Transcript Vision 3: Building an Informed Public

ESA Ecological Visions Project
Governing Board created committee in Fall 2002
Margaret Palmer (chair)
Nancy Baron
Marisa Martinez
Emily Bernhardt
Fiorenza Micheli
Liz Chornesky
Mike Pace
Scott Collins
Steve Palumbi
Andy Dobson
Mercedes Pascual
Barry Gold
Jim Reichman
Robb Jacobson
Bill Schlesinger
Sharon Kingsland
Alan Townsend
Mike Mappin
Monica Turner
Goal - develop a series of action plans to:
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bolster the research capabilities of ecological science
in order to elevate the understanding
of our planet as an interacting system;
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transform interactions between
ecological scientists, the public,
managers and policy makers
to together reach the goal
of sustaining our natural systems
and the benefits they provide
Why now?
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Ecological science is changing
… problems & solutions global in nature
Technological and informatics advances
…vast new capabilities on the horizon
Enhanced communication needed
… for public understanding & informed decision-making
Human impacts on the planet
…unprecedented, requiring novel solutions
Critical Issues, such as…
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Material Cycles: How do biogeochemical cycles interact
with each other and the biota to influence the future
trajectories of ecological systems?
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Landscape dynamics: How do changes in climate, land
use, habitat, and disturbance regimes interact to change
ecological systems?
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Biotic mixing: How are biotic communities changing, and
how does that influence ecosystem function?
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Infectious diseases and the environment: How do
pathogens interact with each other, their hosts and the
environments? What environmental contexts
enhance/reduce the risks associated with bio-terrorism?
Approach
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Recognize the great deal of work already done
identifying the
…big issues
…grand challenges
…interesting questions;
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What would enhance our ability
to deal with them?
Get membership input
Get external input
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5 Broad Visionary Areas
Vision 1. Research Innovations
Vision 2. Ecological CyberInfrastructure
(Representing Ecological Knowledge)
Vision 3. Building an Informed Public
Vision 4. Catalyzing Cultural Changes
Vision 5. Internationalization
What you said …
Respondents: ~65% academic, 15% government,
8% NGO, 4% industry (~ 17% non US)
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~ 60% public understanding most important
~ 25% cultural change
~ 8% research innovations
~ 4% ECI
~ 2% Internationalization
“Don’t be afraid to be controversial…
it gets people’s juices flowing…”
Vision 1: Research Innovation
Innovative and effective ecological research in the 21st
century will require novel technology and methods,
and will require ecologists to work at
unprecedented scales and levels of coordination
Technology
Education
Culture
Technology Development
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Improve connections between ecologists
and engineers
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Promote development of automated
sensor systems for in situ and remote
measurements
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Promote improvements in “ease-of-use”
for new and existing tools
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Encourage funding for development and
testing of environmental science
technology
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Annual competition and award for new
technologies that advance ecological
understanding
Q: What do you think should be ESAs top priority?
Lobby for money
Lobby for money
Lobby for money
Lobby for money
Lobby for money
Lobby for money
Lobby for money
Lobby for money
Lobby for money
Lobby for money
Lobby for money
Lobby for money
Lobby for mone
Cultural Changes to Foster Research Innovations
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Standing ESA committee on needs and challenges of largescale research
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Journal devoted to novel methods developments (e.g., ASLO)
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Highlight advances made by large-scale, multi-investigator
projects at annual meetings and in Frontiers
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Large-scale projects are not to replace other approaches, but
are a key addition to a diverse portfolio of ecological science
“Most ecological research by
academics is ‘pop’ science.”
Technology Education
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More rigorous quantitative training
in graduate education
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Courses / workshops on new and
emerging technology and methods
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Explore and promote mechanisms
for continuing education of
ecologists beyond graduate school
(e.g., “Leopold Program” in
technology)
Vision 2:
Ecological CyberInfrastructure
(Representing Ecological Knowledge)
Develop a 10-year plan to enhance information access
(metadata, raw data, publications),
communication, data acquisition, and
computational abilities
ECI: Representing Ecological
Knowledge
Manipulation:
•Statistical tools
•Modeling tools
Visualization:
•Representation
•Communication
Core:
•Data bases
•Metadata
Inputs:
•Data entry tools
•Metadata tools
Gathering:
•Searching tools
•Retrieval tools
ECI: Representing Ecological
Knowledge
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Create new generic tools for you to store and
analyze your own research data
Develop tools and application platforms to
combine, manipulate, analyze data for ecological
synthesis
Develop generic data input, storage and access
tools
Develop standardized metadata to facilitate data
use, retrieval and understanding
Develop applications for dealing with remote and
in situ data input from observing and sensing
systems
ECI: Representing Ecological
Knowledge
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ECI can make it easier for you to find your own
data and to understand those data
ECI will allow your data to be useful to others well
into the future
ECI can facilitate data sharing with others
ECI is needed for the capture and management of
real-time sensor network data
ECI is a vital tool for large, collaborative research
projects
“Metadata - I don’t know what this is
… a computer program?”
Vision 3:
Building an Informed Public
Embark on a collaborative campaign to build an
ecologically informed public (broadly defined
to include citizens, decision makers, etc.)
and …
enhance the linkage between ecological research
and policy.
Ecology in Policy
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Primary Goals:
 Communication and collaboration among
ecologists, policy and decision makers,
government agencies, NGOs and public.
 Enhanced access to peer-reviewed
and emerging ecological
research that is easily
communicated and
acknowledged as
credible and relevant.
Example Actions

Initiatives or networks that engage
stakeholders in two-way communication
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Training initiatives for ecologists to participate
in policy development
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Enhanced access to literature, advances, and
emerging research in Ecology
Contribute to research on connecting
ecological research and policy
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“Besides….
look at the ESA home page.
Look at its logo of lower-case
letters against the omnipresent,
tired image of the earth that one
sees on all things environmental.
The logo for the Visions page is
similarly simplistic.”
Ecology in Education
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Primary Goals:
 Enhance public understanding of ecology
and ecology education at all levels of formal,
non-formal, and informal education.
 Advance research,
innovation, teaching
and scholarship in
ecology education and
outreach at all levels.
Example Actions
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Initiatives or networks for teacher and professional
development
Training initiatives for ecologists to participate in
education programs
Enhanced access to literature, advances and
emerging research in science education
Review current status of Ecology in science
education standards and curricula
Contribute to ecology and science education
research
Vision 4:
Catalyzing Cultural Change
Initiate programs to stimulate
cultural changes within
scientific and institutional communities
“The culture of ecology
is dysfunctional and can be concisely
summarized: ‘Infinite interpretation
of infinitesimal data’…”
“Ecology is aloof …”
The Classic Ecologist
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Independent, Do-it-yourself attitude
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Small-scale experiments & sampling
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Low tech, cost-effective equipment
New Ways of Thinking
and Working Needed
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∆ Training (Graduate and Professional)
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Improved Quantitative Skills
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Training in Collaboration and Management
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Synthesis as well as Independent Research
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Recognition of diverse career options
If you could have any single tool that would improve
your research program, what would it be?
“a time machine”
“an insight generator”
“a fully funded, great technician who
loves their work and will try anything
and knows statistics.”
“If I only had a brain…”
…dream on
New Ways of Thinking
and Working Needed
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∆ Reward System
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Increased recognition for multi-authored and
interdisciplinary research, as well as,
synthesis research
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New systems for crediting shared data
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Incentives for efforts in public education & policy
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New outlets for publishing interdisciplinary efforts
“Have you noticed that the
International Affairs Committee
and Section have withered away
to almost nothing?”
Vision 5: Internationalization
Initiate a program to interact with other societies
and countries to build a community of
researchers and practitioners that
work together, freely communicate, and
tackle problems at varying scales and across
national boundaries.
Why?
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Ecological problems are global
Many ESA members work in other countries
ESA would benefit
… ESA can not ‘Imperialize’ this agenda
but needs to find a way to stimulate it
Suggested Actions
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Annual graduate and/or post-doc conference
Endorse ongoing activities such as workshops at
ICTP, Trieste, etc.
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Internationalize the Journals & Frontiers
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Translate ’Issues in Ecology’ and abstracts into
multiple languages
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Have online copies in language of country where
research was undertaken
Suggested Actions (cont.)
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Programs for the exchange of students / faculty
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Develop the ecological equivalent of the Gates or
Rhodes Scholars
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Empower former overseas graduate students to
return for summer / semester and develop their
research
Suggested actions (cont.)
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International Party Evening at Annual Meeting
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Develop an ESA satellite office in New York to
liaise with UN
(Could be done jointly with SCB, CI, NC )
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Revisit joint ESA / BES Initiatives
 ‘Best of BES / ESA’ reciprocal symposium at
each annual meeting
 Similar suggestion to Latin American Presidents
“The real task is to get societies to
understand the relevance of ecology
to daily life before it becomes
too obvious because it is too late…”