{"id":37,"date":"2019-12-24T19:20:28","date_gmt":"2019-12-24T19:20:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/esa.org\/2019\/?page_id=37"},"modified":"2020-02-05T17:02:32","modified_gmt":"2020-02-05T17:02:32","slug":"diverse-people-for-a-diverse-science","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/esa.org\/2019\/our-people\/diverse-people-for-a-diverse-science\/","title":{"rendered":"Diverse People for a Diverse Science"},"content":{"rendered":"

ESA prides itself on not just being committed to principles of inclusion and diversity as a society, but on being a trailblazer in that regard. We take seriously the values explicated in our Diversity Statement<\/a> and look to constantly improve as an organization that supports equity and justice for all who would join with us. In 2019, our work \u2014 whether at the Annual Meeting<\/a> or as standalone programs \u2014 built on our past and looked ahead to an even better tomorrow.<\/p>\n

Strategies for Ecology Education, Diversity and Sustainability<\/h3>\n

ESA\u2019s SEEDS program<\/a> once again proved invaluable to diversifying the science of ecology and the member of ESA along with it. This award-winning education program advances the ecology profession as an option for underrepresented students by stimulating and nurturing their interests to participate and lead.<\/p>\n

From April 25-29, 2019 we hosted 12 students to participate in a field trip to the Canyonlands Research Center in Monticello, Utah run by The Nature Conservancy.\u00a0 The CRC is hosted at the Dugout Ranch, a working cattle ranch within the Bears Ears National Monument and right at the entrance of Canyonlands National Park \u2013 Needles District.\u00a0 This amazing location provided an outstanding venture into understanding the unique landscape of southeastern Utah and the Colorado Plateau, and it\u2019s rapid change as a reaction to climate change \u2013 the availability of water and the sustainability of livelihood through ranching in the area.<\/p>\n

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In August SEEDS\u00a0brought 43 undergraduates and 4 alumni to the Annual Meeting in partnership with the Doris Duke Conservation Scholars Program.\u00a0The\u00a0SEEDS\u00a0program included eight events during the week that engaged students participating with the program. Our\u00a0SEEDS\u00a0Partnerships for Undergraduate Research (SPUR) Fellows were recognized during the\u00a0ESA\u00a0Diversity Luncheon.\u00a0\u00a0Students came from 19 states and 29 institutions. Of the 43 students 22 students were funded by SEEDS, 16 by the Doris Duke Conservation Scholars program, and 4 students were sponsored by other organizations.\u00a0 Each student selected an ESA member to be their mentor for the week and 45 of the 47 students presented their research at ESA.<\/p>\n

From September 25-29, 2019 the SEEDS program hosted its yearly Leadership Meeting at the Virginia Coastal Reserve LTER in Cape Charles, VA! The theme of the meeting was \u201cBorder Ecology: the interactions between ecology and other fields.\u201d and 20 students from all over the US participated in this event. We had a few distinguished ESA members present on their careers \u2014 ESA President Osvaldo Sala, Executive Director Catherine O\u2019Riordan, and Malina Loeher, SEEDS alum and M.S. student at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science \u2014 which was key in making this a great event.\u00a0\u00a0The students participated in outreach activities, collected data and had the opportunity to explore the amazing ecosystems of the barrier islands of the Chesapeake Bay, marine ecology, and climate change factors that are affecting these delicate systems.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n