From: Nicolson, C., Starfield, A., Kofinas, G. et al. "Heuristics for Interdisciplinary Modelers." Ecosystems (2002) 5: 376. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-001-0081-5
- Heuristic 1. Know what skills to look for when recruiting an interdisciplinary team.
- Heuristic 2. Invest strongly in problem definition early in the project.
- Heuristic 3. Use rapid prototyping for all modeling efforts.
- Heuristic 4. Allow the project’s focus to evolve by not allocating all funds up front.
- Heuristic 5. Ban all models or model components that are inscrutable.
- Heuristic 6. Instead of concentrating on one all-purpose synthesis model, invest in a suite of models, each with a well-defined objective.
- Heuristic 7. Maintain a healthy balance between the well-understood and the poorly understood components of the system.
- Heuristic 8. Sensitivity analysis is vital at all stages of the modeling effort.