BIO

My name is Nia Ogletree and I am a first-year student from Tallahassee currently majoring in Environmental Science and Policy. I have an avid interest in environmental advocacy and sustainability and chose to work with Dr. Ernst because of her work with community resilience against the effects of climate change. On campus, I am involved in the Honors Program, Presidential Scholars, Sustainable Campus, and the Black Student Union. In the future, I hope to continue striving towards sustainability and environmental justice in the Tallahassee and FSU community.

Evaluating Knowledge Products for Sustainability, Resilience, and Climate Change Response Efforts

Abstract

This research evaluates decision-support tools that are built for decision-making towards sustainability and resilience in the context of climate change.
We seek to understand how these tools are applied in different contexts by analyzing six decision-support tools built for ecosystem-based management processes. We collected data, reviewed research studies, and analyzed their methods using the KnoPE (Knowledge Product Evaluation) Framework, a four-dimensional analytical system that organizes elements, assesses scales, assesses alignment to a theory of change, and analyzes the use of a decision-support tool. Developers and investors of the decision-making tools are interested in advancing them to the point where they are accessible and ready to be placed in the hands of policymakers who have the influence to make change happen. Policymakers need support to plan for a variety of climate-change impacts and these tools will provide context and information so they can better prepare for the impending future.

Keywords: Climate, sustainability, resilience