The rangeland profession has made great strides in producing applied science, datasets, maps, tools, and practices to support resource management. Technological advances provide opportunities to use a wealth of powerful new knowledge in decision-making. However, the adoption and use of these products and practices in resource management have lagged behind their development. It is often difficult for resource managers to access, interpret, integrate, or apply this information to their management decisions, and the large volume of products leads to information overload.

People with a variety of backgrounds have a place in technical transfer. Technical transfer can be done by dedicated technical transfer professionals, university extension or research faculty, scientists, agency resource specialists or biologists, communications specialists, and anyone else who supports others in using technical information in resource management.

You may have heard technical transfer referred to as extension, technology transfer, science-to-implementation, science-to-practice, science integration, or other terms.

Technical transfer bridges what we know and what we do. Concerted, collaborative, bidirectional effort is needed to move technical information developed from learning and knowledge generation processes into action. Communicating and integrating technical information—key technical transfer actions—help bridge this gap.

LEARN	Learning happens through the conventional scientific process and other means of generating and sharing knowledge. Scientists and others contribute to a body of knowledge, ideally involving managers and end users through co-production. Other forms of knowledge, such as place-based local expertise, Indigenous Knowledge*, and peer-to-peer learning networks, are elevated alongside Western science.
COMMUNICATE	For academic audiences, knowledge is typically shared through journal articles and scientific conferences. For broader audiences, communication highlights key takeaways, visualizes information creatively, and paints a narrative. However, communicating about every scientific study or product perpetuates information overload for managers and practitioners due to the volume of data, science, and tools.
INTEGRATE	The most impactful technical transfer filters and distills the most actionable information and best practices from a wide body of knowledge. This approach integrates important, relevant, digestible, and actionable information. For maximum impact, technical transfer is conducted in collaboration with specific audiences and applied within the context of real-world management decisions, actions, or questions.
ACT	Resource managers are empowered to make decisions informed by relevant science, data, technology, and knowledge. Local communities, diverse values, and agency or group policies and norms also guide decisions.

*We emphasize the importance of Indigenous Knowledge and other ways of knowing as equal to Western Science. However, technical transfer is not an appropriate process for engaging with Indigenous Knowledge. Indigenous Knowledge requires relationships with Indigenous Peoples through a process that is participatory and inclusive, not extractive and appropriative. Mutually beneficial partnerships centered in place, respecting Tribal and Indigenous sovereignty and land rights, protecting Indigenous Knowledge and Indigenous People, and acknowledging historical context and injustice are one model for integrating Indigenous Knowledge with decision-making. This model likely differs from how practitioners engage with Western Science.