Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Ecological Society of America: Survey on the frontiers and challenges in environmental research, management and policy


The Centennial of the Ecological Society of America is a time to reflect upon ecology’s successes and shortcomings, and the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead. ESA’s Science Committee has developed three parallel surveys- one for researchers, one for environmental managers, and another for environmental policy makers. The goals of these surveys are to summarize:

    • the most interesting and important advances in ecological science
    • the key unanswered/ partially answered ecological questions
    • the most significant contributions of ecological science to policy and management
    • the most pressing environmental challenges that need to be addressed
    • the key scientific gaps that limit our ability to address environmental challenges, and application to environmental management and policy
    • the key opportunities and obstacles in integrating ecological research, management, and policy

If you would like to participate in one or more of these surveys, please follow these links:
Environmental Research estimated time- 10-20 minutes  https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/YL2DK6Q
Environmental Management estimated time- 5-15 minutes https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/YLGX3LQ
Environmental Policy estimated time- 5-15 minutes  https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/M3D7S7D

Please share these survey links with colleagues, particularly in management and policy. Your assistance in distributing these links will increase the reach of our ESA Centennial survey.

Survey results will be summarized in talks, websites, white papers and publications targeted to researchers, environmental managers, policy makers, and funding agencies. Results of the survey will also be highlighted at the ESA 2015 Centennial Meeting. These results are intended to:

  • Enhance collaboration in research and outreach between scientists, managers, and policy makers through: identification of mutual interests and critical gaps that limit the application of ecology in management and policy.
  • Facilitate cutting-edge ecological research (both basic and applied) by providing syntheses of core gaps in our knowledge.
  • Guide program development by individual researchers, environmental managers, and policy makers, as well as research institutions, organizations focused on management and/or policy, funding agencies, and scientific societies. In particular, the survey results will guide ESA’s Science Committee in the prioritization of key synthesis projects, outreach activities, and program development.

For any questions, please contact Valerie Eviner: veviner@ucdavis.edu
Thank you from the ESA Centennial Survey Committee!
Elena Bennett
Valerie Eviner
Kelly Garbach
Leah Gerber
Daniel Scholes