Approach – Integrated Science for Adaptive Management

The development of a research program in any given location will be initiated by examining the current status and trends of the system. Examining the status and trends will require thorough characterization of the system, development of the research strategy, integration of newly acquired data, predictive modeling exercises, and delivery of integrated science products following the steps below:

1.) Identification of priority issues and major stakeholders,

2.) Synthesis of relevant, existing scientific and historical information,

3.) Identification of research gaps or critical information needs,

4.) Definition of the role of the USGS in meeting research and information needs,

5.) Development of hypotheses, conceptual models, carefully planned products, and development and execution of the integrated science approach,

6.) Synthesis and integration of new data, predictive modeling, and completion and delivery of products.

1.) Identification of major stakeholders and priority issues.

Most estuarine systems have existing research and monitoring programs. The USGS will build upon these programs by combining resources, expertise, and research with external stakeholders including federal, state, and local agencies, universities, and private entities. Identification of participating stakeholders will begin through contacts with local or state Geological Survey offices or through existing National Estuary Programs and through participation of USGS project managers in stakeholder meetings. Project managers must effectively communicate issues to USGS scientists to insure participation of needed USGS expertise in workshops and planning meetings. The intentions of the USGS to begin participating in research activities, the expertise of the USGS, and identification of priority issues should be realized through USGS-hosted planning meetings and workshops including participation from external stakeholders representing scientists, resource managers, and regulatory agents.

2.) Synthesis of relevant, existing scientific and historical information.

Identification of priority issues will aid in defining the relevancy for synthesis of existing scientific and historical information. Many estuarine research programs have neither the resources nor expertise to synthesize science information derived from independent sources and historical information relevant to current issues. Information may be in the form of digital or hard copy maps, databases, bibliographies of research articles, etc. Synthesis of this information through a data clearinghouse will prevent overlap and duplication of science efforts, provide baseline information upon which to develop hypotheses and conceptual models, and aid in identification of research gaps or critical information needs. Synthesized information shall be made easily accessible to scientists, resource managers, and the public through use of web-based information query systems and will provide the foundation for building an information bank that can feed larger-scale knowledge banks. Development of information systems will be performed through partnerships with external stakeholders already engaged in information management when possible (see data management section below).

3.) Identification of research gaps and critical information needs.

Steps one and two above will aid in defining research gaps and critical information needs. Needs will encompass both local and regional issues. External stakeholders, USGS project managers, and scientists will work together through planning meetings to prioritize research gaps and information taking into consideration available resources and USGS expertise. This information will aid in defining the direction of integrated science efforts and development of multidisciplinary teams of scientists. A program management committee, science advisory council, and resource management council (see descriptions below in section titled program management) should be established to provide relevant scientific direction, periodic reviews of progress, and recommendations on new directions, alteration of existing efforts, etc. as the project evolves.

4.) Definition of the role of the USGS in meeting research and information gap needs.

Prioritization of research and critical information needs will aid in defining the role of the USGS in meeting those needs. Clearly, the role of the USGS and degree of USGS leadership in addressing science issues will vary depending on the level of participation from external stakeholders and availability of resources and expertise. USGS program managers/project scientists will determine which efforts shall be led by USGS and which shall be led by others with USGS contributions based on recommendations from external stakeholders. Priority should be given to those efforts that address regional issues that are within the scope of National Coastal Program of the U.S. Geological Survey, make use of USGS expertise, and result in the development of effective partnerships and collaborations. Priority efforts should attempt to examine relations among system components, result in enhancement of predictive modeling capabilities, and build experience with integrated science so that experience and strategies can be transferred to other science endeavors.

5.) Development of hypotheses, conceptual models, carefully planned products and development and execution of the integrated science approach.

All stages of research strategy development from inception to execution and product delivery should incorporate participation from members of multidisciplinary, multi-agency teams of scientists. Development of hypotheses and conceptual models will be a joint effort among team members. Hypotheses and conceptual models will clearly demonstrate attempts to examine links among system components by addressing objective questions listed above. They will be relevant with respect to resource management issues, and will lead to research or monitoring efforts that result in the development of products that are client specific and/or enhance transferable experience, knowledge, or models for future integrated science exercises. Expected products, information required for product development, and the role of team members in gathering and synthesizing information and product development should be clearly defined during development of conceptual models. Team members must demonstrate how their individual efforts will be integrated and the significance of their work in examining system component links by identifying their role in data synthesis, interpretation, and product conceptualization. The integrated science approach should be founded on integrated field-work efforts, data synthesis, and product development. Project task leaders will assume the responsibility of insuring coordination among task team members for study site selection, and planning and execution of complimentary field exercises through frequent meetings with team members. Project task leaders will remain informed of the scope, significance, and relations among other tasks, and coordination of complementary tasks through regular, informal meetings with task leaders and project chiefs. Project task leaders will relay this information to task team members.

6.) Synthesis and integration of new data, predictive modeling, and completion and delivery of products.

Data format should be clearly defined prior to data collection to ease the integration of information and development of web-accessible and GIS products. Efficient and timely synthesis of new data and immediate accessibility to team scientists is critical for integrating data, identifying correlations between data sets, developing interpretations and generating integrated products, and facilitating communication among participants. All data will be delivered to a Database Information Management System (see below) for efficient distribution to scientists, clients, stakeholders and project managers. Data integration tools (including interactive GIS map servers, issue-based decision support and query systems, map machines etc.) and support staff will be available to aid scientists in data manipulation for both spatial and non-spatial databases. Support staff from collaborating agencies will work together to insure that databases, metadata, data clearinghouse components, maps servers, etc. are created in a complementary fashion to optimize information transfer. Team scientists will work in concert with information management support staff to generate interpretations for web-accessible products. Web-based products are encouraged. However, additional products will include hard-copy fact sheets, open-file reports, scientific and peer-reviewed articles, CD-roms, etc.
The goal of the Gulf of Mexico Estuaries Integrated Science Study is to develop reliable and credible predictive capabilities for environmental change based on understanding of natural and anthropogenic influences on ecosystems. As our understanding of the interaction of geological, chemical, physical, and biological processes of estuaries increases, study results will lead to development of predictive models and decision support products. These tools will assist resource managers with the consideration of scientific knowledge as part of the planning and decision-making process. It is recommended that an information transfer model similar to the one used for the USGS Southwest Washington Coast Erosion Study (see below) be adopted.