The Decision‐Making/Accountability Spatial Incongruence Problem for Research Linking Environmental Science and Policy

Abstract

Increasingly, scholars engage policy makers around fundamental, complex questions on environmental change in interdisciplinary settings. Researchers attempting to develop robust contributions to knowledge that can support policymaker understandings in this context face significant inferential challenges in dealing with the spatial dimension of their phenomenon of interest. In this paper, we extend an understanding of well‐defined methodological challenges familiar to applied spatial scientists by explicitly articulating the Decision‐Making/Accountability, Spatial Incongruence Problem, or . Three case studies illustrate how spatial incongruences matter to researchers who work on complex, interdisciplinary problems, while seeking to understand decision‐making or policy‐related phenomenon: urban heat‐island mitigation research in Arizona, water transfer conflicts in Kansas, and hydraulic‐fracturing debates in Texas. With such examples, we aim to evoke a deeper understanding of this problem in applied research and also inspire thinking about how scholars might innovate methods for creating knowledge about environmental change that supports spatially accountable decision making.

Key words:

• decision making
• geographic methods
• accountability

Thanks to John Zak, Tom Arsuffi, and Guofeng Cao of Texas Tech University for their encouragement and feedback on early discussions of these ideas. We would also like to acknowledge Benjamin Ruddell and Ariane Middel of Arizona State University for their valuable insight and review of the manuscript and Grant McKercher for his help with references cited.

Thanks to John Zak, Tom Arsuffi, and Guofeng Cao of Texas Tech University for their encouragement and feedback on early discussions of these ideas. We would also like to acknowledge Benjamin Ruddell and Ariane Middel of Arizona State University for their valuable insight and review of the manuscript and Grant McKercher for his help with references cited.

Notes

Thanks to John Zak, Tom Arsuffi, and Guofeng Cao of Texas Tech University for their encouragement and feedback on early discussions of these ideas. We would also like to acknowledge Benjamin Ruddell and Ariane Middel of Arizona State University for their valuable insight and review of the manuscript and Grant McKercher for his help with references cited.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Patricia Solís

Dr.Solís is co‐director of the Geospatial Center for Technology and research associate professor of geography, affiliated with the Climate Science Center, Texas Tech University, 2500 Broadway, Lubbock, Texas 79409, USA; [[email protected]].

Jennifer K. Vanos

Dr.Vanos is an Assistant Professor in climate and human health at University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Dr., La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA; [[email protected]].

Robert E. Forbis

Dr. Forbis is assistant professor of political science, affiliated with the Climate Science Center, Texas Tech University, 2500 Broadway, Lubbock, Texas 79409, USA; [[email protected]].