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SCIENTISTS, MODELS, AND RESOURCE MANAGERS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

H. Douglas Walker  and
Wilfred R. Cuff
H. Douglas Walker
Affiliation:
Faculty of Forestry, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, N.B. E3B 6C2
Wilfred R. Cuff
Affiliation:
Canadian Forestry Service – Martimes, PO Box 4000, Fredericton, N.B. E3B 5P7
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Abstract

Concerns are frequently expressed within the resource management community that many of the tools or models being developed to help people manage resources aren't being used. Less clear are the reasons, but a look at the contrasts between resource management and resource science provides some clues. The disciplinary organization of scientific knowledge, compared with the general nature of management problems, contributes to the gap between science and management. Many of the difficulties that resource scientists are experiencing are shared by management scientists attempting to provide problem-solving support to managers. In fact, management scientists who are developing tools for use by managers are sometimes said to be doing research on "toy" problems because of their tendency to oversimplify the "messes" or complex systems with which managers are trying to deal. To derive tools of use in solving real problems, some resource scientists will have to be willing to study and work with resource managers in the context where problems are faced.

Résumé

La littérature scientifique indique que bon nombre des outils et des modèles élaborés pour servir d'appui à la régie des ressources demeurent inutilisés. Les raisons précises demeurent obscures, mais un regard sur les contrastes qui existent entre la régie des ressources et la science des ressources fournit quelques indices. L'organisation disciplinaire des connaissances scientifiques, comparée à la nature générale des problèmes de régie, contribue à créer un fossé entre la science et la pratique de la régie. Plusieurs des problèmes que les scientistes des ressources rencontrent sont partagés par les scientistes de la régie lorsque ceux-ci tentent de solutionner des problèmes qui leur sont soumis par des administrateurs. Les scientistes élaborant des outils destinés aux administrateurs se font parfois signaler que leurs solutions concernent des problèmes "jouets" étant donnée leur tendance à sur-simplifier les systèmes complexes qui font l'objet de l'attention des administrateurs. Afin d'élaborer des outils pouvant solutionner des problèmes réels, les scientistes des ressources devront accepter d'étudier et de travailler de concert avec les administrateurs des ressources, là où les problèmes doivent être envisagés de front.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Memoirs of the Entomological Society of Canada , Volume 120 , Supplement S143 , 1988 , pp. 11 - 17
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 1988

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Footnotes

1

Present address: Weldwood of Canada Limited, Hinton Division, Bag Service 8000, Hinton, Alberta, Canada T0E lB0.

2

Present address: Laboratory Centre for Disease Control, Department of National Health and Welfare, LCDC Building, Tunney's Pasture, Holland Avenue, Ottawa, Ontrio, Canada K1A 0L2.

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