Allyson Beall King
Clinical Assistant Professor, School of the Environment
Washington State University

Allyson Beall King’s research includes the use of collaborative modeling and collaborative systems thinking exercises as an environmental problem-solving methodology for education, outreach, and planning. As a modeler, she utilizes system dynamics theory and software such as Vensim and Stella as well as the hydrologic software OASIS. Her previous projects have included endangered species management in central Washington, ecosystem services feedback analysis in the coastal Carolinas, and surface water supply concerns in the Okanagan Basin, British Columbia. Ongoing projects are focused on integrated water resource management for a sole-source ground water system in the Palouse Basin, which straddles the border of Washington and Idaho; a highly integrated surface–groundwater system in the Spokane Coeur d’Alene Basin, which is also a bi-state system on the border of Washington and Idaho; and climate adaptation scenario building in the irrigated-agriculture dominated Yakima Basin in central Washington.

Staying the Course: Collaborative Modeling as an Adaptive Process Over Time

Many collaborative modeling projects have been initiated, performed, and “completed” in a discrete time period. Timelines for funding, student graduations, or specific planning processes have often been the determining factor for many of these time periods. That being said, many of us have developed relationships with those we have worked with and also recognize that the dynamic systems we work on adapt and change over time. For some of us, revisiting places, people, and projects over time allows the opportunity for continuing education and outreach as well as the opportunity for model revision and iteration as new data or understanding has been developed. Revisions may include the movement from systems thinking exercises to dynamic quantitative models as well as the expansion and/or improvement of quantitative models. This talk describes a variety of collaborative modeling projects that have stayed the course with a group of people, geographic area, or dynamic problem over time; the challenges this presents; and insights gained by these long-term endeavors.