Working Group on TE

Goals

To address the gap between the practice of ecological research and the application of ecological knowledge to practical problems of natural-resource management.

Translational ecology has been proposed as a way to bridge that gap, drawing from translational medicine and other emerging enterprises working at the boundary between science and decision-making. Although ecology has a long and rich history of researchers engaging with practitioners, the communities of research and those of practice remain largely in separate silos. Institutional, linguistic, cultural, and other barriers separate the communities.

Motivating Questions

How can translational ecology most effectively surmount those barriers?
Is it simply a matter of clearer and louder communication on the part of the researchers?
Are more fundamental changes in research practice required?
What can practitioners do to foster better dialogue?

Working Group on Translational Ecology – November 17-20, 2015

We assembled a diverse group to discuss these questions and related issues. The group includes scientists from research institutions (universities and science agencies) and resource-management agencies, science translators and knowledge-brokers from boundary organizations (agencies, NGOs), and decision-makers from natural-resource management agencies and NGOs.

We discussed the opportunities and challenges of making translational ecology effective in the real world. We aim to capitalize on the real-world experience of the participants – successes and failures alike—in order to identify compelling case studies, highlight challenges and their solutions, and develop a working set of practices or principles for application.

The initial product of the working group is a special issue of Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment devoted to translational ecology, published in December 2017.

Workshop Organizers

Stephen T. Jackson – DOI Southwest Climate Science Center, USGS

Carolyn Enquist – DOI Southwest Climate Science Center, USGS

Gregg Garfin – Institute of the Environment, and School of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Arizona

Participating Organizations

Arizona State University

California Department of Fish and Game

CLIMAS (Climate Assessment for the Southwest)

College of the South

Department of the Interior (DOI) Alaska Climate Science Center, USGS

Department of the Interior (DOI) Northeast Climate Science Center, USGS

Department of the Interior (DOI) Southeast Climate Science Center, USGS