Kathy Fallon Lambert, Ecologic: Analysis & Communications
Topic: Integrating Ecosystem Science and Environmental Policy

Kathy Fallon Lambert is the founder of Ecologic: Analysis & Communications, a consulting practice specializing in the translation of ecosystem science for policymakers and the public. She is also the former executive director of the Hubbard Brook Research Foundation (HBRF) where she designed a program called “Science Links” to help bridge the gap between long-term research from the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest and related public policy. The HBRF Science Links program is currently focused on the four pollutants under deliberation within the “multi-pollutant” legislative framework: sulfur, nitrogen, mercury, and carbon. In 2001, the flagship Science Links project “Acid Rain Revisited” galvanized public attention around this long-standing issue that many had dismissed as solved by the passage of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments. As a consultant, Kathy has worked on science and policy projects with HBRF, BioDiversity Research Institute, Harvard Forest, Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Bard College, Natural Resources Council of Maine, Vermont Institute of Natural Science, Connecticut River Joint Commissions, Conservation Law Foundation, and the Climate Variability and Change Working Group of the Northeast Ecosystem Research Cooperative. She has published over 20 articles and papers in magazines and peer-reviewed scientific journals. Kathy holds a B.A. from Dartmouth College and an M.F.S. from Yale University. She is a Switzer Fellow, Leopold Schepp Scholar and recipient of the U.S. EPA Environmental Merit Award.

Integrating Ecosystem Science and Environmental Policy
The Hubbard Brook Research Foundation initiated the Science Links program in 2000 to experiment with methods for improving the interaction and information exchange between scientists and policymakers. The program is based on the understanding that (1) environmental policy is more effective when it is grounded in environmental science; (2) ecosystem science can be enriched by an awareness of public policy issues; and (3) science serves the public best when it does not advocate specific policies, but instead provides scientific information about the likely outcomes of policy choices.

Science Links has produced a series of projects focused on the environmental consequences of human-induced changes in major biogeochemical cycles including sulfur, nitrogen, mercury and carbon. Through these projects, Science Links has enhanced our understanding of the challenges to improving the scientific basis for decision-making.

This talk will explore the rationale for the Science Links program and share the techniques we have used for increasing interactions between scientists and decision-makers, encouraging policy-relevant synthesis, translating scientific findings and engaging in outreach with policymakers and the media. Specifically, the challenges inherent in working with multi-disciplinary groups and aggressive reporters, navigating the advocacy/information waters, meeting short policy deadlines and bridging the language divide will be discussed.

For the practically-minded, this talk will also share lessons from the Science Links experience regarding how to define and structure a project, determine the budget, attract funding, and assess results.