USGS Science and Decisions Center Seminar Series

Event Date: February 9, 2018

Michael C. Runge, USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center Exploring Management Options in the Grand Canyon with Formal Decision Analysis

11:00am - 12:00pm EST Friday, February 9th

Visitors Center, USGS National Center, Reston, VA

WEBINAR for Remote Participants: https://gstalk.usgs.gov/732732 (Audio & Video)

AUDIO Only:(703) 648-4848 or (855) 547-8255, code 732732#

SEMINAR:

The Colorado River ecosystem between Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Mead is important to many stakeholders, including: American Indian Tribes, whose creation stories begin there; citizens of the seven western Colorado River Basin states, who rely on the river for water and electricity; visitors from around the world, who raft, hike, camp, and fish in the extraordinary wilderness; and environmental advocates, who seek to conserve the species and ecosystems of this unique place. In January 2016, the Bureau of Reclamation and the National Park Service published a Draft Environmental Impact Statement concerning the long-term management of water releases from Glen Canyon Dam. In developing this draft EIS, the lead agencies used two formal decision analysis methods, multicriteria decision analysis and the expected value of information, to evaluate seven alternative strategies against the 18 performance metrics and to evaluate the influence of uncertainty. This work and some of its surprising results provides an example of how to use formal decision analysis methods in the context of an Environmental Impact Statement to integrate value judgments and scientific evidence in the evaluation of natural resource management alternatives. This work received the 2015 Decision Analysis Practice Award from the Decision Analysis Society of Institute for Operations Research and Management Science and the Society of Decision Professionals. It was also recognized as the 2016 “Best of DAAG” talk by the Society of Decision Professionals at their annual conference.

SPEAKER BIO:

Dr. Runge’s research focuses on the use of decision theory and population modeling to inform wildlife management. Most of his research involves collaboration with Federal management agencies (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Reclamation, National Park Service, National Marine Fisheries Service, and others). He co-designed the “Introduction to Structured Decision Making” and “Adaptive Management” courses for the National Conservation Training Center. Mike received a B.A. in biology and philosophy from the Johns Hopkins University, a Master of Arts in Teaching from Spalding University, and a Ph.D. in wildlife science from Cornell University.

UPCOMING SDC SEMINARS:

Thursday, March 8 - Doug Lipton, NOAA Fisheries -- National Resource Economics Seminar

Tuesday, April 3 - Carter Ingram, Ernst and Young -- Ecosystem Services Seminar