John Tirpak Science Coordinator, GCPOLCC Adaptation Science Management Team Workshop Geosystems Research Institute, M

1. Adaptation Science Management Team Structure, Function, and Workshop Charge John Tirpak Science Coordinator, GCPOLCC Adaptation Science Management Team Workshop Geosystems Research Institute, Mississippi State University September 18, 2012

2. OverviewBroad-scale Challenges to Specific Charge • Uihlein: Changing Nature of Conservation • McMahon: Wicked Problems and CSCs • Wathen: GCPOLCC - Structure and Function • Tirpak: Adaptation Science Management Team

3. Outline • Background • Why do we need an ASMT? • Function and structure of the team • Role and responsibility of individual members • The charge from the Steering Committee • Workshop objectives and expected outcomes

4. Gulf Coastal Plains & Ozarks LCC • Mission • To define, design, and deliver landscapes capable of sustaining natural and cultural resources at desired levels now and into the future • Steering Committee • Upper-level Management and executives • Guide direction and set broad goals of GCPOLCC

5. List of Projects with LCC Involvement

6. List of Projects with LCC Involvement Long-Term Goals Short-Term Goals Highlight LCC’s functional role Demonstrate tangible relevance Work with partnerships Support underserved partners • Integrate priorities across resource perspectives • Incorporate future change into current planning

7. Questions • All of these are “good” projects, but are they the “right” projects? • Who thinks through the technical challenges associated with the goals of the Partnership? • Integrate priorities across resource perspectives • Incorporate future change into current planning

8. GCPOLCC FunctionIntegrate Priorities across Resource Perspectives

9. 1940 GCPOLCC FunctionIncorporate Future Change into Current Planning

10. 2010 GCPOLCC FunctionIncorporate Future Change into Current Planning

11. 2030 GCPOLCC FunctionIncorporate Future Change into Current Planning 2030

12. 2030 GCPOLCC FunctionIncorporate Future Change into Current Planning

13. GCPOLCC FunctionIncorporate Future Change into Current Planning • “Skate to where the puck is going, not to where it has been” • -Wayne Gretzky

14. Questions • All of these are “good” projects, but are they the “right” projects? • Who thinks through the technical challenges associated with the goals of the Partnership? • Integrate priorities across resource perspectives • Incorporate future change into current planning • Who has the big picture in mind? • Do individual projects add up to a meaningful whole?

17. Challenge • How do we balance broad participation from multiple perspectives with effective group size?

18. Assembling the ASMTPerspectives • Resource (11) • Fish • Amphibians • Reptiles • Birds • Mammals • Insects • Crustaceans • Mollusks • Plants • Cultures • Water • Geographic (13) • 5 terrestrial • 8 aquatic • Functional (3) • Planner • Manager • Researcher • Organizational (22) • 10 states • 6 feds • 6 NGOs 13 × 3 × 22 × 11 = 9438 individuals!

19. Assembling the ASMTPerspectives • Resource (8) • Fish • Herps • Birds • Mammals • Aquatic Invertebrates • Plants • Cultures • Water • Geographic (5) • 5 terrestrial/aquatic • Functional (2) • Scientist • Manager • Organizational (4) • State • Fed • NGO/Private • Partnership 5 × 2 × 4 × 8 = 320 individuals!

20. Adaptation Science Management TeamStructure Functional Researcher Manager Both Organizational Federal State NGO/Private Partnership

21. Populating the ASMT • Solicit nomination by partners, partnerships, individuals

22. Individual MembersProfile • A science-oriented resource manager or a scientist with a strong understanding in the application of science in resource management decision-making • An individual who is active and current in the application of conservation science • A person who is comfortable and semi-coherent in the worlds of spatial data and information technology • An opinion leader who is respected and connected to the larger conservation community • Systems-level thinker

23. Populating the ASMT • Solicit nomination by partners, partnerships, individuals • Work with Partnership Council to make initial selections • Steering Committee approves final decisions

24. Adaptation Science Management TeamOfficial Members

25. Adaptation Science Management TeamMeeting Attendees

26. Individual MembersRoles and Responsibilities • You represent an entire community of practice for a specific resource within a particular geography • Responsibility to communicate with that community • You are here to think holistically for the GCPOLCC • Use your entire experience • Organizational • Geographic • Resource • Functional • Balance scientific rigor and operational reality

27. Charge from Steering CommitteeNotes from April 2012 Meeting • “Task the Adaptation Science Management Team to report back to the Steering Committee on how the issues of nutrient management/water quality, wetlands and ecosystem services within the GCPO LCC landscape should be addressed and/or science combined to have greatest impact on the Gulf, particularly with respect to the hypoxia issue. These three issues should be considered three of a larger set that the ASMT may address within the entire GCPO landscape. The focus should include how these connections can drive the science, conservation planning and decision support tools needed to fill gaps for connecting the GCPO LCC to the Gulf. The ASMT should address questions such as, do these issues need to be tackled together or independently? What is out there right now in terms of research and tools? What is missing?”

28. The Charge • Initial Tasks of ASMT • Outline a Conservation Adaptation Strategy • Conservation Framework • Prioritize science needed to develop and implement Conservation Adaptation Strategy • Science Agenda

29. Workshop Objectives • Provide an overview of the GCPOLCC and progress to date. • Discuss the structure and function of the ASMT and expectations of individual members. • Explore alternative conservation frameworks and identify a preferred approach for the GCPOLCC. • Develop conceptual models for key systems within the GCPO to promote a common understanding of drivers, stressors, and targets within each subgeography and across the region as a whole. • Identify science needs, prioritize knowledge gaps, and develop strategies for addressing these gaps. • Discuss the role of conservation targets and explore potential processes for specifying targets.

30. Expected Outcomes • Attendees will: • become aware of the structure and function of the GCPOLCC and the specific role of the Adaptation Science Management Team within it. • become familiar with the concept of “conservation frameworks,” be able to articulate the pros and cons of existing approaches, and recommend a preferred alternative to the GCPOLCC Steering Committee. • frame a conceptual model for each subgeography of the LCC and use it to identify key science needs and knowledge gaps across the entire GCPO region. Attendees will develop recommendations on how to address these knowledge gaps for GCPOLCC Steering Committee consideration. • recognize the critical role of conservation targets in strategic conservation and identify potential processes for establishing specific targets and quantitative objectives for them. Attendees will provide the GCPOLCC Steering Committee recommendations on preferred approaches. • identify themselves as part of the GCPOLCC and feel responsibility for communicating and coordinating LCC activities within their professional networks.