Workshop: Frontiers in Ecosystem Science: Energizing the Research Agenda

Cary Institute Of Ecosystem Studies, Inc., Millbrook NY

Investigators

Abstract

This award will support several workshops to catalyze the ecosystem science community to address research frontiers, opportunities and challenges in ecosystem science. The effort will be led by a five person steering committee who will organize and hold a series of workshops and discussion groups at multiple scientific-society meetings over the next two years, culminating in a Frontiers of Ecosystem Science Symposium. Relevant target societies include American Geophysical Union, American Society of Limnology and Oceanography, American Society of Microbiology, Ecological Society of America, Estuarine Research Federation, North American Benthological Society, International Society for Microbial Ecology, International Association of Landscape Ecology, Association of American Geographers and the Soil Science Society of America. Project outcomes will include a workshop report, as well one or more peer reviewed publications that would serve as to guide future directions in ecosystem science and related disciplines. As research is becoming more interdisciplinary, particularly the science of global environmental change, ecosystem scientists often find themselves in positions of intellectual and organizational leadership because of their experience working across disciplines. Ecosystem science has a long history as a core area of investigative research, and has never been more relevant to the needs of society and the nation. All activities in this project will involve a gender-balanced assemblage of early-career and established investigators, participation by students and postdoctoral researchers, and members from underrepresented groups in science.