flowchart TD A["📱 EcoPlot Mobile<br>(shared codebase)"] --> B["🎨 Your branding<br>logo · colors · domain"] A --> C["🛠️ Your protocols<br>methods · species lists · categories"] A --> D["📄 Your reports<br>printable PDF · CSV · GeoJSON"] B --> E["☁️ Hosted deployment<br>app.your-org.com"] C --> E D --> E E --> F["🗄️ Your private database<br>+ 30-day data portability"]
Services
Build first, bill later.
Every project starts with a free discovery session. You only pay once we’ve built something you want to use.
Field-data apps · Dashboards · Automations · SQL databases · Shiny applications
Discovery session
Free · ~30 minutes. We sit down (video, or in person if you’re in Tucson) and dig into what you’re trying to do — what data you have, where it lives, who needs it, and what’s breaking. You leave with a plan, whether or not you hire us.
Custom data-collection app (your own EcoPlot)
Your own fully-branded, offline-first field-data app. We take our EcoPlot Mobile PWA and customize it to your protocols, reports, and domain — private database, managed hosting, no app store. We host it; you just collect data.
More details & examples
Same offline-first iOS + Android browser app under the hood, with a managed SQL backend and cloud hosting. We host it for you on a retainer (recommended — we handle backups, updates, security, and uptime), or deploy into your own Azure subscription if you have a strict internal-only policy.
- Your own branded deployment at
app.your-org.com— hosted on our infrastructure - Custom survey protocols — your methodology baked in (rangeland, wetlands, fisheries, wildlife, restoration, ag, public works)
- Automated reports — hand them to clients, agency partners, or grant officers without reformatting
- Custom CSV / Excel exports — column names and units matching how your analysts already work
- Private database — your data stays yours
- Single sign-on via your Entra / Azure AD tenant
- Office Data Portal — visualize, analyze, and export from the desk
Good fit when you collect field, site, or sample data, you’ve outgrown paper or spreadsheets, and you’d rather start with a working platform than commission a build from scratch.
R Shiny app development
Interactive web apps and dashboards built in R Shiny — the analytical power of R (modeling, geospatial work, custom visualizations) wrapped in a clean, shareable app your team can actually use.
flowchart LR A["🗄️ SQL database<br>or data source"] --> B["📦 R / Shiny<br>app logic"] B --> C["📊 Interactive UI<br>(plots, tables, maps)"] C --> D["👥 Users<br>explore · filter · export"]
More details & examples
- Interactive dashboards with live database connections
- Scientific and ecological data-visualization tools (maps, plots, time series)
- Internal data-entry and review apps with validation and audit logs
- KPI / financial / operational reporting apps for leadership
- Public-facing data-exploration tools (filter, drill down, export)
Good fit when Excel or off-the-shelf BI tools can’t quite do what you need, or when you want analysis and a user interface in the same place.
See one live: the NEON Small Mammal Tracker — a research dashboard that pulls small-mammal trapping data straight from the NEON API and turns it into interactive maps, plots, and tables. No sign-up, works on your phone.
SQL database management
The foundation under everything else. We design, build, tune, and maintain SQL databases so your apps and dashboards have a clean, reliable place to read from and write to.
flowchart LR A["📥 Apps & forms"] --> D["🗄️ SQL database<br>schema · indexes · constraints"] B["🔗 APIs & integrations"] --> D C["📂 Imports / migrations"] --> D D --> E["📊 Dashboards & Shiny apps"] D --> F["📈 Reports & analytics"] D --> G["🔐 Backups & audit"]
More details & examples
- Schema design & modeling — normalization, indexing, constraints, and audit columns done right the first time
- Database setup & migration — SQL Server, PostgreSQL, SQLite, Azure SQL; move off spreadsheets, Access, or aging systems
- Performance tuning — slow-query analysis, index review, query rewrites, execution-plan inspection
- Stored procedures, views & functions — business logic where it belongs
- Backups, restores & disaster recovery — automated, tested, documented
- Security & access control — role-based permissions, row-level security, encrypted connections
- Ongoing administration — health checks, capacity planning, version upgrades
Handling private landowner data, government records, or anything regulated? See how we approach data security →
Good fit when you’re outgrowing spreadsheets, your queries are slow, your data is duplicated across systems, or you need a real database behind a Shiny app, dashboard, or collection tool.
Data engineering & integration
When your data lives in five places and none of them agree, this is where we start. We build the pipelines that move data between systems, validate it on the way through, and land it cleanly in your database.
flowchart LR
A["📂 Raw sources<br>Excel · CSV · API · DB"] --> B["⚙️ Ingest<br>Parse & normalize"]
B --> C{"🔍 QA checks<br>Type · Range · Rules"}
C -->|Pass| D["🗄️ Clean database<br>SQL / SQLite / Azure SQL"]
C -->|Fail| E["🚨 Error log<br>Bad rows flagged,<br>not committed"]
D --> F["📊 Dashboard<br>or export"]
More details & examples
- ETL / ELT pipelines (R, Python, SQL — scheduled or event-driven)
- API integrations (Stripe, QuickBooks, Airtable, Salesforce, custom REST APIs)
- Spreadsheet cleanup & migration into a real database
- Data-validation rules — type checks, business rules, audit logs
- Cloud data infrastructure on Microsoft Azure when you need it
Other data-collection apps
If your data starts as paper forms, shared spreadsheets, or text-message screenshots, this is where to fix it. We build custom apps for capturing data the moment it happens — in the field, on a clipboard, or at the front desk — and pipe it straight into a clean database.
flowchart LR Y["📝 Custom protocols,<br>lists, or surveys"] --> A["📱 Data collection<br>(offline capable)"] A --> B["✅ QA/QC check<br>in app"] B --> C["🔄 Sync to server<br>(when online)"] C <--> D["☁️ Central database<br>(server)"] D -->|New data, updates| C X["🗂️ Historical data import<br>(batch upload)"] --> D
More details & examples
- Field data-collection apps (works offline, syncs when back in range)
- Mobile-friendly forms for inspections, surveys, sample collection, intake
- Internal data-entry tools with validation, dropdowns, and required fields
- Desktop apps (.exe) for crews working without internet
- Patient / client / participant intake forms that feed your reporting
Good fit when you’re still collecting on paper, your team is double-entering data, or your current form-to-spreadsheet flow is fragile.
Workflow automation
The work you keep doing by hand every week — that’s what we automate. Usually bolted onto the Shiny apps, databases, or pipelines we’ve already built, so the automation has a real foundation underneath it.
flowchart LR A["🔔 Trigger<br>(event/schedule)"] --> B["⚙️ Automation<br>logic"] B --> C["📤 Action<br>(report, notify, sync)"]
More details & examples
- Scheduled reports that land in your inbox every Monday
- Form → database → dashboard pipelines (Google Forms, Typeform, JotForm, etc.)
- Email / Slack notifications when a threshold is hit or something needs review
- Two-way data syncs between tools that don’t talk to each other (CRM ↔︎ accounting ↔︎ database)
Hosting & maintenance (optional)
After we ship, keep us on a monthly plan to host and look after what we built — backups, updates, security, and uptime. Plans from $25/mo, cancel anytime with 30 days notice. Your data is always portable: a complete export of your database and deployment config within 30 days, no lock-in.
Mission pricing for ecology labs & nonprofits
Mission-aligned and working with a tight budget? We offer significantly reduced rates, and each year we take on a small number of fully funded Fellowship projects at no cost — in exchange for sharing the results as a public case study.
How it works
- Start with the same free discovery session as any project — tell us about your work and what your budget realistically looks like.
- If you’re mission-aligned (ecology, conservation, environmental, rangeland, tribal programs, or public-good research) and funds are tight, we’ll find a reduced rate that fits.
- A limited number of Fellowship projects each year are delivered fully funded, in exchange for sharing the results as a public case study.
Not sure which one you need?
Tell us the problem. We’ll tell you which service fits — or if you don’t actually need us yet.
