ASU News
CBO News
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A “data-for-decisions” management system to facilitate cost-efficiency in conservation interventions
February 18, 2025 Leah Gerber, Gwen Iacona, and 2 CBO graduate students published an article advancing CBO’s work in understanding the relationship between the costs and outcomes of conservation interventions to increase efficiency. By synthesizing data in a consistent manner across different interventions, the results help conservation managers to identify ways to minimize cost, justify budgets, and compare strategies over time to make better decisions.
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Structured decision-making handbook
February 3, 2025 Using case studies in the Galápagos National Park, this handbook, authored by CBO students and faculty, aims to help environmental managers refine management objectives and apply data analyses to inform adaptive management and decision-making. The handbook (available in English and Spanish) outlines the application of structured decision-making (SDM) as a rigorous foundation for evaluating decisions in a transparent manner.
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Understanding pathways of knowledge to action in conservation
January 23, 2025 Professor Leah Gerber gave a talk at the Oxford Martin School describing a theory of change for addressing the biodiversity crisis by integrating innovation with boundary-spanning work. She also discussed ways to bring biodiversity into global decision making and to establish a replicable model for effective conservation.
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Highlights from Bloom 24 and COP16
October 24-25, 2024 Director Leah Gerber spoke at COP16 and Bloom 24 on the positive impact of mindfulness when addressing urgent ecological crises, delved into the synergies between government initiatives and corporate strategies for biodiversity, and shared examples of stakeholder engagement and social outcomes that balance local and global biodiversity goals.
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Golden Conversations: Hope for the environment
October 18, 2024 Listen to this engaging conversation between an ASU sustainability student and Dr. Leah Gerber, an expert in conservation science, as they share what motivates them and brings them hope. Whether you’re a global citizen or a sustainability advocate, this discussion will help you navigate the emotions surrounding climate change.
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Universities must do more to help researchers help society
July 4, 2024 There are important roles for scientists and scholars to play in addressing wicked problems—but for many experts based at universities, the system doesn’t reward their engagement.
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Global research priorities for historical ecology to inform conservation
June 27, 2024 Program Lead Dr. Katie Cramer contributed to a recent publication which used structured decision-making to examine research priorities in historical ecology to advance conservation science in: (1) methods and concepts, (2) knowledge co-production and community engagement, (3) policy and management, and (4) climate change impacts.
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CBO’s 10th anniversary celebration
April 26, 2024 Our celebration featured panel discussions surrounding our three research pillars. We wrapped up with deeper discussions on conservation efforts. Hear from all our brilliant panelists here! Additionally, partners, colleagues, students, and employees from the last decade shared video messages of their favorite CBO memories.
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Balancing protection and production in ocean conservation
April 15, 2024 CBO Faculty Affiliate Dr. Jack Kittinger led a perspectives piece looking at the balance between marine protection and sustainable production in pelagic ecosystems, in light of rapid acceleration of the biodiversity and climate crises.
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A Scorecard for Designing and Evaluating University Partnerships
January 1, 2024 The CBO actionable science team wrote a chapter for the book From Purpose to Impact: The University and Business Partnership which describes a new tool for assessing diverse types of collaborations beyond the classic research and development partnership.
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