Influences to the success of fire science delivery in the USFS, NPS, and BLM

Project details
The National Center for Landscape Fire Analysis (NCLFA) is supporting research to improve the effectiveness of fire science delivery to different target audiences in the USFS, BLM, and NPS. This research is being conducted by Vita Wright, Science Application Specialist at the USFS Rocky Mountain Research Station, Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute.

Fire and fuels research scientists most commonly deliver results by publishing scientific articles, hosting information on web sites, and presenting their results at conferences, workshops, and trainings. Federal agencies also provide access to scientific information and tools by offering free publication distribution, library and documentdelivery services, and searchable web syntheses. However, the use of research by fire and fuels managers is dependent on more than awareness and information accessibility.

There is a wealth of research on interpersonal and organizational communication, organizational learning, social psychology, and public administration that can provide insight into how and when federal agency managers adopt scientific information and tools. This literature is dispersed throughout a variety of social science disciplines and has not yet been synthesized and integrated to inform fire and fuels science delivery efforts. For example, the Diffusion of Innovations Theory explains that adoption of new ideas and approaches is a multi-stage process with the potential for active or passive rejection at several points during the innovation-decision process. This theory recognizes that diffusion takes time. The time it takes for diffusion to occur is influenced by a variety of factors, including potential users’ characteristics at both the individual and community levels.

Additionally, communication research reveals that the potential for misunderstanding during communication is high. Scientists and managers can misunderstand each other as a result of language ambiguity, inference and guesswork, inadvertent secondary messages, selective attention, and preconceived notions. By better understanding and predicting potential users’ beliefs and reactions to the introduction of innovations, science communicators may be able to reduce the potential for misunderstanding, thereby shortening the time for diffusion to occur.

More effective science delivery should lead to better use of relevant science, better accountability, and ultimately, better stewardship. Effective communication, leading to mutual understanding between scientists and managers, can be improved with knowledge of how these factors influence the adoption of science within different management audiences.

Project development
This study employs a multi-method approach. First a literature review and agency meetings were held to identify the range of influences to science application. Next, regional case studies with in-depth interviews were used to gain a deeper understanding of identified influences by targeted user groups in each agency. Finally, a survey is being used to evaluate the strength and prevalence of influences among the studied potential users groups.

For more information, visit:
http://leopold.wilderness.net/research/fprojects/F016.htm

Principal Investigators: Vita Wright and Mike Patterson

Project Funders: Joint Fire Science Program; National Center for Landscape Fire Analysis; National Park Service; Bureau of Land Management; and USFS – Rocky Mountain and Pacific Northwest Research Stations, National Fire Plan, and Fire and Aviation.