Science to Implementation

From wetland and waterbird research to rangeland monitoring tools, moving science into the hands of our partners on the ground strengthens migratory bird habitat conservation and our partnerships across the West.

Science and land management are two complex worlds that often become disconnected. Bridging the gap between knowledge and action helps ensure land managers have the most relevant information to inform their decisions.

This is where science to implementation comes in.

Science to implementation—otherwise known as technical (“tech”) transfer—represents the approaches we use to inform habitat conservation by providing partners with enhanced access, interpretation, and application of science, local and traditional knowledge, and practices in order to strengthen on-the-ground outcomes.

Components of science to implementation or tech transfer. Through collaboration and co-production, we integrate partnership, science, and science-based tools to bridge knowledge and implementation.

Science often requires additional manipulation so results can be integrated into local and state-level planning or formated in ways that address landowner and agency/NGO-specific needs.

Partners often need support in working across habitat types and ownership boundaries to implement science products and planning. With tech transfer, the IWJV can help partners assess their science and capacity needs and develop new tools and communication strategies to ensure science is translated into action.

These actions also help encourage the development of more comprehensive and landscape-scale conservation planning. Furthermore, this information delivery system can support financial investments that allow partners in critical areas to develop planning tools that allow them to synchronize the way they tackle conservation issues.

From assessing the informational and resource needs of our partners, co-producing science, and working with partners to develop tools to providing training on the use of science-driven tools, resources, and techniques, the IWJV acts as a vital bridge that is often a missing link in effective technical transfer. With a powerful communications program and multi-disciplinary expertise, we serve as a trusted resource for our partners and cooperative efforts to communicate relevant social-ecological science, inform and prioritize strategic conservation decisions, support and direct financial investment. Our work helps to close the gap between science and implementation.

We integrate technical transfer/science to implementation approaches into all of our efforts, tailoring our methods to the needs of our partners, and leveraging science and local and traditional knowledge to move past barriers and strengthen conservation outcomes. For each technical transfer project, we assess and address barriers to our partners’ ability to access, interpret, and apply information within the context of their work. This means every technical transfer project looks a little bit different, just like every corner of the Intermountain West where we work.

Science to Implementation Around the Intermountain West

How the IWJV and its partners are putting science to work on the ground

Low-Tech Wet Meadow Restoration Workshops
Northeast California NRCS Wetland Reserve Easement Prioritization
NRCS EQIP Targeted Conservation Program in the San Luis Valley
Virtual Seminar: Google Earth Engine for Systems Ecology and Conservation Design

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