Dr. Crist began work on conservation decision support systems in the 1990s but in 2001 started work on the tool that became NatureServe Vista; intended to support all sector planners needing to incorporate biodiversity conservation in their work. This multi-million dollar effort was originally funded by The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation with additional and later support from The Nature Conservancy, Centex Homes (now Pulte), Surdna Foundation, NASA, David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Chevron, Environmental Defense Fund, Bureau of Land Management, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Vista incorporates a science methodology, help documentation, and ArcGIS Software Extension (NatureServe Vista) to facilitate conservation assessments and planning by experts and non-experts. A large science and GIS team encompassing NatureServe, the Florida Natural Areas Inventory, The Wyoming Natural Diversity Database, UC Santa Barbara, and US Geological Survey Center for Science Policy and engineering group was convened to develop, build, and release the tool.