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Ecologies of a Changing Planet

February 23-25, 2027

About the Conference

Ecologies of a Changing Planet is a fully virtual, global event designed to foster meaningful interaction, collaboration, and exchange across regions, disciplines, and perspectives. This initiative is developed in response to strong community interest within the Ecological Society of America (ESA) and partner communities for more globally connected forms of academic engagement. At a time of rapid environmental transformation, ecological knowledge is increasingly produced across fragmented contexts, scales, and worldviews. This conference seeks to bridge these divides by creating a space for dialogue across geographic, disciplinary, and socioecological boundaries, in alignment with ESA’s mission to advance the science and practice of ecology and support a diverse and inclusive scientific community. 

Conference Subthemes

The conference committees have identified five general subthemes that serve as organizing pillars for the conference program. Thematic sessions bring together a set of related contributions around a shared question or topic, typically combining brief presentations with extended, facilitated discussion that synthesizes ideas across speakers. 

We are especially looking for proposals with a global focus that fosters knowledge across fragmented contexts, scales and worldviews.  Scientists studying all ecosystems and biomes are welcome, including wetlands and marinescapes.

List of Subthemes

  • Ecological Theory and Discovery (fundamental ecology, macroecology, community ecology, ecosystem ecology, evolution, synthesis), 
  • Applied Ecology and Environmental Solutions (conservation, restoration, management, sustainability), 
  • Human Dimensions, Governance, and Science-Policy (social-ecological systems, diplomacy, environmental justice, policy), 
  • Innovation, Technology, and Tools (AI, data science, open science) 
  • Training the Next Generation (education, mentoring, professional development)

Conference Structure

The conference will take place over 3 days from February 23-25, 2027.

Plenaries and Keynotes: We will offer a limited number of plenary or keynote sessions designed to address broad, cross-cutting themes, prioritizing diversity of perspectives and regions, typically taking the form of moderated discussions rather than single-speaker lectures

We also aim to create an environment where ecologists from around the world can not only share insights, but also learn from diverse contexts and build new collaborations to address global environmental challenges through:

  • Live Research sessions (Research Presentations)?: Individual flash talks and Poster sessions, optimized for sharing scientific research across continents and time zones 
  • Collaborative sessions: Workshops, Thinking or Action pods, and Roundtable Sessions aimed at participant engagement that builds news skills, generates ongoing connections or outputs beyond the conference

All sessions will include asynchronous participation options to enable global participation and access.

Session formats

Live sessions include two formats:

  • Individual Talks (See Individual Contributions)

These are more traditional talks to communicate key ideas, findings, or perspectives, typically as a Flash talk of five minutes. Talks are grouped into thematic sessions followed by moderated discussion.

  • Individual Posters

Instead of traditional poster sessions, we propose interactive “poster rooms” where each presenter hosts their own breakout space and participants can move freely between rooms for direct discussion. This format prioritizes conversation and engagement, potentially supported by facilitated browsing and community voting or awards to encourage participation. These sessions are intended to replicate and improve upon the most interactive aspects of in-person poster sessions by prioritizing conversation over display. Posters will be uploaded and  ahead of the conference to actively engage with attendees. 

Collaborative sessions include three formats: 

  • Thinking or Action Pods involve more intensive engagement in smaller groups, where participants actively work together to develop ideas, analyze problems, or initiate collaborations, often with a tangible outcome or next step. Limited to 10 persons?
  • Roundtable discussions are structured conversations led by a small group of people who introduce contrasting perspectives, followed by active participation from attendees, with an emphasis on dialogue rather than presentation. Limited to 5 presenters??
  • Skill-oriented workshops focus on practical learning and capacity building, providing participants with hands-on guidance in methods, tools, or professional development topics, with opportunities for interaction, questions, and applied exercises.

Contribution types

We invite contributors to participate either as organizers of structured sessions or as individual presenters. To facilitate conference coherence, all contributors should identify the primary subtheme addressed by the session. We still welcome proposals that fall outside of the subthemes outlined and may create new subthemes if we receive a significant pool of related proposals. 

The five-minute flash talk is the primary format for speakers for both contribution types. Flash talks are concise presentations of no more than five minutes, designed to communicate key ideas, findings, or perspectives in a clear and accessible way.

Organized Session Contributions

Organized sessions include six to eight presenters. Each session will be 55 minutes long with five minute talks followed by 15-20 minutes of live interactive exchange.  These sessions:

  • Have a clearly defined focus or question
  • Are timely and relevant in a global context
  • May either be a live session or a collaborative session in any accepted format
  • Facilitate interaction, discussion, and synthesis.