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Action in Uncertainty: Data‐Driven Decisions That Acknowledge Emotional Responses and Transcendental Connections

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Special session motivation and goalsThe increasing uncertainty with global change often stifles action and results in calls for more data before moving beyond status quo environmental decisions (Mahapatra and Ratha 2016, Ripple et al. 2017, Montefalcone et al. 2025).Advancing science and collecting more data are crucial; however, science alone (i.e., "western" or "positivist" science, as described in Fuller 2001; Reid et al. 2021) may be insufficient to reduce uncertainty to a comfortable level for decision making.Therefore, increasing personal and collective capacity to make proactive decisions may require decision makers to recognize that their own understanding of the world, and therefore interpretation of scientific data, is influenced by all Four Realms of human perception: Physical, Mental, Emotional, and Transcendental (Wolf 2017, Dukes et al. 2021, Clifford et al. 2022).

Source: Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America

DOI: 10.1002/bes2.70071

Authors: Nicole K. Ward, Kelly G. Guilbeau, Amanda L. Sesser, Abigail J. Lynch