Open and Accountable Science and Policy: the Role of Ethics, Biases, and Beliefs

Dr. Pierre Glynn, Chief of the US Geological Survey Water Cycle Branch

Decision making in the management of natural resources and environments suffers from insufficient traceability and accountability in the processes governing both science and policy, and from a lack of public engagement in those processes. Decision making, and science and policy governance, also suffers from a lack of recognition of how human beliefs, values, biases, and heuristics (i.e. mental shortcuts) shape the construction of both science and policy. There is also a lack of shared understanding of the laws, rules, ethical norms, and traditions that constrain decision-making. A governance framework is proposed that seeks to improve the management of natural resources and environments.