Observations on Science and Management

Abstract

Academic scientists are neither environmental managers nor environmental policymakers, but they have important roles to play in both arenas. To play these roles effectively, they must participate as colleagues with managers and policymakers in the management and policy-making processes on a recurrent basis and be fully engaged at critical junctures. Since many scientists—particularly the most active researchers—neither understand nor track the management and policy- making processes, they need mechanisms to involve them efficiently and effectively. These must be institutional mechanisms. Institutional mechanisms for involvement increase effectiveness, reduce time commitments, and provide protective cover for participants. These may be important attributes, particularly for untenured professors. Institutional mechanisms also enhance the probability of involving not only our best natural scientists and engineers, but scholars from other fields, such as the social sciences, who can play equaUy important roles. Institutional mechanisms legitimize the time spent by managers and policymakers away from what may be perceived as more pressing issues. A model borrowed from psychotherapy, the holding environment, is a useful institutional model to promote adaptive work by scholars and environmental managers and policy makers. The model has been adopted by the New England Aquarium and adapted as its Aquatic Forum. It is now being refined and evaluated. Scientific consensus among experts and scenario planning are two powerful and underutilized strategies for involving scientists in environmental management and policy-making. Their application is dependent upon creating and sustaining an environment appropriate for creative exploration, discovery, and problem solving. Such environments are nurturing and low risk, and enjoy the benefits of skilled facilitators to ensure that all voices are heard, that all messages are evaluated, and that results are synthesized into forms appropriate for decision-making. The holding environment meets all of these criteria