Features
Rebuilding Geoscience in Canada:
Life After Major Budget Reductions
When its funding was cut, the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) had
to ask tough questions about its programs. The GSC’s former chief scientist
reports on their restructuring process and a new spirit of cooperation
between the federal and provincial surveys, industry, and academia.
by James M. Franklin
The USGS Streamgaging Network: Born of Yesterday,
Serving Today … Poised for Tomorrow?
For more than a century, the U.S. Geological Survey has operated a
network of 4,000 streamgaging stations that provides vital data to both
resource managers and homeowners. But funding constraints are forcing more
and more stations to close. A new report lays out the case for investing
in an improved infrastructure.
by Robert M. Hirsch
Geoscience and Geopolitics
Issues of resource exploration, management, and sustainability
require global approaches to problem-solving. An international resource-management
expert challenges geoscientists to play more active and cooperative roles
in addressing such critical problems as nuclear-waste disposal, greenhouse-gas
emissions, and water shortages.
by Peter J. Cook
Prediction: A Process, Not a Product
While science underpins the prediction process that guides many
government decisions, neither good science nor good predictions can by
themselves resolve complex problems related to natural hazards, resource
management, and the environment. The key to better decision-making may
be cost-effective, realistic alternatives to prediction.
by Daniel Sarewitz, Roger Pielke Jr., and Radford Byerly Jr.
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