spatially explicit models of the nonmonetary values attributed to cultural ecosystem services, such as aesthetics and recreation, specifically to facilitate their incorporation into larger ecosystem service assessments. Newly redeveloped for QGIS, SolVES
Authors
Benson C. Sherrouse, Darius J. Semmens, Zachary H. Ancona
By
Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center

Social Values for Ecosystem Services, version 4.0 (SolVES 4.0)—Documentation and user manual

The geographic information system tool, Social Values for Ecosystem Services (SolVES), was developed to incorporate quantified and spatially explicit measures of social values into ecosystem service assessments. SolVES 4.0 provides an open-source version of SolVES, which was designed to assess, map, and quantify the social values of ecosystem services. Social values—the perceived, nonmarket values
Authors
Benson C. Sherrouse, Darius J. Semmens
By
Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center

Mapping perceived social values to support a respondent-defined restoration economy: Case study in southeastern Arizona, USA

Investment in conservation and ecological restoration depends on various socioeconomic factors and the social license for these activities. Our study demonstrates a method for targeting management of ecosystem services based on social values, identified by respondents through a collection of social survey data. We applied the Social Values for Ecosystem Services (SolVES) geographic information sys
Authors
Roy Petrakis, Laura M. Norman, Oliver Lysaght, Benson C. Sherrouse, Darius J. Semmens, Kenneth J. Bagstad, Richard Pritzlaff
By
Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center, Western Geographic Science Center

Using social-context matching to improve spatial function-transfer performance for cultural ecosystem service models

Recreational and aesthetic enjoyment of public lands is increasing across a wide range of activities, highlighting the need to assess and adapt management to accommodate these uses. Despite a growing number of studies on mapping cultural ecosystem services, most are local-scale assessments that rely on costly and time-consuming primary data collection. As a result, the availability of spatial info
Authors
Darius J. Semmens, Benson C. Sherrouse, Zachary H. Ancona
By
Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center

Analyzing land-use change scenarios for trade-offs among culturalecosystem services in the Southern Rocky Mountains

Significant increases in outdoor recreation participants are projected over the next 50 years for national forests across the United States, with even larger increases possible for forests located in the Southern Rocky Mountains. Forest managers will be challenged to balance increasing demand for outdoor recreation with other ecosystem services. Future management needs could be better anticipated
Authors
Benson C. Sherrouse, Darius J. Semmens, Zachary H. Ancona, Nicole M. Brunner
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Groundwater and Streamflow Information Program, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center

Toward an integrated understanding of perceived biodiversity values and environmental conditions in a national park

In spatial planning and management of protected areas, increased priority is being given to research that integrates social and ecological data. However, public viewpoints of the benefits provided by ecosystems are not easily quantified and often implicitly folded into natural resource management decisions. Drawing on a spatially explicit participatory mapping exercise and a Social Values for Ecos
Authors
Carena J. van Riper, Gerard T. Kyle, Benson C. Sherrouse, Kenneth J. Bagstad, Stephen G. Sutton
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Groundwater and Streamflow Information Program, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center

Evaluating alternative methods for biophysical and cultural ecosystem services hotspot mapping in natural resource planning

Context Data for biophysically modeled and Public Participatory GIS (PPGIS)-derived cultural ecosystem services have potential to identify natural resource management synergies and conflicts, but have rarely been combined. Ecosystem service hot/coldspots generated using different methods vary in their spatial extent and connectivity, with important implications. Objectives We map biophysically mod
Authors
Kenneth J. Bagstad, Darius J. Semmens, Zachary H. Ancona, Benson C. Sherrouse
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Groundwater and Streamflow Information Program, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center

Social-value maps for Arapaho, Roosevelt, Medicine Bow, Routt, and White River National Forests, Colorado and Wyoming

Executive SummaryThe continued pressures of population growth on the life-sustaining, economic, and cultural ecosystem services provided by our national forests, particularly those located near rapidly growing urban areas, present ongoing challenges to forest managers. Achieving an effective assessment of these ecosystem services includes a proper accounting of the ecological, economic, and social
Authors
Zachary H. Ancona, Darius J. Semmens, Benson C. Sherrouse
By
Groundwater and Streamflow Information Program, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center

Social Values for Ecosystem Services, version 3.0 (SolVES 3.0): documentation and user manual

The geographic information system (GIS) tool, Social Values for Ecosystem Services (SolVES), was developed to incorporate quantified and spatially explicit measures of social values into ecosystem service assessments. SolVES 3.0 continues to extend the functionality of SolVES, which was designed to assess, map, and quantify the social values of ecosystem services. Social values—the perceived, nonm
Authors
Benson C. Sherrouse, Darius J. Semmens
By
Groundwater and Streamflow Information Program, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center

Linking biophysical models and public preferences for ecosystem service assessments: a case study for the Southern Rocky Mountains

Through extensive research, ecosystem services have been mapped using both survey-based and biophysical approaches, but comparative mapping of public values and those quantified using models has been lacking. In this paper, we mapped hot and cold spots for perceived and modeled ecosystem services by synthesizing results from a social-values mapping study of residents living near the Pike–San Isabe
Authors
Kenneth J. Bagstad, James Reed, Darius J. Semmens, Benson C. Sherrouse, Austin Troy
By
Groundwater and Streamflow Information Program, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center

Validating a method for transferring social values of ecosystem services between public lands in the Rocky Mountain region

With growing pressures on ecosystem services, social values attributed to them are increasingly important to land management decisions. Social values, defined here as perceived values the public ascribes to ecosystem services, particularly cultural services, are generally not accounted for through economic markets or considered alongside economic and ecological values in ecosystem service assessme
Authors
Benson C. Sherrouse, Darius J. Semmens
By
Groundwater and Streamflow Information Program, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center

HOPS: Hyperparameter optimization and predictor selection

We developed the hyperparameter optimization and predictor selection (HOPS) software to optimize hyperparameters and predictor selection while limiting correlation among the selected predictors for machine learning models. Including correlated predictors in machine learning models can distort model estimation and prediction and introduce bias in predictor importance estimates. The HOPS software ex
By
Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center

SolVES

SolVES is a tool for modeling and mapping social survey response data in relation to explanatory environmental variables. SolVES 4.0 was developed as open-source software with Python and uses the free software packages QGIS for its user interface and PostgreSQL spatially enabled by PostGIS for its source database. Updates to the previous version include minor changes to the source database and use
By
Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center

Science and Products