Closing the research-implementation gap using data science tools: a case study with pollinators of British Columbia

A challenge in conservation is the gap between knowledge generated by researchers and the information being used to inform conservation practice. This gap, widely known as the research-implementation gap, can limit the effectiveness of conservation practice. One way to address this is to design conservation tools that are easy for practitioners to use. Here, we implement data science methods to develop a tool to aid in conservation of pollinators in British Columbia. Specifically, in collaboration with Pollinator Partnership Canada, we jointly develop an interactive web app, the goal of which is two-fold: (i) to allow end users to easily find and interact with the data collected by researchers on pollinators in British Columbia (prior to development of this app, data were buried in supplements from individual research publications) and (ii) employ up to date statistical tools in order to analyse phenological coverage of a set of plants. Previously, these tools required high programming competency in order to access. Our app provides an example of one way that we can make the products of academic research more accessible to conservation practitioners. We also provide the source code to allow other developers to develop similar apps suitable for their data.