MEDIA ADVISORY: Save the Date for ESA’s 2026 Annual Meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah
May 20, 2026
For Immediate Release
Contact: Mayda Nathan, mayda@esa.org
WHAT:
The Ecological Society of America is convening July 26–31 for its 2026 Annual Meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The conference will feature a distinguished roster of speakers, invited talks and thousands of scientific posters and contributed sessions.
Meeting plenaries and symposia reflect the meeting theme of “Ecology in an Era of Uncertainty.” This year’s ESA Annual Meeting explores how ecological science navigates and responds to uncertainty — from data and predictions to careers and funding — while addressing emerging challenges and building resilience for the future.
WHEN:
July 26–31, 2026
WHO:
Thousands of ecological scientists, educators and practitioners will gather from around the world to share new research findings and discuss solutions to today’s ecological and environmental challenges.
Tanya Berger-Wolf is the 2026 Scientific Plenary keynote speaker for the ESA Annual Meeting. A leading pioneer in AI for ecology, Dr. Berger-Wolf develops innovative approaches to biodiversity science and conservation, co-creating tools like Wildbook and helping shape global AI policy and practice. Her talk will explore how interpretable, knowledge-guided AI can integrate complex ecological data and theory to generate new insights and drive discovery. Dr. Berger-Wolf is a professor at The Ohio State University where she directs the Translational Data Analytics Institute and leads the Imageomics Institute as well as the Artificial Intelligence and Biodiversity Change Global Center.
María Uriarte is the 2026 New Phytologist Foundation Keynote speaker for the ESA Annual Meeting. Dr. Uriarte studies how ecosystems, and tropical forests in particular, respond to intensifying and interacting disturbances. Her research integrates long-term field data, remote sensing and statistical modeling to reveal how hurricanes, drought and land use reshape forest structure, carbon dynamics and resilience. Her talk will examine disturbance interactions, emerging tools and key research gaps shaping predictions of forest recovery. She is a professor at Columbia University.
Additional plenary and keynote speakers, as well as more detailed program information, will be announced in the coming weeks. ESA invites press and institutional public information officers to attend for free (see credential policy below). To apply, please contact ESA Public Affairs Manager Mayda Nathan at mayda@esa.org.
WHERE:
Salt Palace Convention Center, 100 S W Temple St, Salt Lake City, UT 84101
To learn more about this year’s meeting, please visit the ESA 2026 Annual Meeting website.
ESA Policy on Press Credentials
The ESA Press Office provides complimentary press registration to public information officers and institutional press officers, professional journalists representing media organizations, freelance journalists, photographers, videographers, bloggers, podcasters, authors, filmmakers, institutional science communicators and student journalists, for the express purpose of gathering news and information to produce media coverage of ESA meetings.
Public information officers and institutional press officers who cannot attend, but would like to promote presenters from their institutions, are welcome to prearrange distribution of press releases and other author materials on the meeting website. Press officers may request copies of all abstracts related to their institution.
Representatives of publishing houses, the business side of news media, political action committees or similar, and for-profit corporations, will not be accredited as press and will not be eligible for complimentary press registration. Editors of journals or other publications who do not report for or edit their outlet’s news section will also not be accredited as press and are not eligible for complimentary press registration.
Press registrants receive, at no charge, access to all scientific sessions. Some events, including but not limited to invitation-only events and communications workshops, are not open to press attendees.
Scientists who will be presenting at the meeting and who are also reporting from the meeting for a recognized media outlet may also be issued press credentials at the discretion of the ESA Press Office. Anyone who presents at the meeting must also register for the meeting and pay the appropriate fee as a presenter. These registrants should first register as press and indicate that they are also a presenter on their press registration form. These registrants should not register as a presenter until after being contacted by a member of the ESA Press Office who will provide additional information for registering as a presenter.
Press room access is issued at the discretion of the ESA Press Office and is non-transferable. All registrants must provide credentials regardless of whether they have received press registration for past ESA meetings. For registration, more information, or help finding scientists in our meeting program, please contact Mayda Nathan at mayda@esa.org.
Press Room
Pre-registered press will have access to a press room where they can enjoy refreshments, internet access, a printer, workspace and an interview area.
Journalists are encouraged to register in advance, but may also register on-site in the press room.
Additional information and links to individual sessions will be available soon. Check back at https://esa.org/saltlake2026/ for updates.
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The Ecological Society of America, founded in 1915, is the world’s largest community of professional ecologists and a trusted source of ecological knowledge, committed to advancing the understanding of life on Earth. The 8,000 member Society publishes six journals and a membership bulletin and broadly shares ecological information through policy, media outreach and education initiatives. The Society’s Annual Meeting attracts 4,000 attendees and features the most recent advances in ecological science. Visit the ESA website at https://www.esa.org
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