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).