Age, experience, social goals, and engagement with research scientists may promote innovation in ecological restoration

Jakki J Mohr; Tina M Cummins; Theresa M Floyd; Elizabeth Covelli Metcalf; Ragan M Callaway; Cara R Nelson

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0274153

Age, experience, social goals, and engagement with research scientists may promote innovation in ecological restoration

PLoS One. 2023 Apr 25;18(4):e0274153. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0274153. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Jakki J Mohr¹, Tina M Cummins², Theresa M Floyd³, Elizabeth Covelli Metcalf², Ragan M Callaway⁴, Cara R Nelson⁵

Affiliations

¹ College of Business and Institute on Ecosystems, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana, United States of America.
² W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana, United States of America.
³ College of Business, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana, United States of America.
⁴ Division of Biological Sciences and Institute on Ecosystems, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana, United States of America.
⁵ Department of Ecosystem and Conservation Sciences, W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana, United States of America.

Abstract

Innovation in ecological restoration is necessary to achieve the ambitious targets established in United Nations conventions and other global restoration initiatives. Innovation is also crucial for navigating uncertainties in repairing and restoring ecosystems, and thus practitioners often develop innovations at project design and implementation stages. However, innovation in ecological restoration can be hindered by many factors (e.g., time and budget constraints, and project complexity). Theory and research on innovation has been formally applied in many fields, yet explicit study of innovation in ecological restoration remains nascent. To assess the use of innovation in restoration projects, including its drivers and inhibitors, we conducted a social survey of restoration practitioners in the United States. Specifically, we assessed relationships between project-based innovation and traits of the individual practitioner (including, for example, age, gender, experience); company (including, for example, company size and company's inclusion of social goals); project (including, for example, complexity and uncertainty); and project outcomes (such as completing the project on time/on budget and personal satisfaction with the work). We found positive relationships between project-based innovation and practitioner traits (age, gender, experience, engagement with research scientists), one company trait (company's inclusion of social goals in their portfolio), and project traits (project complexity and length). In contrast, two practitioner traits, risk aversion and the use of industry-specific information, were negatively related to project-based innovation. Satisfaction with project outcomes was positively correlated with project-based innovation. Collectively, the results provide insights into the drivers and inhibitors of innovation in restoration and suggest opportunities for research and application.

Copyright: © 2023 Mohr et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Publication types

Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Ecosystem*
Goals*
Uncertainty
United States

Grants and funding

This research was supported by the Montana Institute on Ecosystems, the NSF EPSCoR National Science Foundation EPSCoR Cooperative Agreement OIA-1757351, and the National Science Foundation under award number IAA-1443108. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.