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2026 Candidate Naupaka Zimmerman

Naupaka Zimmerman (CV)
Assistant Professor
University of Kansas

Candidate for: Member of the Governing Board

Naupaka Zimmerman is an Assistant Professor in the Environmental Studies Program at the University of Kansas. A microbial ecologist interested in the ecology of the foliar microbiome in natural and agricultural systems, his research focuses on fungal endophytes—-fungi that inhabit the healthy leaves of plants without causing disease. This work encompasses field studies, greenhouse and growth chamber experiments, molecular approaches, and informatics.

He received an A.B. in Environmental Science, Public Policy, and Cultural Anthropology from Harvard, a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from Stanford, and worked as an LSRF postdoctoral fellow in Plant Sciences at the University of Arizona. Before moving to the University of Kansas in 2025, he was an Associate Professor at the University of San Francisco in the Biology Department.

His involvement with ESA began in 2008. Since then he has been involved with the society in a number of roles, including most recently as Program co-Chair of the 2025 Annual Meeting in Baltimore. He also served as treasurer, vice chair, and chair of the student section (2008-2011), as part of the leadership of the Open Science Section (2014-2015) and Early Career Ecologist Section (2017-2020), and as a member of the Ecology for the New Generation committee (2011-2012), the Odum Education Award committee (2009-2012), and the Professional Ethics and Appeals committee (2012-2024). He has led or co-organized over 20 workshops at ESA conferences, focusing on scientific topics as well as early career issues and ecological data science skills.

Outside of ESA, he contributed to the founding of a student section in the Mycological Society of America and co-founded the International Network of Next-Generation Ecologists (INNGE), a global network of early-career researchers. He served on the governing board of the International Association for Ecology (INTECOL) from 2013-2017.

What Interests, Experience or Skills Would You Bring to This Position?

I would bring to the position a diverse set of job experiences that enable me to connect with different constituencies within ESA’s membership. I have worked as a faculty member in both primarily undergraduate and research universities in states with very different political orientations (California and Kansas). Prior to graduate school, I worked as an intern a number of summers for the USDA Forest Service, so I also have some experience with the work rhythms of a federal agency. I have served on the governing boards of two international ecological groups, which taught me how to work well with people across different cultures and professional norms.

The other area of interest that I would bring to the role would be a strong background in open science and computational training. In this rapidly changing AI landscape, ESA as a society and ecology as a discipline will have to wrestle with how these changes will affect the research and teaching we do. My connections with folks at the Environmental Data Science Innovation and Impact Lab, NCEAS, NEON, and the Carpentries may be helpful as the discipline finds a way forward.

How Would You Support ESA’s Mission?

Without a strong and supportive community of people to do, to communicate, and to teach the science of ecology, it will wither. This means that initiatives to ensure that all voices are heard and that people feel safe and valued at meetings as well as in the profession are not ancillary; they are essential to helping our science thrive. My own professional trajectory was profoundly shaped by a number of pivotal internships and mentors, and I firmly believe that it is these types of opportunities that draw people into the science of ecology and support them once they are there. That also means making sure the society has the resources to serve this role. The next few years will require strategic rethinking of the role of publications and meetings in the funding of the society. My key goal in this role would be to help amplify the voices of those members not currently being heard and advocating for them to have a louder voice in shaping the path of the society going forward.