Symposia : Organized Oral Sessions : Special Sessions : Evening Sessions : Workshops :

 Book publishing 101 -- for ecologists
Monday, August 7, 1-2:30 pm
Organizers: Meg Lowman, Jean Thomson Black

When, why and how should you consider publishing a book? What kind of book? For whom? And does it enhance your credibility as an ecologist? This session is aimed at graduate students and early- and mid-career ecologists who have wondered about the credentials, timeline, and effort required to publish a book. A group of experienced book publishing professionals and authors will discuss and demystify different types of books including trade, scholarly, and public science books as applicable to ecologists. This session is informal, with short presentations by five professionals on a diversity of issues that relate from start to finish the book publication process, followed by a discussion period to engage the audience in current issues relating to the book publishing trade in ecology. This session will provide insights and overviews for ecologists at a variety of career stages about the process of writing a book. It is intended to be educational in scope, providing education to the attendees about the publishing process and ultimately leading to better science literacy of the general public, as ecologists learn to embrace book publication as part of their career paths.

Using qualitative ecological models to understand students' thinking about interactions
Monday, August 7, 1-2:30 pm
Organizers: Marion Dresner, Claire Steiner, Andrew Moldenke

Our goal is to integrate use of qualitative ecological models into students' ecology curriculum (high school, undergraduate) for the following reasons: 1) Systems Thinking: Qualitative models can illustrate aspects of ecological thinking and knowing (e.g., feedback, inputs and outputs, important interactions like mutualism, stability); students learn from first hand experiences with field ecology; 2) Causal Relationships: Students have a hard time understanding indirect interactions and need help in moving beyond simple direct effects; 3) “Authentic Learning”: In building models during ecological research projects, students are capable of generating new knowledge about interactions within the ecosystem; 4) Constructivism: Models that students generated themselves provide them with a personalized understanding of ecosystem processes that builds upon their prior knowledge; and 5) Scientific Inquiry: Models are used to generate researchable hypotheses, which are then tested, modified based on results, etc. In addition, we think there is a lot of potential in using student-generated models for assessment. Modeling is a way for teachers and students to communicate and convey complex information in a symbolic language. Series of student-generated models can be used to help us understand what students are learning about ecological concepts and interactions. We would like to meet with interested ecologists to talk about their experiences working with student-generated models and discuss the following: Which ecological concepts should students be able to thoroughly understand and show their skills in modeling to be proficient in carrying out field research in terrestrial ecology? Which concepts (e.g., food webs, pollination, succession, stability/redundancy/resilience) are of paramount importance for citizen science?

An exploration of the role of publication-related biases in ecology
Monday, August 7, 1-2:30 pm
Organizers: Christopher Lortie, Lonnie Aarssen, Julia Koricheva

Progress in a scientific discipline is normally achieved through publication and dissemination of knowledge. Number of publications and their citation frequency are also widely used for academic evaluation of individual researchers, departments, and universities. Therefore, any bias in publication and dissemination of scientific content may potentially affect the development of a field in terms of what kind of information is available for synthesis, who is successfully employed, and where funding is allocated. Different attributes of the publication and dissemination process in ecology will be explored including: characteristics of the study (number of hypotheses, effect size, support for main hypothesis), attributes of the publication itself (merit, length, number and gender of authors), and attributes of the journal (reputation, impact factor, circulation). Speakers will include an NCEAS working group of ecologists studying bias, publishers, and several editors. We will discuss these issues in a panel format including questions and answers with open discussion. Please visit our website to participate in a short on-line survey on the publication and review process in ecology (www.ecobias.org).

Profiles of ecologists: results from the ESA Membership Survey
Monday, August 7, 1-2:30 pm
Organizers: Jason Taylor, Allison Perkins, Carol Brewer

Last summer, the Ecological Society of America requested your help to better understand the current demographics of ecologists by completing the 2005 ESA Members' Survey. This special session will take an in-depth look at the results of the membership survey and involve participants in a discussion on its implications. Some of the issues that will be explored are: 1) current employment patterns of ecologists; 2) patterns of earned doctorates by sub-discipline of ecology over the past 40 years; 3) ecological science capabilities according to problem area (e.g., how many scientists are trained to study ecological complexity of global warming); and 4) ethnic and gender diversity of ecologists in comparison with the demographic composition of the workforce.

Sense of place
Monday, August 7, 1-2:30 pm
Organizers: Jesse Ford, Marilou Awiakta, Robin Kimmerer

The 2006 ESA meeting convenes within the ancestral homelands of the Chickasaw Nation. The banks of the Mississippi were for uncounted generations a central gathering place for meeting and trading amongst the Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Cherokee. Memphis itself is on the site of the sixth of seven ancestral towns along the Mississippi . This very special session opens our meeting with reflections from indigenous people of the region. Representatives of all three nations have been invited to provide an introduction to a sense of place through an indigenous perspective. Drawing on experiences with the region's mighty rivers and floodplains, plateaus and mountains, speakers will share their multi-faceted understanding of the region from the perspective of people shaped by landscape. Presenters incorporate traditional ecological knowledge as a foundation for addressing traditional land management practices and current ecological pressures.

Improv 101: public speaking and improv theater
Monday, August 7, 1-2:30 pm
Organizers: Annie Drinkard, Nadine Lymn

Nervous about your presentation? In this session participants will watch a short presentation about public speaking and organizing presentations. We will follow up this lesson with hands on activities utilizing the art of improv comedy, and have a bit of fun. This session is equal parts learning and stress relief. Handouts will be provided.

Passengers versus drivers of ecosystem change: current debate on Tamarix and riparian invasion
Monday, August 7, 1-2:30 pm
Organizers: Anna Sher, Juliet Stromberg

Debates are currently raging about the significance of invasive species as agents of ecological destruction. One dramatic American case study is invasion of western watersheds by Eurasian tamarisk (saltcedar); it may cover as much as 500,000 hectares, yet many now argue that this tree is more symptom than cause of ecosystem change. The degree to which this is true has important political ramifications, including how federal dollars will be spent. The goal of this session is to begin a unifying dialogue among ecologists to identify points of agreement about ecosystem processes in Tamarix invasion and information gaps that prevent us from reaching consensus. This session will be of interest to scientists and managers concerned about invasion and restoration of riparian ecosystems, as well as any ecologist who has struggled with the need to clarify the intricacies of an eco-political problem while communicating a clear message to the public.

An ecologists' community discussion of funding agency initiatives
Monday, August 7, 1-2:30 pm
Organizers: Nancy Grimm, Clifford Duke, Alan Covich

Join us for a discussion of research initiatives affecting the community of ecologists – we will invite federal agency program officers and ecology community leaders to update attendees about 1) ongoing and new ecology-related initiatives at federal agencies and 2) developing initiatives in the ecological research community.

Scientists engaging the media: how we can make a difference communicating science to society
Monday, August 7, 1-2:30 pm
Organizers: Alice Levine

Communicating science to society is an obligation shared by scientists and the media alike. Naturally, both must work together to achieve this common goal. This has not proved to be easy, though, partly due to negative stereotypes. Is the media only interested in sensationalism? Are scientists truly bigheaded and unable to communicate without jargon? Not so, and these typecasts can be disregarded with a little effort from both sides so that the communication divide may be bridged. If you would like to discuss these and other problems between scientists and the media and learn how they can be overcome, then come to this special session. Dynamic speakers with backgrounds in news, radio, and environmental journalism, public relations and leadership training, and academia will be present. Come hear these individuals share their experiences and address how scientists and the media can work together to create a better-informed, more scientifically literate society.

Trading places, saving spaces? Ecosystem services, ecology, and economy
Monday, August 7, 1-2:30pm
Organizers: Kheryn Klubnikin, Douglas Causey

The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment was the first scientific, international review of the state of the world's ecosystems, the “engines” of life on earth. The study found that about 60 percent of all ecosystems are rapidly degrading or are used unsustainably. Ecosystems are moving toward a critical point where ecosystem services are increasingly rare or nearing collapse and cannot be restored. Increasing discussion is taking place in many circles about ways to stimulate markets for environmental services that may also achieve restoration and/or conservation of important natural resources across scales, property boundaries, and geographies. Credit trading and related techniques have the potential to rearrange geographies and species distributions. The concept can only be viable if economic drivers are shaped by sound science and if the public good is kept in mind when paying the private purveyors. Issues that need to be addressed include the roles of multiple jurisdictions, multiple credits, tracking trades and conditions, sound science and biological integrity, timeframes, the rise of ecocurrency, longitudinal monitoring of conditions, and brokerages. The experts in this special session will address what is known and what is not known about the emerging issue of Ecosystem Services. Moreover, the monetization of environmental components as expressed in markets and credits may challenge long-held beliefs in the management of natural resources.