HRC Events at the 2017 Annual Meeting

The Historical Records Committee is sponsoring a Special Session on “Saving Historical Records: Challenges for Ecology and Its Historians in the 21st Century,” which will be held on Monday evening, August 7, from 8:00-10:00 p.m. in the conference hotel.
Julie Mulroy developed the idea for the session. Alan Covich, Charles Nilon, and Sharon Kingsland from HRC are co-organizers and Alan will serve as the session’s moderator. Co-organizers Frederick J. Swanson (USDA Forest Service, Pacific NW Research Station; Oregon State University) and Thomas W. Mulroy (Leidos/Scientific Applications International Corporation, Carpinteria, California; Santa Barbara Botanic Garden) provide excellent help in defining the session’s themes and breadth.
The purpose of the session is to engage meeting attendees in a discussion of how to identify and preserve diverse materials relating to ecology’s history, to ensure that future scientists and historians will be able to comprehend the range of ecological practices, challenges, and accomplishments during the Ecological Society of America’s second century.
Why can we benefit from this discussion now? As we enter the second ecological century, the importance of saving historical records for future scholars is vital. But do we even know what kinds of records could or should be preserved? Our Society’s diverse membership is the ideal place to begin a broad discussion of what may be out there and what should be on our radar. We envision the Special Session as an opportunity to brainstorm about the challenges we face in preserving records of many kinds.
Read more about the Session and other HRC activities in the April 2017 newsletter.