The current and future use of artificial intelligence for systematic evidence synthesis in environmental management

Biljana Macura, PhD, Stockholm Environment Institute, Sweden

Biljana Macura is a Senior Research Fellow at Stockholm Environment Institute (HQ) in Stockholm. She is an environmental social scientist. Biljana produces rigorous syntheses of scientific evidence, including systematic reviews and maps, to inform decision-making in environment and development. Biljana is particularly interested in evidence-informed decision-making, knowledge co-production and stakeholder engagement, policy needs assessment and use of different forms of evidence to investigate complex environmental and development problems. She also works on the improvement and development of methodology for evidence synthesis and provides training in this field. Biljana is the Editor-in-Chief of Environmental Evidence journal.

Shinichi Nakagawa, PhD, Evolution & Ecology Research Centre, The University of New South Wales, Australia

Shinichi Nakagawa is a professor of evolutionary biology and synthesis and a newly appointed Canada Research Excellence Chair for Open Science and Synthesis in Ecology and Evolution at the University of Alberta. His work revolves around understanding variation using research synthesis methods, and the development of new methodologies, especially for meta-analysis.
 

Samantha Cheng, PhD, World Wildlife Fund, United States of America

Dr. Sam Cheng is WWF's Director for Conservation Evidence and works across the organization and with external organizations to advance evidence-informed practice in conservation programs. She has extensive experience partnering with government agencies, conservation non-profits, multilateral institutions, and foundations to systematically evaluate the impact of conservation on ecological and social outcomes and identify key insights to guide policy, practice, and research. Her work also focuses on the process of utilizing evidence to inform decisions in conservation and development by examining where, when, and how to provide timely and responsive evidence for different policy and program scenarios. She works to develop and improve open-source methods and tools for identifying, synthesizing, and delivering evidence for pressing policy questions for conservation and development.