USU Presentation — Bridging Knowledge Systems: The Transformation Network’s Interepistemic Approach to Complex Challenges

Join the Transformation Network’s Principal Investigator, Melinda Morgan, for a talk at Utah State University. This will be the third talk in a series of presentations at universities across the Western U.S. Mindy will be speaking in NR 102 from 12:30 – 1:30 PM on Friday, November 8. Lunch will be provided at this presentation. View the event flyer here.

Talk Abstract: The challenges facing the Intermountain West are characterized by radical complexity and enormous consequences. They include climate change and associated ecological effects, such as catastrophic wildfire and drought, and are also inextricably linked to social inequities, including freshwater availability and land conversion. A meaningful response to these challenges requires new thinking. Convergent research is designed to foster new thinking by creating novel frameworks and conceptual models that drive innovation. In this talk, team lead Melinda Morgan will share the Transformation Network’s approach to convergent research, as well as its theoretical framework, Guided Transformation.

Speaker Bio: Melinda Morgan is a Regents’ Professor at the University of New Mexico in Geography and Environmental Studies. Mindy has dedicated her career to natural resource and environmental issues in the American West. Her research and scholarship focus on emerging environmental governance regimes, with a particular emphasis on how these approaches interface with existing legal and regulatory requirements. Along with Robin Craig, she is the author of The End of Sustainability: Resilience and the Future of Environmental Governance in the Anthropocene. She is currently the lead project investigator of the Intermountain West Transformation Network, a National Science Foundation funded Sustainable Regional Systems Network that represents a partnership between eight Western U.S. universities with over 80 partner organizations. Prior to academic life, she worked as an attorney, representing communities on natural resource issues.