Geology topics

David M. Martin

Publications and source records attributed to David M. Martin.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2025

Comparing SMART and ELECTRE methods for multi-criteria decision analysis: A case study evaluating conservation strategies

Tradeoffs are part of the inherent challenge of making decisions. Defaulting to a prevalent method can mask methodological variation and potential improvement in decision quality. We applied and compared methods for multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) in real-world environmental planning. Decision makers at a global conservation organization formed teams to review and prioritize the allocation of resources across a set of existing strategies across seven teams. Each team evaluated and rated strategies based on a common scale composed of weighted objectives and criteria. Sensitivity analysis included implementing two different MCDA methods, varying strategy ratings, and using two different criteria weighting techniques. The MCDA methods were SMART (Simple Multi-Attribute Rating Technique) and ELECTRE (ELimination and Choice Expressing The REality). We tested user satisfaction between methods, overall rankings between methods, and whether MCDA improved the decision-making process. The methods did not differ in most comparisons, although participants were more likely to use the SMART method in future tradeoff decisions. We found evidence of rank correlation between methods. Lastly, the teams’ final recommendations were consistent with MCDA results. This study highlights the advantages and disadvantages of MCDA in real-world applications.

Environmental and Sustainability Indicators↗

USGS2023

Creating conservation strategies with value-focused thinking

Biodiversity and human well-being strategies are only as good as the set of ideas that people think about. This article evaluates value-focused thinking (VFT), a framework that focuses on creating objectives and strategy ideas that are responsive to the objectives. We performed a proof-of-concept study of VFT on six planning teams at a global conservation organization. We developed a package of support materials, including session agendas, a virtual facilitation template, facilitator's guide, and evaluation questionnaires. The study tested whether VFT resulted in a set of quality strategies, resulted in participant satisfaction, and was scalable, meaning that it could be facilitated by someone newly trained in VFT and result in quality strategies and participant satisfaction, as compared to an experienced facilitator. Net response indicated positive quality ratings for the set of strategies per team. Respondents indicated positive satisfaction overall, though it was higher for objectives than for strategies. Among the participants with previous experience, all were at least as satisfied with their VFT strategies compared to previously developed strategies, and none were less satisfied (P = 0.001). Changes in participant satisfaction were not related to facilitator type (P > 0.10). In addition, we found that some participants had a premature sense of shared understanding of important values and interests before entering the study, which VFT strengthened. This study highlights the advantages of structuring the development and evaluation of conservation planning frameworks.

Conservation Biology↗

USGS2019

Incorporating uncertainty and risk into decision making to reduce nitrogen inputs to impaired waters

This article aims to understand decision making under uncertainty and risk, with a case study on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Decision makers need to consider imperfect information on the cost and effectiveness of advanced nitrogen-removing on-site wastewater treatment systems as options to mitigate water quality degradation. Research included modeling nitrogen load reduction to impaired coastal waters from seven treatment system technologies and eliciting expert knowledge on their costs. Predictions of nitrogen load removal and cost for each technology incorporated variation in effectiveness and uncertainty in household water use, costs, and expert confidence in costs. The predictions were evaluated using the Pareto efficiency concept to reveal tradeoffs between cost and effectiveness. The stochastic dominance index was used to identify preferred technologies for risk-averse decision making, assuming no further learning is possible. Lastly, the predictions were combined into a cost-effectiveness metric to estimate the expected payoff of implementing the best treatment system in the face of uncertainty and the expected payoff of learning which treatment systems are most cost-effective over time. The expected value of perfect information was calculated as the difference between the expected payoffs. Three technologies revealed Pareto efficient tradeoffs between cost and effectiveness, whereas one technology was the preferred risk-averse option in the absence of future learning. There was a high expected value of perfect information, which could motivate adaptive management on Cape Cod. This research demonstrated decision analysis methods to guide future research and decision making toward meeting water quality objectives and reducing uncertainty.

Massachusetts↗

USGS2018

Monitoring the social benefits of ecological restoration

Ecological restoration has traditionally been evaluated by monitoring the recovery of ecosystem conditions, such as species diversity and abundance, physical form, and water quality, whereas monitoring the social benefits of restoration is uncommon. Current monitoring frameworks do not track who benefits from restoration or by how much. In this study, we investigate how ecological restoration could be monitored to provide indications of progress in terms of social conditions. We provide suggestions for measuring several categories of benefit indicators, including access, beneficiaries, and quality of benefit, using information compiled from natural and social science literature. We also demonstrate how to evaluate ecological and social benefit indicators over time at a site or landscape scale using multi-criteria analysis. We use flood protection and recreation as example benefits to monitor.

Restoration Ecology↗