by Benjamin S. Halpern1,2, Julien Brun1, Amber Budden1, Marty Downs1, Carrie V. Kappel1, and Julia S. Stewart Lowndes1 1National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 2Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA When the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) started shutting down its research labs on March…
Dear ecological community, We reach out to you today in sadness and solidarity. Recent acts of violence against the Black community as seen in the horrific killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery, have sparked protests across the United States. They underscore the long history of racism and discrimination in our country. Racism and prejudice continue to harm…
by National Ecological Observatory Network When humans can’t get to the field for ecological research, could the robots take over? When humans can’t get to the field for ecological research, could the robots take over? COVID-19 has limited the ability of ecologists to get to the field to collect samples and check instruments in many parts of the world. While…
Dear ESA Member, ESA will be holding a totally virtual Annual Meeting this year from August 3–6 in response to the pandemic. The virtual meeting will provide an opportunity for you to join colleagues and leaders from across the field for four days of inspiration and community focused on your research and your career as each of us looks ahead…
by Jorge V. Crisci (Universidad Nacional de la La Plata, Argentina) and Tod F. Stuessy (Ohio State University, USA) The great German physicist Werner Heisenberg remarked that nature does not reveal itself directly but only through questions we ask about it. This is true for questions we have with the tragic pandemic of COVID-19. In the last 17 years, coronaviruses,…
Blog post by ESA President Osvaldo Sala On April 9, I represented ESA in a meeting with Joanne Tornow, NSF assistant director for the NSF Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO). Tornow organized the Zoom meeting to listen to concerns of scientific society leaders and to inform us of NSF’s COVID-19 pandemic response. The other attendees were presidents and CEOs of…
The Ecological Society of America (ESA) will present the 2020 awards recognizing outstanding contributions to ecology in new discoveries, teaching, sustainability, diversity, and lifelong commitment to the profession during the Society’s Annual Meeting August 2-7. ESA is weighing whether to hold an in person meeting in Salt Lake City that includes a virtual option or whether to hold a totally…
By Martha Downs, Frank Davis, Jenn Caselle, Julien Brun, and Kristen Weiss Like marine fog that blankets one community while leaving a nearby neighborhood in sunshine, COVID 19 crept up on us at an uneven pace. In California, awareness and action to halt its spread came quickly, with in-person instruction at UC Santa Barbara, where the LTER Network Office is…
ESA’s fellowship program recognizes the many ways in which its members contribute to ecological research and discovery, communication, education and pedagogy, and management and policy.
Dear ESA Members, ESA is thinking about all those who are affected by the disruption to daily life caused by the COVID-19 (coronavirus). We are concerned about the impact that the spread of this disease will personally have on members of the ecologic and the greater scientific community. We hope you remain safe and that daily operations return to normal…
Dear ESA Members, Today, I am writing to you regarding the Ecosystem Recovery Fund that the Ecological Society of Australia is launching to help with ecological recovery efforts from the unprecedented fires that have devastated an enormous extent of Australia’s ecosystems. I am sure you have seen the news and are aware of the substantial impact that this tragedy had…
The Ecological Society of America (ESA) is honored to announce this year’s Katherine S. McCarter Graduate Student Policy Award (GSPA) recipients. This award provides graduate students with the opportunity to receive policy and communication training in Washington, D.C. before they meet lawmakers. ESA selected twelve students to receive the award: Tiffany L. Betras (University of Pittsburgh), Callie R. Chappell (Stanford…