Youngflesh named Ecological Society of America Early Career Fellow

by Cindy Landrum, Clemson University
May 5, 2026

Casey Youngflesh, a Clemson University scientist whose work leverages ecological big data to understand the natural world, has been named an Early Career Fellow by the Ecological Society of America (ESA).

The fellowship, one of the field’s top recognitions for emerging scientific leaders, honors scientists who demonstrate strong contributions and future potential across research, education, communication and the application of ecology to real-world problems.

“My brand as a scientist is working at this intersection of ecology and data science. I use computational tools to understand the mechanisms that shape biodiversity across space and time,” Youngflesh said. 

Traditionally, ecology research tended to focus on small, localized studies. While those studies provided detailed insight on the ecosystem being analyzed, they often failed to reveal the broader patterns that emerge across regions and species.

“Ecological systems are incredibly idiosyncratic,” he said. “We don’t want to just understand the system in Pickens County. We want to understand how these systems work more generally. But part of that general understanding is acknowledging how these things vary over time and space and across species, and why they vary across these different axes.”

Keep reading: https://news.clemson.edu/youngflesh-named-ecological-society-of-america-early-career-fellow/

Read the ESA announcement: https://esa.org/blog/2026/04/15/ecological-society-of-america-announces-2026-fellows/