Resource and environmental management: connecting the academy with practice

The rewards and challenges related to a research program that involves interactions between basic and applied research are shared. Specific experience is examined regarding integrated water resource management, capacity enhancement in developing countries and writing textbooks. Key lessons include the manner in which applied research and practice inform and enhance basic research, the role of theoretical and conceptual frameworks in guiding applied research, the need to understand the distinction between multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary models and the importance of facilitating evolution from visions, strategies and plans to action.