On May 5, 2017, ASU Center for Biodiversity Outcomes Founding Director, Leah Gerber, partnered with the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center to present the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials with a new tool for prioritizing recovery actions.

The plan, based on an algorithm specifically created for the United States, proposes to save as many as 200 additional species by tapping into funds currently allocated to save more iconic species, whose populations have decreased regardless of the millions of dollars invested to save them.

This proposal, already proven effective in New Zealand and Australia, is most timely as the Trump administration plans to reduce the budgets of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of the Interior, which oversees USFWS.