Overview of EPA Office of Research & Development’s Ecosystem Goods and Services Research
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ORD is working on ecosystem services (ES) in three areas: (1) advancing the needle on the science components (e.g., metrics and indicators); (2) developing decision support tools to inform larger conversations about applications/policy; and (3) on-the-ground applications in a suite of decision contexts, including restoration, community resilience/sustainability, and contaminated cleanups. We’re interested in advancing efforts to move from “useful” science to “useable” science. We have mutual interests with the Forest Service National Ecosystem Services Strategy Team (NESST) in the concept of a Portal – a one-stop-shop for helping the client navigate the suite of ES tools out there. The functionality of a Portal drives its ultimate use; our interests in functionality include navigational elements around the Structured Decision Making cycle (which we view as a “Rosetta Stone” that can be easily cross-walked with other processes/policy frameworks, etc.). We are presenting to the NESST an overview of EPA ORD’s ES work and will follow up with a discussion to learn more about potential overlaps with NESST, including whether there are opportunities to collaborate on using tools to inform larger ES conversations (e.g., EPA scientists looking at PNW forest ES related to larger ecosystem management).