A new science to meet the challenges of environmental problems
Date
2019-04-02
Authors
Kramer, Jonathan G.
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Abstract
Almost all environmental problems are human problems at some fundamental level. The clash of human and natural systems often results in complex, seemingly intractable predicaments that challenge scientists seeking to understand them and inform decision-making. The expanding threat of wildfires, managing for resilient watersheds, and the restoration of impacted ecosystems are examples of such problems. In each of these cases and many others, society will be asked to make difficult tradeoffs and choose from families of possible solutions. If science is to be useful in the decision-making process, it must transcend boundaries to integrate multiple disciplines, forms of knowledge, and ways of knowing, thus creating new approaches and even new kinds of science on a case-by-case basis. This inherently synthetic science requires new analytical tools and a commitment to inter- and transdisciplinary teamwork. By building capacity for shared exploration and learning, we can catalyze research that will help us in our pursuit of solutions for the pressing environmental issues we face now, and those that will emerge in the years to come.