USGS Executive Leadership Team

Science Impact Workshop on Joint Fact Finding

January 8, 2004, Reston, VA

The USGS Director, Charles Groat, convened a Science Impact Workshop on Joint Fact Finding, presented by the Consensus Building Institute and the Science Impact program, for the USGS Executive Leadership Team (ELT) and invited guests on January 8, 2004 at USGS headquarters in Reston, VA.  The ELT is composed of senior policy-level leaders of the major USGS organizational components.  The Deputy Director, the Associate Directors for Biology, Geography, Geology and Water, and the Central and Western Regional Directors were among the ELT participants at the workshop.

Director Groat introduced the session, which was structured as a highly interactive discussion.  Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management and Budget, Lynn Scarlett was the keynote speaker. Thomas Weimer, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Water and Science and Robert Lamb, Senior Advisor to A/S Lynn Scarlett attended as guests of the Director.  Other guests included the Senior Renewable Energy Advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management. Carl Shapiro, Senior Advisor to the Director and Science Impact program coordinator, placed joint fact finding within the context of the Science Impact program.

MUSIC co-directors, Lawrence Susskind and Herman Karl, introduced the concept of joint fact-finding and described why it offers a better approach to resolving science-intensive policy disputes.  They presented the draft “Guidelines for USGS Participation in Collaborative Public Engagement Processes” and led a discussion on how to maintain scientific excellence and impartiality.