Why a science-policy interface ?
Our area of expertise is called “SPI” for “Science-Policy Interface”. Activities in science-policy interface have only recently developped, and are therefore not well-known by management or science stakeholders. Interfacing is the critical missing link to connect scientists and policymakers; it enables much more efficient restoration and conservation actions, together with management decisions based on solid scientific backgrounds. Scientific knowledge applicable directly to specific issues is abundant, but is seldom used in management programs. SCIMABIO interface implements collaborative and dynamic approaches to address this situation.
Our goals
- Make scientific knowledge and research-based technological progress accessible to managers;
- Organize the transfer of new technologies and useful methods for policymaking;
- Develop operational and specific tools;
- Develop applied-research programs to answer stakeholders’ needs;
- Assist stakeholders in their decision-making.
Progessively, these processes will help develop a scientific culture within management and policymaking structures.
A science-policy interface: how and for whom ?
Our interface activity can add genuine scientific expertise to your projects on 3 different levels :
- With management stakeholders (public authorities,…) and direct managers (associations, companies…), to help drafting specifications before a public tender, to broker and build a knowledge base on a particular issue, to help with the scientific monitoring of any project all through its progress, or to advise on experimental protocols and actions with the use of specific technology (PIT-tag, fish-marking technique, genetics, post-action or fish-crossings evaluation, abundance estimates…), and to help develop decision-making tools.
- With providers and project managers (engineering offices, associations,…), to advise them on answering public calls and to integrate the latest available scientific knowledge, to help them gather specific scientific data, to assist them in their use of specialized technology (designing PIT-tag antennas, marking protocol and telemetric monitoring, genetic studies, growth-models associated to management…), to better integrate bibliographic syntheses into their projects and assist them in the statistical analysis and treatment of their data.
- With scientific structures (research institutes, schools and universities), to participate to specific research programs linked to our skills, to supervise master’s and doctoral projects and thesis, to develop research-action programs linked to needs of managers and to help popularize and transfer the acquired results.
Who are we ?
Arnaud Caudron holds a PhD in conservation biology. Trained as a fish biologist, he has 15 years of experience with both management and researc
h organizations.He specialized in the development of a collaborative approach of biodiversity conservation and in science-policy interface. He participated in several research-action programs on fish species and practical applications on conservation and restoration of natural populations. He participated to the development and transfer to management stakeholders of operational tools in different domains: population genetics, individual and mass-marking, fish migration, post-actions monitoring, thermal monitoring of habitats, decision-making models, large-scale diagnostics. To develop an efficient science-management interface, Arnaud keeps a national and international scientific activity linked to several research teams, supervising students, Ph. D or post-doctoral scientists, participating in conferences and seminars, and co-managing applied-research programs. He contributed to the drafting of about fifteen scientific publications.
Alexandre Richard received a PhD in ecology and population biology in 2014. He has 9 years of experience within the University of ap
plied sciences of western Switzerland (hepia, Geneva), in fish management and applied research. He had the responsibility for several projects linked with marking tools (calcein, PIT-tags on juveniles), and stocking-efficiency and dynamics of trout populations. He taught ecology and management of aquatic animal species to bachelor’ and master’ students and graduates. He worked closely with fishing stakeholders and hydropower producers. He wrote several scientific publications along his thesis, in international journals and participated to different international conferences.
Yann ABDALLAH worked for 10 years at Migrateurs Rhône-Méditerranée organization and is therefore a specialist in amphihalin migratory fishes a
nd large rivers managment. He has also worked with the administrative authorities to verify and validate numerous projects to restore ecological continuity in the Rhone-Mediterranean and Corsica basins. He has participated in the development of innovative methodologies and tools for the monitoring of fish in the natural environment. In particular, he contributed significantly to the development of the video-counting systems proposed by HIZKIA. Today, he represents the Ibaï Begi systems in France and Europe. Finally, he has been involved in various university courses to teach students about ecological continuity restoration on rivers and management of migratory fishes.