[toggles title=”In this Issue”] [toggle title=’APPROPRIATIONS: CONGRESS DEBATES SHORTTERM SPENDING MEASURE’] This month, the House and Senate wrestled over a measure to temporarily fund the federal government beyond the current fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30, 2013. The CR does not address authorization provisions of the farm bill that also expires on Oct. 1. The most significant portions of the…
[toggles title=”In this Issue”] [toggle title=’BUDGET: CONGRESS EXPECTED TO PUNT PRIORITY FUNDING ISSUES’] Congress returned this week with votes planned on legislation to authorize military force against Syria in response to the use of chemical weapons as well as a bill to a continuing resolution (CR) to temporarily fund the government while Congress negotiates an agreement on government program spending…
Jill Baron, an ecosystem ecologist with the United States Geological Survey and a senior research ecologist with Colorado State University’s Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, has been named President of the Ecological Society of America.
A quarter of the mature female tiger sharks plying the waters around the remote coral atolls of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands decamp for the populated Main Hawaiian Islands in the late summer and fall, swimming as far as 2,500 kilometers (1,500 miles).
The September 2013 Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment is an open access special issue on Earth Stewardship.
[toggles title=”In this Issue”] [toggle title=’BUDGET: CONGRESS ADJOURNS AMID IMMINENT SPENDING DEADLINES’] Congress has adjourned for the August district work period leaving a full plate of must-dos when members return after Labor Day. Many items on their list will need to be addressed before the end of September. The largest item will be the completion of the appropriations cycle. While…
Inaugural online-only Special Issue of Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment showcases prescribed burns around the globe.
Presentations on species interactions figure large at ESA’s 2013 annual meeting.
[toggles title=”In this Issue”] [toggle title=’APPROPRIATIONS: ENVIRONMENTAL AGENCIES SLASHED, FIRE PREVENTION GETS BOOST’] On July 22, House Republicans released a draft of the House Interior and Environment Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year (FY) 2014. The bill primarily funds environmental agencies such as the Department of Interior, the Environmental Protection Agency and the US Forest Service. The Interior and Environment appropriations…
Agriculture alters the landscape more than any other human activity, with trickle-down effects on water, soil, climate, plant and wildlife diversity, wildfire, and human health. Multiple sessions at ESA’s 98th Annual Meeting in Minneapolis will will examine routes to improved soil, water, and nutrient retention, and opportunities to increase biodiversity alongside food production.
ESA established its Regional Policy Award in 2008 to recognize an elected or appointed local policymaker who has integrated environmental science into policy initiatives that foster more sustainable communities.
[toggles title=”In this Issue”] [toggle title=’APPROPRIATIONS: HOUSE CJS BILL CUTS SCIENCE INVESTMENT’] On July 9, the House Appropriations Committee released its Commerce, Justice and Science and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of Fiscal Year (FY) 2014, which includes funding for the Department of Justice, Department of Commerce and several key science agencies for the coming fiscal year. In total, the CJS…
[toggles title=”In this Issue”] [toggle title=’CLIMATE CHANGE: OBAMA OUTLINES PLAN TO REGULATE GREENHOUSE GASES’] On June 25, President Obama announced his plan to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. The plan seeks to implement federal action on addressing climate change in lieu of Congress that has not passed comprehensive legislation to reduce carbon emissions throughout the president’s first-term. “Today, about 40 percent…
Spillover of infectious wildlife diseases to domestic animals and people and the link between environmental processes and human health.
Are human choices redefining the fitness of an ancient survival strategy? Media advisory For Immediate Release: Wednesday, 26 June 2013 Contact: Liza Lester (202) 833-8773 x 211; llester@esa.org In the late spring, the 4000 elk of the Clarks Fork herd leave crowded winter grounds near Cody, Wyoming, following the greening grass into the highlands of the Absaroka Mountains,…
For Immediate Release: Monday, 17 June 2013 Contact: Nadine Lymn (202) 833-8773 x 205; nadine@esa.org or Liza Lester (202) 833-8773 x 211; llester@esa.org During the Ecological Society of America’s (ESA) 98th Annual Meeting, the Society will present ten awards recognizing outstanding contributions to ecology. The awards ceremony will take place on Monday, August 5 at 8 AM in the auditorium…
[toggles title=”In this Issue”] [toggle title=’EDUCATION: STEM REORGANIZATION EFFORT MEETS BIPARTISAN CRITICISM’] On June 4, the House Science, Space and Technology Committee convened for a hearing examining the Obama Administration’s proposed reorganization of Science, Technology, Mathematics and Engineering (STEM) programs outlined in its proposed Fiscal Year 2014 budget. Under the plan, 110 of 226 federal agency STEM programs would be…
The Ecological Society of America (ESA) is pleased to announce its 2013 fellows. The Society’s fellows program recognizes the many ways in which our members contribute to ecological research and discovery, communication, education and pedagogy, and to management and policy.
On April 23, 2013, the Ecological Society of America sponsored a congressional briefing on the ecology of zoonotic diseases. The briefing highlighted the various environmental factors that can contribute to the spread of several prominent animal to human diseases.Presentations were given by Robert Parmenter, Director of the USDA Valles Caldera National Reserve Scientific Services Division and Gregory Glass, Professor at…
[toggles title=”In this Issue”] [toggle title=’BUDGET SEQUESTRATION: COMMITTEE REPORT HIGHLIGHTS IMPACTS ON NATIONAL PARKS’] House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Edward Markey (D-MA) recently released a report further detailing sequestration’s impacts on national parks. Noting that visitors to national parks spent about $30 billion in 2011, the report highlights several impacts it says are unavoidable. The report was released May…