It is now well admitted that conservation biology, as a science, is too disconnected from practitioners of conservation and thus rarely provide useful and practical recommendations. This is especially true in the area of population dynamics and associated monitoring methods. Using concrete examples, I will show that fulfilling this gap requires to tightly interweave fundamental and applied research, expert assessment, as well as the training of current and future practitioners. Conducting such complementary activities – though not considered in the evaluation of an academic career - allows however to take up the practical challenges practitioners are confronted with. It also allows researchers to access datasets collected on large spatial and temporal scales to test more fundamental concepts. Lastly, working at the interface between methodological development and conservation allows to train students who will have a highly attractive profile for non-academic settings and will further contribute to develop a more efficient network between researchers and practitioners.