Why FieldDoc?
FieldDoc fills a longstanding gap in the infrastructure supporting environmental restoration and conservation: the lack of a shared, authoritative system for tracking what happens on the ground.
Traditionally, funders and agencies know where money goes but struggle to validate what’s actually implemented—where trees are planted, wetlands restored, and so on.
Practitioners often manage data in spreadsheets, siloed databases, or grant reports that aren’t accessible or standardized across programs. As a result, it’s difficult to verify outcomes, coordinate across organizations, or communicate collective impact.
Rooted in data-driven decision-making
Too many conservation efforts go untracked, unverified, and ultimately undervalued. Our founders recognized the need for shared digital infrastructure to connect funders, practitioners, and policymakers through reliable, accessible data. From the start, we’ve focused on building robust data pipelines and intuitive tools for effective collaboration. We created FieldDoc to help funders track and verify outcomes—and to enable practitioners to document where and how they’re restoring the natural world.
2012
Chesapeake Bay Origins
The Commons partnered with major funders in the Chesapeake Bay watershed to address critical data management challenges. We focused on three core areas: standardized grant reporting, improved access to modeling tools, and mapping the locations of best management practice (BMP) installations. These efforts supported key funding programs whose investments led to measurable improvements in water quality throughout the Bay’s tributaries.
2018
FieldDoc 1.0
In 2018, The Commons launched FieldDoc 1.0—a platform built to support the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation's Chesapeake Bay Stewardship Fund and Maryland's Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Trust Fund. FieldDoc helped standardize how applicants reported their projects, using BMP definitions from the EPA’s Chesapeake Bay Program and integrating the CAST model to automatically calculate local nutrient and sediment load reductions.
To make the platform accessible to practitioners without GIS tools, we added features that let users map their nature-based work. This gave grantees a clear way to share detailed, location-specific data with funders—who, in turn, could track outcomes and report progress to state and federal agencies.
2024
FieldDoc 2.0
In 2024, FieldDoc 2.0 marked a major leap forward: a more flexible platform designed for large-scale collaboration and long-term impact tracking. The release broadened support for both funders and organizations managing full nature-based portfolios. FieldDoc 2.0 makes it possible to organize, standardize, and surface your work, ensuring that your nature-based data assets deliver value.
With wider geographic coverage, richer mapping tools, and streamlined funder workflows, FieldDoc 2.0 helps teams move beyond siloed systems—unlocking real-time insight, coordination, and visibility at scale.
Now
Innovating for today and tomorrow
As restoration and conservation efforts scale to meet urgent environmental challenges, the need for trustworthy, actionable data is growing too. FieldDoc is evolving to meet that need—supporting cross-sector collaboration, integrating with emerging nature tech platforms, and building tools that help practitioners not just track progress, but accelerate it.
Our mission hasn’t changed. We’re here to make it easier for the people doing the work to demonstrate impact, align with funders, and unlock the full potential of nature-based data—so every tree planted, stream restored, and habitat protected can be seen, valued, and scaled.
Meet the Team
John Dawes
Co-founder
Organizational founder with 10 years of experience leading software development projects that enhance environmental initiatives and strengthen organizations. John specializes in nonprofit business models that drive stakeholder buy-in and ensure long term financial growth and sustainability.
Erin Hofmann
Co-founder
Strategist at the intersection of environmental policy, technology, and science. With experience in data science, program management, and stakeholder engagement, Erin helps organizations leverage technology for ecological restoration and policy impact.
Brendan McIntyre
Co-founder
Software developer with 15 years of experience in programming and product design. Brendan’s environmental science background helps us understand domain needs and create grounded, user-friendly experiences in FieldDoc.
Ivan Trajkovic
Lead DevOps Engineer
Hailing from Serbia, Ivan Trajkovic has spent the last 20 years focusing on software development with a specialization in infrastructure design and automation. Ivan is passionate about backend systems, Distributed/highly-scalable/data-processing systems, as well as language design and functional programming.
Slava Fedosenko
Web Design & Development
Visual brand identity, web, and UX/UI designer with deep expertise in Webflow and front-end development. With over 8 years of experience in web design and development, Slava creates functional systems tailored to a brand’s goals and audience, helping brands express themselves clearly and confidently through design and the web.
Make a difference now
FieldDoc is made by The Commons, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Your donation—of any amount—helps us support communities working to nurture a healthy planet.