Principles of translational science education

In a recent special issue in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment,
Enquist et al. (2017) present a welcome streamlining of modern applied
ecology emphasizing a collaborative approach to applied ecological
research involving resource-managers and scientists to produce actionable
science: translational ecology (TE). The authors, including ecologists, social
scientists, and conservation professionals, identified six principles defining
the practice of translational ecology: collaboration, engagement,
commitment, communication, process, and framing (Figure 1). In thinking
about how science education can be enhanced by directly involving
researchers in science education, we recognized remarkable overlap
between the principles of translational ecology (Enquist et al. 2017) and a
framework for developing mutually beneficial integrative partnerships
between scientists and educators. Here, we describe scientist-educator
analogies of the six principles of translational ecology: translational science
education (TSE).