The Use of Science in Natural Resource Planning and Management in the Atchafalaya Basin
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PRESENTATION
S. Watson(1), T. van Maasakkers(1), S.P. Faulkner(2), and H. Karl(3) swatson@MIT.EDU
(1) MIT Department of Urban Studies and Planning, Cambridge, MA
(2) USGS National Wetlands Research Center, Lafayette, LA
(3) MIT‐USGS Science Impact Collaborative, Cambridge, MA
Abstract
Application of scientific knowledge in environmental decision making is often a complicated process. The interaction of multiple stakeholders, competing resource uses, varying imperatives across political boundaries, and complex ecological drivers and stressors of ecosystem goods and services are magnified at watershed or landscape‐level spatial scales. Many inherent components in our legal and administrative institutions can marginalize scientific information when resolving multifaceted resource management issues. In this environment, new approaches for the effective use of science in natural resource management are needed. The MIT‐USGS Science Impact Collaborative (MUSIC) is exploring how methods such as collaborative science and joint fact finding can be used in addressing the management issues present in the Atchafalaya Basin. We are analyzing how scientific information is translated into resource planning and management for the Atchafalaya Basin as part of a case study. Our hypotheses are: 1) science is constrained by each agency’s authorities and mandates; and 2) numerous institutional barriers stand in the way of a more interdisciplinary, integrated approach to the conduct and use of science. We will discuss the results of the case‐study effort and describe potential collaborative approaches for facilitating the use of sound science in the Atchafalaya Basin.
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