The lead wildlife biologist places a tablet on the table in front of you. She leans against the bookshelf, filled with field guides, old notebooks, and stacks of loose papers. “Everything you need is on that tablet. All the information about the moose, the wolves, Isle Royale… everything. Rarely do we have this much information on an ecosystem we’re studying. We need you to review all of it. We have to make a decision, if we are going to introduce more wolves to the island or if we should wait a while longer. Take good notes, there is a lot of information to consider. Write up your assessment and your recommendation and email it to me, feel free to call in some colleagues if you need more help. I’d like your assessment by the end of the week. I will be traveling in Canada, so my cell service will be spotty, I trust you to make a good judgement call. Rolf is counting on us.”
You pick up the tablet and turn it on, the glow of the screen shows rows of icons. Websites, data sheets, video clips, and image files litter the screen in no immediately apparent order. Should you start with learning more about Isle Royale? You have never been there, perhaps learning more about the space will help you understand how things got to the point where wolves needed to be reintroduced to the island in the first place. You quickly scan the icons, tapping and moving them to reorder all the ones with “Isle Royale” in the title to one side of the tablet, then decide which one to choose first.