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Calvin Hall Center, seen in this November 2023 file photo, houses the Division of Mathematics, Physical and Natural Sciences at The University of New Mexico-�㽶��Ƶ.

UNM-�㽶��Ƶ professor co-authors paper published in 'Nature Climate Change'

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Article calls for a new vision of data-driven environmental decision making and equity

By Richard Reyes, Friday, March 28, 2025

GALLUP, N.M. — A professor at The University of New Mexico-�㽶��Ƶ co-authored a paper that calls for a new vision of data-driven environmental decision making, including the need to focus more on equity.

UNM-�㽶��Ƶ Associate Professor Dr. Antoinette Abeyta is one of 23 authors and members of the Ecological Forecasting Initiative (EFI) who collaborated on the paper which was published on the December 2024 issue of the specific journal

Ecological forecasts are a tool used to predict changes in ecosystems and how communities may be impacted, according to the EFI.

Abeyta pointed out that the focus from long-term to near-term forecasting is similar to what happened with meteorology. Weather forecasting moved toward an iterative approach, which provides updates more frequently.

“It’s important to understand the broad strokes of how the planet will change, but humans don’t think on those scales, so having short term forecasts is important,” Abeyta said.

Equity in science

The paper also highlights the need to focus on equity, workforce development, and broad cross-disciplinary and non-academic partnerships.

That’s where Abeyta and UNM-�㽶��Ƶ come in. Abeyta said UNM-�㽶��Ƶ, as a minority-serving institution, was invited to be involved in EFI around 2020.

Abeyta said she has been working with EFI to improve access to environmental data science education, which is primarily concentrated at the graduate level or at wealthy, research institutions.

“There’s a tremendous lack of training at community colleges and tribal serving colleges,” she said. “If you look at who is most impacted by climate change and environmental issues, it’s low income communities and communities of color, so the people who are most impacted are not getting the training into those environmental issues.”

Abeyta said she looked at data science training models to figure out what their underlying assumptions are and how that might not apply to students at a rural community college.

For example, the use of powerful computers and high-speed internet may exclude people who live in a rural area where these resources are not readily available for all.

“We want to teach these tools in a way that anyone can access them,” Abeyta said. “It might give a sense of empowerment and agency for people to advocate for themselves.”

UNM students and employees can access the journal for free using the "access via your instition" link.