Out West (#20): Invasive Species Data Collection and Coordination

Invasive species are a complex and costly issue throughout the West. To properly address the issue, it’s imperative that the various states, agencies and stakeholders working on it have access to accurate data. This episode features an interview with Annie Simpson, a data coordinator for the Biofoundational Data Team in the Science Analytics & Synthesis Program with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. She details both the importance and the difficulties in accumulating quality data for such a vast number of species and organizing that data into a database that can be used by several different agencies.