Research

Decisions involving natural resources and biodiversity are incredibly complex. Sometimes merely trying to understand the problem to be solved can be a challenge.

My current research at UBC is examining and applying methods to navigate the complexity of these problems, with a focus on collaborative methods from decision science that can consider multiple (conflicting) values.

To date I have led the collaborative development of ‘An Introduction to Decision Science for Conservation’, and translated this work into outreach pieces, and innovative courses, including a new offering at UBC- CONS440 Conservation Decision Making and Policy.

This research has been cited over 50 times, and recently received a Wiley Top-Downloaded Author Award. Importantly, it is helping decision-makers and researchers to navigate the complexities of conservation problems.

Did you know that almost all assessments for species and ecosystems rely in some shape or form on expert judgement? That’s because we rarely have complete datasets, or the data we do have are not informative to the questions we need to answer.

Research commenced during my PhD at the University of Melbourne recognizes that critical decisions and assessments are being informed by expert judgement. This research seeks to improve the accuracy and transparency of these judgements, as well as the practicality of their application to real assessments.

My work in this area has identified the improvements to judgements that can be made by structured expert elicitation protocols, with a particular focus on the IDEA protocol (Investigate, Discuss, Estimate and Aggregate), and the Classical Model (which applies performance-based weights to the aggregation of expert judgements).

Since completing my PhD, I continue to expand on this research through collaborative projects that demonstrate the applicability of these methods to diverse contexts, as well as, adapting these methods to elicit qualitative information required for threat assessments and models, to respect multiple ways of knowing, and to harness the insights provided by experts to further improve the accuracy of judgements.

My work in this area was awarded the Chancellor’s Prize for Excellence in the PhD thesis, and an Editor’s recommendation for the paper ” A Practical Guide to Structured Expert Elicitation Using The Idea Protocol“.

Unfortunately, decision quality doesn’t automatically lead to implementation. This is known as the decision-implementation gap and it’s persistent in conservation.

My research contributes insights to address the decision-implementation gap. This is an exciting area of research, requiring interdisciplinary approaches from economics, social sciences and political sciences.

To address this question I am currently examining the role of co-benefits for securing resources and support for conservation action. At present this work is focused on quantifying carbon co-benefits of ecosystems of the Fraser River Estuary, British Columbia. My research asks: what are the co-benefits? who benefits? And are these co-benefits an effective lever for inspiring conservation action?

This research comes at a time when nature-based solutions and the potential contributions of biodiversity to Net Zero goals are being actively promoted. I look forward to contributing to these discussions.

Going forward I intend to build on this research to understand the role that other co-benefits may play in addressing the implementation gap, as well as other levers that can be drawn on.