Transcending
language barriers to environmental science

Our mission

One third of global scientific knowledge may currently be ignored because it is available only in languages other than English. On the other hand, about half of decision makers may not be utilizing scientific evidence that is available only in English. 95% of the world population may be missing out on the opportunity to make their best contribution to science because their first language is not English.

Clearly, tackling any global challenge, including the biodiversity crisis, hinges on the effective production and smooth flow of scientific information globally, yet this flow is severely hampered by the existence of language barriers. The translatE project applies scientific approaches to address this important, yet often overlooked challenge of transcending language barriers in science, with the aim of maximising scientific contributions to the conservation of the earth’s environment.

We believe that scientific communities need more concerted efforts for understanding and overcoming language barriers. If you are interested in our project, please get in touch with us. Let’s work together to tackle this important challenge.

Funding

translatE is funded by the Australian Research Council Future Fellowship (FT180100354), Discovery Projects (DP230101734), the University of Queensland strategic funding, and the 2021 University of Queensland grant for mentoring and diversity in biology.