United States Department of the Interior, United States Geological Survey, 917 National Center Room 3A400, 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive, Reston, VA, 20192, USA.
Ambio. 2024 Jun;53(6):898-906. doi: 10.1007/s13280-024-01986-w. Epub 2024 Mar 11.
Environmental decision makers lament instances in which the lack of actionable science limits confident decision-making. Their reaction when the needed scientific information is of poor quality, uninformative, unintelligible, or altogether absent is often to criticize scientists, their work, or science in general. The considerations offered here encourage decision makers to explore alternative approaches to alleviate their disappointment. Ironically, many researchers lament the lack of support for the science they wish to deliver and accuse decision makers of failing to realize the value of the scientific studies they propose. Both communities would benefit by remembering that producing actionable science for a pending decision requires knowing the context for that decision beforehand. They may also look inward. Only then will they find answers to the question: What can I do within my own capacity to ensure that the necessary actionable science becomes available and facilitate its use to inform decisions?
环境决策者对缺乏可操作的科学限制了自信决策的情况感到惋惜。当所需的科学信息质量差、没有信息量、难以理解或完全缺失时，他们的反应往往是批评科学家、他们的工作或整个科学界。这里提供的考虑因素鼓励决策者探索替代方法来减轻他们的失望。具有讽刺意味的是，许多研究人员感叹缺乏对他们希望提供的科学的支持，并指责决策者没有意识到他们提出的科学研究的价值。如果两个社区都能记住，为即将做出的决策提供可操作的科学需要事先了解该决策的背景，那么他们都将受益。他们也可以从内部寻找答案。只有这样，他们才能找到问题的答案：在我自己的能力范围内，我能做些什么来确保必要的可操作科学可用，并促进其使用来为决策提供信息？
