WGSA Workshop - SDM

UPDATE: Files from this workshop can be accessed using the links below:

Presentation
Workshop Handout
Salamander SDM
Salamander SDM - Completed

This week's WGSA Workshop will be on the topic of Structured Decision Making (SDM), led by Tara Crawford and Brian Crawford. This workshop will take place Wednesday March 4th in the Dean's Conference Room at 4:00pm. A description of what will be covered is below.

Most natural resource management and conservation issues that we face today involve complex social-ecological interactions; diverse groups of people wanting different things, a variety of potential management/policy solutions under consideration, and uncertainties that impair our understanding of the systems we wish to manage and the outcomes of alternative management options. Structured Decision Making (SDM) is one approach used to decompose such decision problems through a series of steps that help identify which management or policy alternatives bring us closest to achieving our objectives. This workshop will briefly introduce the basic principles, steps, and uses of this approach for addressing natural resource issues. Participants will gain experience in SDM through a mock decision analysis in which each participant will play the role of a stakeholder in the context of a mock decision problem. We will quickly work through each step in the SDM process and ultimately arrive at a decision for managing a new (imaginary) species of salamander discovered to inhabit UGA’s Oconnee Forest. 

Things to do/download/read prior to workshop: Nothing. See you there!