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

 Project NEON at undergraduate institutions: an invitation for discussion and input
Monday, August 7, 8-10 pm
Organizers: Laurel Anderson, Kerry Woods

The National Ecological Observatory Network ( NEON ) will establish a continental network of intensively instrumented research sites for monitoring ecological change and will address a range of ecological questions. Plans call for training and participation of teachers, students, policy-makers, and citizens, as well as researchers. While NEON was intended to be broadly inclusive, ecologists from undergraduate institutions have been under-represented in planning discussions. This session is an opportunity for scientists from these institutions to learn about NEON and engage in an open discussion of how and if small institutions could be involved with this initiative. NEON is a multi-year, evolving project. Through active participation, ecologists from undergraduate institutions can help define NEON 's future and ensure that it serves institutions with diverse missions and resources.

Scientific assessments as upstarts in ecology: ethical considerations for ecologists
Monday, August 7, 8-10 pm
Organizers: Diane Wickland, William Michener

Recent demand for high-quality scientific information on issues relating to environmental policy and resource management is driving a proliferation of scientific assessments. Assessments typically summarize and document the state of scientific understanding on a topic, characterize uncertainties associated with this knowledge, and distill the findings into an Executive Summary for decision makers. Controversies related to undue political influences, personal biases, or characterization of uncertainty have arisen in some assessment processes. Participants may find themselves confronting new issues or more intense pressures than encountered in other scientific activities. This evening session will focus on conveying a sense of what to expect when participating in a scientific assessment, describing how an ecologist can prepare to participate, and sharing some real-life experiences of ecologists who have participated in recent assessments. Ethical issues, including the applicability of new concepts toward an ecological ethics, will be discussed. 

How to succeed in ecology: advice from professionals in the field
Monday, August 7, 8-10 pm
Organizers: Abraham Miller-Rushing, Kristine Hopfensperger

Ecology is a competitive field and the path to success is not always clear. In this session, successful ecologists from several disciplines will discuss specific strategies for success in academic and non-academic careers with current and former students. Invited guests will offer first-hand advice on career tracks at research universities, liberal arts colleges, government agencies, and non-governmental organizations. After a brief introduction to the session, rotating small groups will discuss topics including: interviewing and negotiating, developing a research program, finding funding, publishing productively, networking effectively, dealing with “two-bodies” (i.e., finding positions for married/partnered pairs), and balancing work and family. The small groups will provide an intimate and informal setting to speak with professionals in the field of ecology and learn about many different strategies to achieve success. This session should appeal to all ecologists, particularly students, who we expect to motivate the discussions.

Adult environmental education—teaching not preaching
Monday, August 7, 8-10 pm
Organizers: Lyn Hoffmann , Chad Truxall

Educating adults about ecological concepts plays an important role in raising awareness about local, regional, and global environmental issues. Educated adults are informed decision makers who make environmental choices in both their personal lives and in their communities. Adults bring personal experiences, beliefs, and, quite often, skepticism to environmental science or ecology classes. We will discuss best practices to teach environmental science and ecological concepts to adults in two settings. The first is an accelerated, online, General Education class in a career-oriented degree program; the second comes from educational outreach workshops and ecotours conducted by a non-profit, marine ecology center in Florida . The session will include overviews and examples taken from teaching in both adult education venues. Topics include choosing materials, course structure, establishing outcomes, facilitation techniques, and assessment to incorporate both sound ecological science and adult learning theory. We will exchange ideas and experiences throughout the session.

Towards sustainable coexistence and ecosystem-based governance of fisheries

Monday, August 7, 8-10 pm
Organizer: Mimi Lam

The audience is invited to dialogue with the panel in a marine science, culture, and policy research and educational initiative: “Towards Ecosystem-based Governance of Sustainable Pacific Northwest Fisheries.” Salmon are eco-cultural keystone species, co-evolving for millennia with the bioregion’s people, who celebrated salmon cycles and practiced subsistence harvesting, culturally perpetuated in traditional ecological knowledge. Industrial fisheries and aquaculture have shifted this balance, depleting wild ‘icons’ and introducing farmed ‘upstarts’. Potential colonization, genetic hybridization, and disease transfers of farmed salmon competing with indigenous species exemplify market-driven, evolutionary niche construction. Salmon migrating across international boundaries and regional territories have ignited ‘turf wars’, as salmon have become ‘mobile icons’ in a widening cultural and economic divide. We extend the concept of a ‘footprint’ analysis to the marine environment as a potential integrative tool to research the impact of aboriginal and industrial fisheries and aquaculture towards the design of ecosystem-based governance of sustainable fisheries.

Trends in Long Term Ecological Research: opportunities and challenges in the synthesis of long term data
Tuesday, August 8, 8-10 pm
Organizers: Debra Peters, Christine Laney

Long term studies are increasingly recognized as critical to understanding short term patterns and dynamics and providing the context for short-term mechanistic studies. In addition, data from long term studies are needed to distinguish directional changes from natural variability. Synthesizing long term data from a variety of ecosystem types for different kinds of ecological and social science problems provides opportunities as well as challenges. In this informal session, we will discuss both the opportunities and challenges associated with this type of synthetic effort. We will also discuss an ongoing collaborative effort among federal agencies ( USFS , USDA-ARS) and the NSF-supported Long Term Ecological Research sites to synthesize long term data into a book format and a web page. Opportunities to contribute to this effort and to access the data sets will also be discussed.

How to land and keep a job at a small liberal arts college
Tuesday, August 8, 8-10 pm
Organizers: Andrew McCall, Richard Niesenbaum, Phil Camill

Are you a graduate student thinking about an academic career at a small college or university? Do you have a love for teaching and ecological research, but want to do both well? Many of us are trained to be productive researchers at primarily research institutions, but too often we leave graduate school having no idea how to get a job at a small college or university. If you would like to understand how small schools hire, how professors juggle research and teaching early in their career, or are just plain curious about the academic life at small colleges, this evening session is for you. Join us for a series of informal talks by professors at small institutions. Individual speakers will go through the processes of grad school preparation, hiring of faculty, tenure application, and getting funds for faculty/student research. We will then have a general discussion about the differences and similarities between what research institutions and small colleges are looking for in their faculty. You just may be surprised at what colleges like Carleton, Grinnell, and Claremont are looking for in potential professors.

Ecological analogies, metaphors, and anecdotes
Tuesday, August 8, 8-10 pm
Organizers: Rich Pouyat, Nadine Lymn
Cash bar and snacks will be provided.

Explaining the complexity of ecological systems to policy makers and the public is challenging for ecologists. This evening session will address the use of analogies, metaphors, and anecdotes (AMAs) that can be used to explain complex ecological principals. Prior to the Annual Meeting, we will solicit ESA members to submit their favorite AMAs, which they have used in their teaching or technology transfer activities. The Public Affairs Committee (PAC) will then select the top submissions, which will be presented at the evening session. Richard Pouyat, PAC Chair, will begin the session with an introduction and the winning submissions will be presented by the original authors. The presentations will be followed by discussion and the development of new AMAs. A final compilation of AMAs will be used to develop an encyclopedia, which can be updated by ESA on a continual basis with the ultimate goal to develop a workshop for subsequent annual meetings.

Icons/upstarts: steady-state working hypotheses, disturbance/response models and data on contrasting space-time scales

Tuesday, August 8, 8-10 pm
Organizers: Jerry Olson, Wilfred Post

Near-balance of input/output is often assumed tentatively in estimating fractional turnover rates in models (global, regional, very local) before refining simulations for localized transient recovery as: 1) measured in experiments (~local), 2) allocated over heterogeneous landscapes and climate gradients, and 3) suitably integrated for regional/global management/policy issues. This session will address problems in representing unmeasured conditions (biomass, soil pools in biogeochemistry, etc.) over heterogeneous combinations of soil and vegetation after disturbance. Cropping and grazing alter steady states (if any, recovered after natural disturbances). Pools and process rates/turnovers change differently among grid or polygon map cells. To estimate fluxes (e.g., for greenhouse gases) requires accounting for scale(s) of dynamic disequilibrium. Combining data and model analyses to infer initial conditions under non-steady states is progressing. Examples of historical reconstruction, remote sensing, model-data inverse analyses and continuous inventory will be presented. Rapid and slow humus pools, consumer dynamics, resource inventories and GIS arrays quantifying biome contrasts, formerly described or theorized by field detective work, will be addressed in a pre-meeting field conference computer lab. Co-sponsors: INTECOL website and NASA DAACS.

What editors want: do's and dont's for submitting your manuscript
Wednesday, August 9, 6:30-10 pm
Organizers: Elizabeth Harp, Abraham Miller-Rushing, Liz Ferguson

Have you ever wondered what editors look for when combing through droves of manuscript submissions? Just how do you get your manuscript to the top of the pile? In this session participants will learn what editors look for when deciding which articles get considered for publication. Editors from a variety of ecological journals will discuss how to avoid common mistakes when writing and submitting papers for publication. They will also give hints and tips about topics like copyright permissions, citations, and more. In addition, speakers will discuss current publishing trends and publishing biases. A question and answer session will follow the presentations; presentations will be kept short in order to allow plenty of time for lively discussion. More information, including a detailed speaker list, can be found at www.esa.org/students. This session is aimed at students, post-docs, and early-career ecologists, but attendance is open to all. Heavy hors d'oeuvres will be served, and beer and wine will be available for purchase.

International research in US Geological Survey
Wednesday, August 9, 8-10 pm
Organizers: Jacoby Carter, Sybil Carter

The US Geological Survey (USGS) is the science agency for the US Department of Interior and is comprised of five disciplines: Biology, Geography,Water, Geology, and Geospatial Information. The USGS carries out international activities as a complement to its domestic programs and is providing scientific and technical assistance in more than 100 countries. This evening session will go over some of the international projects in which the USGS is involved and discuss how these collaborations come about.

Ecological ethics: examining the neglected ethical context of ecological decision-making
Wednesday, August 9, 8-10 pm
Organizers: Ben Minteer, James Collins

Ecological research and decision-making can raise all sorts of complicated ethical questions, among them ecologists' responsibilities to the scientific community, public welfare, research animals, wild and captive species, and ecosystems. Answering these questions is challenging because ecologists do not have the equivalent of bioethics, an established field with a support network focused mainly on biomedicine, to help them recognize and sort through the various ethical issues surrounding their research. In this session, an interdisciplinary group of prominent environmental ethicists and ecologists will therefore begin to map the territory of a new approach in science ethics, “ecological ethics,” illustrating its practical and conceptual dimensions. Topics to be covered include the role of professional codes in shaping the ethical context of ecology, the value dimensions of ecological research and conservation practices (such as relocation and restoration), and consideration of the wider linkages between the new ecological ethics and environmental science policy.

NEON : at the starting line
Wednesday, August 9, 8-10 pm
Organizers: David Kirschtel, Jeffrey Goldman, Bruce Hayden, William Michener

NEON , the National Ecological Observatory Network, is a continental-scale research platform that will consist of a geographically distributed infrastructure, networked via state-of-the-art communications to support research and education on major national environmental challenges spanning regional to continental scales. A core design element of NEON is to provide facilities for scientists, engineers, and educators to conduct real-time ecological studies spanning all levels of biological organization across temporal and geographical scales. With the goal of helping educators and scientists understand how NEON will fit into their upcoming curricula and research programs, the workshop will serve to update the ecological community on NEON 's development as the project prepares to make the transition from design phase to deployment and operations. Following their presentations on the current status of key components of NEON , the speakers and additional panelists will participate in an extended question and answer session with workshop attendees.

Haida Gwaii, a natural laboratory...or...Is there trouble with Bambi?
Wednesday, August 9, 8-10 pm
Organizers: Jean-Louis Martin, Blangy Sylvie

This session will present a 52 minute TV documentary on the effects of abundant deer populations on plant and animal diversity in temperate forests, followed by a post-viewing discussion about “icon Bambi” and its ecological effects. The film shows how scientists from France and Canada have used the introduction of non native black-tailed deer to the islands of Haida Gwaii, British Columbia , Canada , as a natural experiment to tease apart the cascade of effects that link deer, plants, and animals. These results shed new light on the ecological consequences of high deer populations and, indirectly, on the benefits of the return of their natural predators. The film also documents the way local people perceive the changes that occur within their forests. The documentary was produced in 2004 by France5 and CNRS (National Centre for Scientific Research, France).

Evaluating the success of ecological restoration programs: the challenge of integrating ecology and social science
Wednesday, August 9, 8-10 pm
Organizers: Diana Lane , Kate LeJeune, Matthew Birnbaum, Collette Charbonneau

Originally considered to be an “upstart” activity, ecological restoration programs have grown in number, size, and funding level over the past decades. In this session, we will focus on the challenge of engaging in multi-dimensional and multi-disciplinary evaluation for restoration programs that can involve many different kinds of individual projects. What measures, metrics, or suites of indicators do ecologists use to evaluate the success of a program of restoration actions (i.e., looking beyond the results of individual projects)? What types of evaluation approaches are used by economists and other social scientists? This evening session will bring together ecologists, economists, social scientists, and agency personnel to share their experiences of managing and evaluating restoration programs. Brief presentations by panel members representing a diversity of viewpoints and experiences will be followed by an interactive discussion open to all. This is an opportunity to think critically about what evaluation means from ecological, economic, and social science perspectives.

Environmental justice and ESA : ecologists and practitioners in dialogue. Implementing a vision for research, education, and outreach
Wednesday, August 9, 8-10 pm
Organizers: Leanne Jablonski, George Middendorf, Rachel O'Malley, Charles Nilon

The Environmental Justice (EJ) Working Group promotes the engagement of ecologists in addressing environmental injustice issues. EJ demands that there be no disproportionate impact on any one group and that there be full inclusion in environmental decision-making. Our goal is that all ESA members should understand the relationship between ecology and EJ and should work to address EJ issues. We are promoting these by: 1) educating members in EJ principles by producing an ESA Position Paper, identifying ESA members with expertise and interest relevant to EJ, and assisting ecologists in identifying EJ-relevant dimensions of their field; and 2) encouraging interactions with other organizations engaged in EJ issues, as well as collaborating with other professional organizations involved in major environmental projects. This year's annual meeting symposium, Linking Ecology and Environmental Justice, brings together leading ecologists who will reflect on the relationship of EJ and their ecological sub-discipline, with the goals of illustrating how ecologists can conduct science that is useful in decision making related to EJ issues and to encourage the development of research that incorporates societal concerns and community issues in design. In this discussion, a panel of EJ-practitioners, including some with experience in Memphis , will respond to the symposium presenters and share perspectives on what is needed from ecology and ecologists to address EJ-issues. Insights from a spring workshop between ecologists and practitioners will also be shared. Participants are invited to join the dialogue and provide feedback to our proposed next steps in advancing research, outreach and education initiatives.