Real-Life Decision Making -- Solution
You refuse to go along with the quick fix.
They threaten to dismiss you and abandon the project. You tell them you
will report the inadequacies of their plan to the authorities and maybe to
the press as well. After this prod, the agency agrees to correct this problem
properly and look for a more long-term solution.
This is the real-life decision made by soil scientist John
Beck.
"Sometimes you have to impose your knowledge of all the components, because
people often don't have a sense of just how precious soil is for our
planet," says Beck.
Overall, soil scientists must have strong decision-making skills. "You
have to be quite decisive," says Noorallah Juma. He is a university professor
who teaches soil sciences.
The consequences of a mistake in this field can be significant. "In extreme
cases, there could be health consequences," he says. Other possible consequences
include environmental degradation, financial loss and general resource mismanagement.