Synthesis centers: an essential tool

in our complex, data-rich future

A. Specht; J. Baron; M. Winter; P. Bishop; J. Boyd; A. Campbell; F. Davis; D. Hawthorne; C. Jonsson; J. Kramer; T. Meagher; M. Palmer; C. Salomon; D.

Steinaker; T. Vision.

The demands of climate change

Urgent need for crystallised knowledge around:

– complex multi-faceted ecological, economic and social problems

– not limited to political boundaries

We urgently need co-operation and collaboration across nations, organisations and disciplines…

This is common knowledge…but how do we do it?

How do we deal with the data deluge?

some collaborate, most don’t…

left: Data from Keniger and Specht (unpubl); right: inspired by Pennington et al. 2013

Can we engage with the people that we need to?

but we can learn …

The synthesis center

…catalyzes the collision of disciplines and ideas to promote convergence‒the

emergence of new scientific principles and knowledge and rapid incorporation of science

into policy

Baron et al., in review

http://synthesis-consortium.org/

Synthesis Centers around the world

Coverage

people

expertise

networks

data

Some hundreds of contributions…

quantifying the likely effects of climate change, and how to mitigate the effects on:

– carbon and nutrient cycling,

– hydrological and geochemical cycles,

– fire and extreme events,

– species’ range boundaries,

– health and disease,

– life cycles and growth,

– biodiversity and extinction risks,

– food and resource production…

Figure from Specht et al., 2015

Synthesis centers provide the

means…

Thankyou

www.synthesis-consortium.org