Skip to main content
Frank Day honored for Commitment to Human Diversity #ESA2016
ESA's Commitment to Human Diversity Award recognizes long-standing contributions of an individual towards increasing the Read more
ESA Policy News June 1: House energy bill restricts climate research, FY 2017 Interior bill cuts conservation funding, science committee...
Here are some highlights from the latest ESA Policy News by Policy Analyst Terence Houston. Read more
Katya Wowk
Coastal resilience wins the #ESA2016 Innovation in Sustainability Science Award
Innovation in Sustainability Science Award honors Ariana E. Sutton-Grier, Kateryna Wowk, and Holly A. Bamford. The Read more
Clearly defining ‘restoration’ in law. Though mandates like the Clean Water Act have been powerful tools for instituting environmental protections in the United States, loose legal definitions of “restoration” mean that few mitigation projects install whole, functioning, and self-sustaining ecosystems. An Appalachian project with the narrow goal of restoring stream flow after mountaintop mining, for example, (left) delivers few of the resources of the natural ecosystem that was lost (right). Likewise, programs aimed at recovery of endangered species do not necessarily prioritize functional ecosystem recovery. Palmer and Ruhl examine the scientific and (U.S.) legal bases for ecological restoration and how the two may be more fruitfully unified in “Aligning restoration science and the law to sustain ecological infrastructure for the future,” on page 512 of this issue. Photo credit: E Bernhardt.
Reforming loose legal definitions of ecological restoration
Laws allowing open interpretation of ecological restoration undermine sound science in the recovery of self-sustaining Read more
Margaret Palmer
Margaret Palmer and JB Ruhl's critical review of restoration science law wins the #ESA2016 Sustainability Science Award
The Sustainability Science Award recognizes the authors of the scholarly work that makes the greatest Read more
Ecology power team Bob Pohlad and Carolyn Thomas
Carolyn Thomas and Bob Pohlad share the #ESA2016 Odum Award for Excellence in Ecology Education
Eugene P. Odum Award recipients demonstrate their ability to relate basic ecological principles to human Read more