Amanda E Cravens

So you want to build a decision support tool? Assessing successes, pitfalls, and lessons learned for tool design and development

The purpose of this study is to understand how the USGS is using decision support, learning from successes and pitfalls in order to help streamline the design and development process across all levels of USGS scientific tool creation and outreach. What should researchers consider before diving into tool design and development? Our goal is to provide a synthesis of lessons learned and best practices across the spectrum of USGS decision support efforts to a) provide guidance to future efforts and b) identify knowledge gaps and opportunities for knowledge transfer and integration. Principal Investigator : Amanda E Cravens Co-Investigator : Nicole M Herman-Mercer, Amanda Stoltz

Categories: Project; Tags: 2020, All Funded Projects, Best Practices, Completed

Integrating 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 Missouri Headwaters basin in southwestern Montana. Through semistructured interviews, this research investigates individuals’ perceptions of drought by analyzing how they define drought, how they describe their roles related to drought, and the extent to which they emphasize ecological impacts of drought. Results suggest...

Categories: Publication; Types: Citation

Planning for ecological drought: Integrating ecosystem services and vulnerability assessment

Tags: CICES, Drought, Drought, Fire and Extreme Weather, Drought, Fire and Extreme Weather, Missouri Basin, All tags... Montana, National CASC, Science Tools for Managers, State of the Science, ecological drought, upper Missouri headwaters, watershed planning, Fewer tags

Intermountain West Drought Social Science Synthesis Working Group

The USGS National Climate Adaptation Science Center (NCASC) is currently engaged in an Ecological Drought initiative, focused on understanding the impacts of drought on natural ecosystems across the country. This project supported the Ecological Drought initiative by creating an Intermountain West Drought Social Science Synthesis Working Group. The goal of this working group was to investigate human dimensions of ecological drought across the intermountain west from a comparative, regional perspective. Throughout the Intermountain West, there has been significant investment in understanding how social factors influence manager and citizen experiences of drought in particular locations. Yet there is still a gap in...

Types: Report; Tags: Drought, Drought, Fire and Extreme Weather, Ecological Drought initiative, Intermountain West, National CASC, All tags... North Central CASC, Science Tools for Managers, Social Science, drought management, Fewer tags

Cross-Park RAD Project One-Pager

This project examines how key institutional and emotional factors shape management decisions about changing the social science of ecological resources. We use interviews and focus groups to study how the culture and policy of individual parks, and the psychological and emotional experiences of managers responding to landscape changes, influence decisions.