Social Science

Presentation on Visually Communicating Forecasts

The Social Science Working Group hosted a virtual panel on May 17, 2021. The panelist shared results from recent experiments assessing the efficacy of ecological forecast visualizations and the development of a teaching module for undergraduate students to learn about visualizing uncertainty in forecasts. A recording of the panel and resources shared by the panelists are available HERE.

Overview of the Social Science Group

Social science is an important component in ecological forecasting to both improve the prediction of the forecasts as well as to increase the understandability and usefulness of the forecasts for decision-making.  By social science, we encompass a range of human-focused disciplines, including, but not limited to, decision science, geography, economics, and others.  The Social Science Working Group is focused on: developing methods, interdisciplinary collaboration on improving ecological forecasting models, co-production with stakeholders who may or will use ecological forecasts, developing and testing new ecological forecasting decision support products, and improving the tools and processes that advance the use of forecasts in environmental decisions.

The Social Science Scope of Work provides an overview of the priorities of the Social Science Working Group. It is a living document that will be updated as tasks become redundant and new efforts are developed.

Social Science Working Group Schedule of Calls:
The Social Science Group will meet on June 16, July 14, and August 25 at 2pm US Eastern. We are always open to people joining the calls, contact us at eco4cast.initiative@gmail.com

Social Science Blog Posts and Resources

Video overview of the Social Science Group’s activities from the May 12-13, 2020 EFI-RCN Virtual Workshop
Kira Sullivan-Wiley’s overview of the Partners & Social Science Working Groups presented at the August 2020 ESA Symposia 25: The Ecological Forecasting Initiative: Lessons Learned from a Grassroots Network to Advance Ecology

Notes from Working Group Calls
Co-chairs: Jaime Ashander (Resources for the Future) and Kira Sullivan-Wiley (University of Notre Dame)

  1. May 17, 2021 – the Social Science group hosted the Best Practices for Visually Communicating Ecological Forecast Uncertainty Panel
  2. April 19, 2021
  3. March 22, 2021
  4. February 22, 2021
  5. February 4, 2021 – joint Social Sciences and Partner Working Groups call
    1. The groups used the 2015 Report to the Secretary of the Interior, Advisory Committee on Climate Change and Natural Resource Science as a jumping-off point to discuss actionable science and co-production
  6. December 8, 2020
  7. November 17, 2020
  8. October 20, 2020
  9. September 29, 2020
  10. August 25, 2020
  11. July 21, 2020
  12. June 30, 2020
  13. May 26, 2020
  14. May 5, 2020
  15. April 15, 2020
  16. March 10, 2020
  17. February 11, 2020
  18. December 16, 2019
  19. November 18, 2019
  20. October 28, 2019
  21. September 30, 2019
  22. September 5, 2019
  23. July 25, 2019
  24. July 11, 2019