Right now, there are likely a dozen sensors within arm's reach of you. Consumer devices contain a wide range of general purpose sensors, enabling them to process and transmit data into meaningful metrics such as activity, air quality, sleep score, and heart rate. These sensors, and the embedded systems that control them, are ubiquitous, low-power, and

inexpensive. However, for a researcher exploring novel applications, consumer devices are largely useless due to limited customization and proprietary data pipelines. This means new applied engagements require a significant amount of bespoke technological infrastructure, essentially starting from scratch to fill a new sensing need. These underpinning

technology subsystems, which I call "technical scaffolding," receive little academic credit and are reported inconsistently in the text. This practice, however, constrains systems' ability to bridge the gap between prototypes and real-world deployments, thereby capping their potential impact. This dissertation provides a retrospective analysis of first-hand

experience in development and deployment. I present and review the development of FaceBit, a smart face mask for respiratory sensing, and of FlexiBLE, a toolkit for rapid prototyping of embedded sensing devices, and their use in implantable bioelectronics and wearable studies. I then shift to environmental science, with a qualitative study on the use

of field sensors, and finally to the development and field deployments of Makak, a system co-designed with Ojibwe Tribal Nations and organizations to conserve Manoomin (wild rice). Additionally, I provide a novel scoping review of ACM literature in embedded sensing systems to categorize how works are grounded in their applied context, what engineering

details are included and made available, and how systems are evaluated. Using these sources as evidence, I present eleven candidate framework components across three pillars: architectural patterns, an interoperability mechanism, and co-development practices. The goal is to promote shared tooling that enables generalizable, field-ready research

apparatus across mobile health, environmental conservation, and beyond, without having to rebuild scaffolding for each siloed development cycle.