Autumn 2008
Welcome to the first edition of ESA Today. This brief, quarterly email is designed to keep members informed of key Society activities.
Responding to Policy Issues
See ESA President Sunny Power’s response to the Bush Administration’s proposal to weaken the Endangered Species Act: www.esa.org/pao/newsroom/pressReleases2008/08262008.php and www.esa.org/pao/policyStatements/Letters/EndangeredSpeciesAct_PublicComment2008.php
ESA’s YouTube Channel
Members are invited to upload their ecology-related videos to ESA’s new YouTube Channel (www.youtube.com/user/ESAVideos). Future official ESA videos will also be available for download here.
Grant Awards
The Energy Foundation has awarded ESA a $75,000 grant to produce a series of five reports on biofuels and sustainability. These reports will be developed as a special Issues in Ecology series, based on manuscripts from speakers at ESA’s March 2008 biofuels conference. Learn more here: www.esa.org/biofuels/
USGS National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center
ESA is working with The Wildlife Society and the Meridian Institute to help the U.S. Geological Survey plan a new National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center, intended to improve the science capacity for federal agencies to respond to climate change. ESA, TWS, and Meridian will support several meetings of an Interim Steering Committee charged with developing priorities and a structure for the Center, manage a comprehensive review meeting for stakeholder input, and prepare a final report to guide Center development.
News Coverage of ESA’s 93rd Annual Meeting
The scientific presentations at the 93rd Annual ESA Meeting in Milwaukee, Wisconsin drew coverage from a range of news media, including science journals, science news magazines and daily newspapers. Check out Nature’s blog, The Washington Post, ScienceNOW and others who covered the meeting at www.esa.org/pao/newsroom/recentnews.php
ESA Journals
ESA has introduced several upgrades to its online content, including the
new Atypon platform and fully citable, rapid publication of
Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment papersthrough Frontiers
e-View, our online pre-press publication site.
For those who prefer to receive their copies in print, ESA is pleased to
announce that all ESA titles are now FSC certified, indicating that they
meet the Forest Stewardship Council’s rigorous standards for using paper
stocks that foster sustainable use of forest resources.
To see the latest articles, visit
www.esajournals.org, or visit
www.esa.org/podcast to hear authors discussing their research.
Be sure to keep an eye out for an upcoming special issue of Ecology
in November.
Education/SEEDS
Two universities recently joined ESA’s SEEDS Chapter network—Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi, and University of the Virgin Islands—bringing the total to 47.
ESA has partnered with several scientific organizations and government agencies for a two-day workshop this October exploring the use of continental-scale ecological data sets as a teaching tool. Twenty-one faculty members from undergraduate institutions are scheduled to attend.
Informing Congress
In June and July, ESA held two congressional briefings, one on cellulosic biofuels and one on wildfires. See www.esa.org/pao/policyActivities/
For more ESA news, please visit www.esa.org or download ESA’s toolbar to keep current on ESA services and activities at http://esa.ourorganizationtoolbar.com/.
