ESA Policy Activities
The Society's policy goals range from the inclusion of ecological knowledge in environmental legislation and federal rulemaking to strong national investment in science and education. ESA works to accomplish these goals through a variety of activities including congressional briefings, designed to inform congressional staff, lobbying days to advocate for science, and by taking an active role in DC-based coalitions, such as the Biological Ecological Sciences Coalition and the Coalition for National Science Funding. In addition, ESA public affairs staff alert members to key policy developments in science or environmental policy through the bimonthly Policy News and through action alerts and work closely with the Society's team of experts and the ESA President to provide timely input to policy issues.
The Society sponsors or co-sponsors about three congressional briefings each year. Aimed at congressional staff, these briefings feature ESA members with expertise in the briefing topic. They help to inform staffers about the science behind current issues Congress may be addressing currently or in the future. A brief description of ESA briefings is below.
ESA Co-Sponsors Congressional Briefing: “Agriculture, Biology, and Conservation: The ABCs of How Nature Serves the Nation”:
Three prominent scientists presented at House and Senate briefings and met with members of Congress on March 20, 2007, to discuss the key role of ecosystem services in our nation’s food production and in our overall quality of life. Speakers included former ESA president and member Dr. Kay Gross, a plant ecologist and Director of Michigan State University’s Kellogg Biological Station; Dr. Steven Kraft, an agricultural economist and Co-Director of Environmental Resources and Policy at Southern Illinois University Carbondale; and Dr. John Havlin, a professor of soil science at North Carolina State University. Click here to read more about the briefing.
SCB - ESA -TWS (February 2006)
E.S.A. Briefing (January 2005)
The Scientific Basis of Species Preservation (1996)
Fisheries
Floods
Environmental Change
Acid Rain
Biocomplexity
Carbon Sequestration
Global Warming Impacts in the Great Lakes Region
Invasive Species
Mercury
Ecosystem Recovery after Natural Disasters
Wildfire & Forest Ecosystems in the Western United States
Hurricane Katrina
Coalitions
As a scientific society based in Washington, DC, ESA is active in the following coalitions, often helping organize various coalition events such as exhibitions, field trips for congressional staff, and fly-in visits by scientists to participate in meetings with congressional offices.
Biological Ecological Sciences Coalition
As co-founder (with the American Institute of Biological Sciences) of BESC, ESA helps lead this coalition's activities which center on advocating for federal investment in the biological and ecological sciences. Activities range from Hill events for biological scientists to providing official oral comments before the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST).
BESC-CoFARM Congressional Visits Day 2007
The Ecological Society of America helped organize the Spring 2007 Congressional Visits Day event sponsored by the Biological Ecological Sciences Coalition (BESC) and the Coalition on Funding Agricultural Research Missions (CoFARM). Held this year on April 18 and 19, the event was timed to influence the annual federal appropriations process. Click here to read more about the event.
Coalition for National Science Funding
As an active member of the Coalition for National Science Funding since 1998, the Ecological Society of America each year sponsors an exhibition on Capitol Hill. The event—which is attended by over 150 congressional staff, Members of Congress, and White House officials—showcases research made possible by funding from the National Science Foundation.
