Confronting Issues of Scale in Socio-Environmental Systems Modeling Webinar

Abstract

Join SESYNC, The Integrated Assessment Society (TIAS), and the journal Socio-Environmental Systems Modeling (SESMO) for a live webcast this June on Confronting Issues of Scale in Socio-Environmental Systems Modeling.

The development and use of socio-environmental systems (SES) modeling has become increasingly common and useful to solve urgent problems in recent years. Most often, several models from different scientific disciplines are integrated with the aim of providing a single, holistic model that can be used to help inform the decision-making process of resource managers or policy makers. However, the integration of models representing different kinds of systems developed by scientists with different disciplinary backgrounds is not a trivial task.

This is the third in a series of webcasts based on the 2020 article “Eight grand challenges in socio-environmental systems modelling” by Sondoss El Sawah and colleagues. This webcast will explore the types of scale issues likely to arise in each modeling phase, while highlighting how to deal with them, based on the 2021 article “Socio-technical scales in socio-environmental modeling: Managing a system-of-systems modeling approach.” It is intended for practitioners and scholars who commission, sponsor, or use SES models. It will begin with a pre-recorded presentation by the author, Hsiao-Hsuan ‘Rose’ Wang, briefly describing the scale issues and paths forward. Comments from each panelist and then an open discussion will follow. Viewers may post questions and comments. 

Flyer available: 

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PROGRAM  
Introduction and Moderator Sondoss El Sawah, Associate Professor, Engineering Management, University of New South Wales, Canberra, Australia 
Pre-Recorded Presentation: "Confronting Issues of Scale in Socio-Environmental Modeling" (20 mins.) Hsiao-Hsuan ‘Rose’ Wang, Senior Research Scientist, Ecological Systems Laboratory, Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology, Texas A&M University, USA
Q&A: Presenter responds to questions from the participants (10 mins.)  

Panel Session: (Responses 10 mins. per panelist) 

 

Val Snow, Agroecosystem Modeler and Senior Scientist, AgResearch Ltd., New Zealand
Derek T. Robinson, Associate Professor of Geography and Environmental Management, University of Waterloo, Canada
Volker Grimm, Researcher, Department of Ecological Modelling, Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research – UFZ, Leipzig and Professor at the University of Potsdam, Germany

Questions to the Panelists: (10 mins.)

 
Open Discussion: (20 mins.)    

Presenters

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A headshot of Sondoss El Sawah

Sondoss Elsawah

Sondoss Elsawah is an Associate Professor of Systems Engineering and Information Technology, and the Director of the Capability Systems Centre at University of New South Wales. Her research program focuses on understanding the behavior of large complex problems and systemic risks that arise from the interactions between social, technological, and environmental systems. She is an expert on the application of systems thinking and system modeling methodologies to support decision making and education. Building on her academic achievements, Sondoss been recognized as a thought leader in her...

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A headshot of Sondoss El Sawah

Sondoss Elsawah

Sondoss Elsawah is an Associate Professor of Systems Engineering and Information Technology, and the Director of the Capability Systems Centre at University of New South Wales. Her research program focuses on understanding the behavior of large complex problems and systemic risks that arise from the interactions between social, technological, and environmental systems. She is an expert on the application of systems thinking and system modeling methodologies to support decision making and education. Building on her academic achievements, Sondoss been recognized as a thought leader in her scientific fields in Australia and internationally. For example, she is the Vice President of the Australian Society of Operations Research (ASOR) and was elected a distinguished Fellow of the Modelling and Simulation Society of Australia and New Zealand (MSSANZ). Sondoss is a senior editor of the Journal of Environmental Modelling and Software (A*) and the journal of Group Decision and Negotiation (A*).

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A headshot of Rose Wang

Hsiao-Hsuan 'Rose' Wang

Dr. Hsiao-Hsuan ‘Rose’ Wang is in the Ecological Systems Laboratory, Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology, at Texas A&M University, USA. Her research focuses on the assessment of potential impacts of changes in climate and policy on resilience and sustainability of the system-of-interest using SES models. She has served as a member of the Editorial Advisory Board, Subject Editor (theoretical and mathematical modeling), and Associate Editor of the international journal Ecological Modelling, and currently serves as co-Editor-in-Chief of Ecological Modelling and Associate Editor of two...

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A headshot of Rose Wang

Hsiao-Hsuan 'Rose' Wang

Dr. Hsiao-Hsuan ‘Rose’ Wang is in the Ecological Systems Laboratory, Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology, at Texas A&M University, USA. Her research focuses on the assessment of potential impacts of changes in climate and policy on resilience and sustainability of the system-of-interest using SES models. She has served as a member of the Editorial Advisory Board, Subject Editor (theoretical and mathematical modeling), and Associate Editor of the international journal Ecological Modelling, and currently serves as co-Editor-in-Chief of Ecological Modelling and Associate Editor of two international journals Biological Invasions and Plant Ecology. She has organized modeling symposia sponsored by the International Society of Ecological Modelling (ISEM) in the USA and Austria, and has collaborated with multinational modeling groups sponsored by the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC) and by the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS), both based in the USA, and by the Lorentz Center based in the Netherlands.

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A headshot of Val Snow

Val Snow

Dr. Val Snow is an agroecosystem systems modeler and Senior Scientist at AgResearch in New Zealand. Her research focuses on: the development and use of models and tools to support land use policy development and implementation; innovation and sustainability in pastoral agricultural systems; and resilience in agri-food systems. She co-leads Pohewa Pae Tawhiti (loosely translated as Visualising Distant Horizons), which is developing a method that will allow decision-makers to compare land-use options for their likely effects on the four wellbeings in ways that make personal and group biases...

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A headshot of Val Snow

Val Snow

Dr. Val Snow is an agroecosystem systems modeler and Senior Scientist at AgResearch in New Zealand. Her research focuses on: the development and use of models and tools to support land use policy development and implementation; innovation and sustainability in pastoral agricultural systems; and resilience in agri-food systems. She co-leads Pohewa Pae Tawhiti (loosely translated as Visualising Distant Horizons), which is developing a method that will allow decision-makers to compare land-use options for their likely effects on the four wellbeings in ways that make personal and group biases explicit and promotes dialogue and reflection on personal worldviews. Val is Editor-in-Chief of the journal Agricultural Systems and serves on the Editorial Board of Environmental Modelling & Software. Her research and leadership have been recognised with an award of a Biennial Medal from the International Environmental Modelling and Software Society in 2018 and in 2019 with a Fellowship of the Modelling & Simulation Society of Australia and New Zealand.

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A headshot of Volker Grimm

Volker Grimm

Dr. Volker Grimm conducts research at the UFZ in Leipzig and is Professor of Theoretical Ecology at the University of Potsdam inGermany. He is a world-renowned leading expert in the field of ecological and agent-based modeling. He has pioneered the application of agent-based modeling in ecology and contributed to its conceptual and practical development, including the development of standard formats for model description (ODD) and model development (TRACE) and a general strategy to make models structurally realistic (pattern-oriented modeling). He has been involved in the development of more...

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A headshot of Volker Grimm

Volker Grimm

Dr. Volker Grimm conducts research at the UFZ in Leipzig and is Professor of Theoretical Ecology at the University of Potsdam inGermany. He is a world-renowned leading expert in the field of ecological and agent-based modeling. He has pioneered the application of agent-based modeling in ecology and contributed to its conceptual and practical development, including the development of standard formats for model description (ODD) and model development (TRACE) and a general strategy to make models structurally realistic (pattern-oriented modeling). He has been involved in the development of more than 50 ecological models, mainly in population ecology, and has contributed to the conceptual framework of ecology, concerning the concepts of stability and resilience.

Audience: 

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Derek Robinson

Scientific Review Committee Member

Dr. Derek Robinson is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Management at the University of Waterloo. Derek’s interests lie at the center of land use, land management, and the carbon cycle. He uses agent-based modeling (ABM) as an approach to integrate GIS, ecological, and human decision-making models to evaluate socio-economic contexts and policy scenarios. He specifically looks at changes to land use and land cover, ecological function and the provision of ecosystem services, and human well-being. Derek’s research team conducts research in and across social...

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Derek Robinson

Scientific Review Committee Member

Dr. Derek Robinson is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Management at the University of Waterloo. Derek’s interests lie at the center of land use, land management, and the carbon cycle. He uses agent-based modeling (ABM) as an approach to integrate GIS, ecological, and human decision-making models to evaluate socio-economic contexts and policy scenarios. He specifically looks at changes to land use and land cover, ecological function and the provision of ecosystem services, and human well-being. Derek’s research team conducts research in and across social and natural sciences by collecting, analyzing, visualizing, and modeling data about real-world processes. His team’s goal is to understand those processes to derive new basic science and solutions to address society's most pressing problems. Derek served on SESYNC’s Scientific Review Committee.

External Links:
https://uwaterloo.ca/geography-environmental-management/people-profiles/derek-t-robinson
https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?hl=en&user=J7n0UQoAAAAJ
https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=8295257200
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Derek-Robinson-3/research
https://twitter.com/derektrobinson

Presenters
Sondoss Elsawah, University of New South Wales
Hsiao-Hsuan 'Rose' Wang, Texas A&M University
Val Snow, AgResearch Limited, New Zealand
Volker Grimm, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research
Date
Time
Mon. 28 June 2021, 15:00-16:30 (EDT UTC -4)
Mon. 28 June 2021, 21:00 – 22:30 (CEST UTC +2)
Tues. 29 June 2021, 05:00 - 06:30 (AEST UTC +10)
Recording
This webinar has been recorded.
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