The goal of environmental decision science is to drive more efficient environmental management, for example, determining how to best distribute finite environmental budgets to most cost effectively reduce biodiversity loss. The discipline of environmental decision science has matured rapidly over the past decade, with Australia establishing global leadership, through the ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions (CEED) and other centres.

Our decision science research incorporates a range of quantitative approaches including spatial prioritization and conservation planning, ecological population modelling, and modelling of development and change vegetation condition through time. Our work has had a significant impact on practice in governments and NGOs. 

Examples of questions we are currently working on:

• How does optimizing resource allocation in the presence of uncertainty magnify that uncertainty, and result in a greater propensity for negative surprises? (Ascelin Gordon)
• How should activities to reduce illegal poaching of jaguars in the Brazillian Atlantic Forest be deployed to minimize the losses in population size? (Ascelin Gordon)
• How can conservation planning move away from a focus on maximizing the representation of  biodiversity features, and move towards maximizing the impact of conservation actions? (Ascelin Gordon)

For collaboration or further information about current projects under this theme please contact the relevant lab member above.