2021 USDA Forest Service Technology Transfer Report

Technology transfer (“tech transfer”) and science delivery at the USDA Forest Service R&D, with the goal to enhance the utility of scientific information, is defined as pulling together and synthesizing information from a range of disciplines and delivering it in clear and accessible formats to fit user needs. USDA Forest Service science is complex, but the need for research is simple. Land managers, forest managers, city planners, and policymakers need sound science on all aspects of the natural world and its complex connections with people to make decisions resulting in a healthy and sustainable future for present and future generations of Americans.

The culture of focusing on science delivery (and “tech transfer” as a subset of science delivery) is a bit dated. R&D has evolved as a science organization to pursue co-development of knowledge together with practitioners and decisionmakers. Science delivery and tech transfer describe a linear process where science is conducted, knowledge is gained by scientists, and then is provided to the end-users as a final step. In contrast, our scientists are bringing knowledge users, stakeholders, and decisionmakers into the science process from the very beginning, a process that includes feedback loops. 

In today’s Forest Service, this co-development of knowledge has become central to the research process and helps to increase the relevance of the organization’s science findings and tools. This valuable form of science production and application, of which Forest Service R&D is a pioneer, sets the agency apart from universities and other academic institutions. In short, R&D works hand-in-hand with managers to build knowledge together and design solutions.