Resources

BCF’s work is rooted in over 20 years of experiential learning about how to link knowledge to action. As staff of the Lenfest Ocean Program, we tested multiple approaches to grantmaking and engagement and wrote about what we learned. We will continue to share our experiences to help foster the vibrant and ongoing conversation about how science can better serve communities.

Scholarship About Use-inspired Science

Papers Authored by Former Lenfest Ocean Program Staff

How and why funders support engaged research

A.T. Bednarek, B. Miyamoto, K. Corbett, C. Hudson, G. Scarrow, M. Brass, K. DuMont, B. Holmes, L. Supplee, R. McLean, J. Bhatia, S. Chappell, M. Gorman Vélez, C. Kolavalli, How and why funders support engaged research, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 122 (1) e2400931121, (2025)

Enabling Usable Science Takes a Community: Using Our Role as Funders to Catalyze Change

Ripple, K.J., Hudson, C.G., Knight, E., Landrum, J.P., Bell, V., & Close, S.L. (2024). Enabling usable science takes a community: Using our roles as funders to catalyze change. PLOS Biology.

Telling Stories to Understand Research Impact: Narratives from the Lenfest Ocean Program

Hudson, C. G., Knight, E., Close, S. L., Landrum, J. P., Bednarek, A., & Shouse, B. (2022). Telling stories to understand research impact: Narratives from the Lenfest Ocean Program. ICES Journal of Marine Science.

Grant-Marking Criteria for Developing Useful and Usable Marine Science: A Philanthropic Perspective

Landrum, J. P., Hudson, C. G., Close, S. L., Knight, E., Paquin, R.-M., Bell, V., & Ripple, K. (2022). Grant-making criteria for developing useful and usable marine science: A philanthropic perspective. Frontiers in Marine Science, 8.

Lessons from Bright-Spots for Advancing Knowledge Exchange at the Interface of Marine Science and Policy

Karcher, D. B., Cvitanovic, C., van Putten, I. E., Colvin, R. M., Armitage, D., Aswani, S., Ballesteros, M., Ban, N. C., Barragán-Paladines, M. J., Bednarek, A., Bell, J. D., Brooks, C. M., Daw, T. M., de la Cruz-Modino, R., Francis, T. B., Fulton, E. A., Hobday, A. J., Holcer, D., Hudson, C., … Zhang, J. (2022). Lessons from bright-spots for advancing knowledge exchange at the interface of Marine Science and policy. Journal of Environmental Management, 314, 114994.

Science-Policy Intermediaries from a Practitioner’s Perspective: The Lenfest Ocean Program Experience

Bednarek, A. T., Shouse, B., Hudson, C. G., & Goldburg, R. (2015). Science-policy intermediaries from a practitioner’s perspective: The Lenfest Ocean Program experience. Science and Public Policy, 43(2), 291–300.

The Certainty of Uncertainty in Marine Conservation and What to Do About It

Bednarek, A. T., Cooper, A. B., Cresswell, K. A., Mangel, M., Satterthwaite, W. H., Simpfendorfer, C. A., & Wiedenmann, J. R. (2011). The certainty of uncertainty in marine conservation and what to do about it. Bulletin of Marine Science, 87(2), 177–195.

Papers that Reference the Lenfest Ocean Program

A Global Movement for Engaged Research

Bednarek, Angela, and Vivian Tseng. “A Global Movement for Engaged Research.” Issues in Science and Technology 38, no. 3 (Spring 2022): 53–56.

Ten Considerations for Research Funders Seeking to Enhance Knowledge Exchange and the Impact of Marine Science on Policy and Practice

Cvitanovic, C., Wyborn, C., Glenn, E., Kelly, R., Louder, E., van Putten, E. I., & Bednarek, A. (2021). Ten considerations for research funders seeking to enhance knowledge exchange and the impact of marine science on policy and Practice. Frontiers in Marine Science, 8.

Understanding the Impacts of Research Synthesis

Wyborn, C., Louder, E., Harrison, J., Montambault, J., Montana, J., Ryan, M., Bednarek, A., Nesshöver, C., Pullin, A., Reed, M., Dellecker, E., Kramer, J., Boyd, J., Dellecker, A., & Hutton, J. (2018). Understanding the impacts of research synthesis. Environmental Science & Policy, 86, 72–84.

Boundary Spanning at the Science–Policy Interface: The Practitioners’ Perspectives

Bednarek, A. T., Wyborn, C., Cvitanovic, C., Meyer, R., Colvin, R. M., Addison, P. F., Close, S. L., Curran, K., Farooque, M., Goldman, E., Hart, D., Mannix, H., McGreavy, B., Parris, A., Posner, S., Robinson, C., Ryan, M., & Leith, P. (2018). Boundary spanning at the science–policy interface: The Practitioners’ Perspectives. Sustainability Science, 13(4), 1175–1183.

Cross Currents Blog: Writing from the Lenfest Ocean Program

We invite readers to explore the full Cross Currents blog, for which we produced dozens of blogs about the partnerships and processes necessary to inspire action on a range of ocean and coastal issues. Included is the Taking Stock blog series, which allowed us to improve our approaches by exploring what worked and what didn’t across key projects