IALE-North America Newsletter
SUMMER 2018 | VOLUME 33.2
The IALE-North America Newsletter is a biannual publication containing updates on the industry, the Association, and the Annual Meeting. Previously, the newsletter was in PDF format (view the archives). Beginning in the Fall of 2017, the Newsletter highlights are emailed to our subscribers (join our mailing list) and the complete newsletter can be viewed online here.
IN THIS ISSUE:
President’s Message
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Hello US-IALE,
Happy fall landscape ecology colleagues of North America! I am honored to write as your new President of US-IALE, and thank you for trusting me to serve in this capacity. We have a big year ahead! At our conference in Chicago last April our membership voted in favor of expanding our US Regional Association to include all of North America, to diversify our memberships and governance with official representation of Canada, Mexico, and other neighboring nations and islands. We are very excited to advance this inclusive change. Since the Chicago meeting the Executive Committee has started revisions to our current association charter and handbook, to reflect the change to IALE-North America, including aspect of our name, mission, membership, governance, and fee structure. We plan to have a revised charter drawn for member review this coming February, leading to a vote at the 2019 annual meeting in Fort Collins, CO. That leads me to the second exciting update – plans for Fort Collins, April 7-11! The program and local hosts have been talking regularly with Delaney Meeting and Event Management and members of the executive committee. I know they have a couple terrific keynote speakers already lined up along with several great local events. The Call for Symposia are out here: http://www.usiale.org/call-for-symposia-workshops.html with proposals due by October 17th. Don’t miss it! I encourage anyone with ideas, questions, or concerns regarding our change to IALE-North America or anything else relevant to the organization to reach out to me personally by email at jmsilber@wisc.edu. Warm regards, Janet Silbernagel |
Photo of President Janet Silbernagel
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Chicago Meeting Update
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The Local Hosts and Program Chairs would like to thank everyone for a productive and enjoyable US-IALE conference in Chicago, IL at the historic Palmer House Hilton. Our 2018 annual meeting was a huge success! In typical Chicago fashion, the first day of the conference started in snow. But by the end of the conference, and the final scientific excursion to Indiana Dunes, we had more pleasant springtime conditions.
We broke previous registration records, with a total of 478 attendees. As is tradition with US-IALE, we had quite strong student participation with over 100 students attending. Among all attendees, approximately 40% were at their first US-IALE meeting while 60% of attendees were returning. Respondents to the post-conference survey indicated that the most important reason for attending the conference was acquiring knowledge, followed by networking/socializing and learning about trends in the profession. One respondent wrote “I enjoyed the opportunity to meet folks working on landscape-scale conservation, research and practice around the country. The range of topics were very broad and stimulating for my own work.” Another commented that the best thing about the conference was “the small nature and ability to meet and really get to know people. I had ample time to ask people for feedback on my research and had a chance to build some collaborations as well. Everyone was so friendly and welcoming.” |
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The conference included 18 symposia and 23 contributed oral sessions, 6 workshops and a well-attended poster session. Jianguo Wu, the Editor-in-Chief of “Landscape Ecology”, presented a quantitative and enthralling history of the journal at Tuesday evening’s awards banquet. We also had three excellent plenary speakers this year: Lenore Fahrig, Karen Oberhauser, and Lisa Schulte Moore. As one attendee wrote, “The Plenary Sessions were beyond excellent! Thank you also for inviting all women speakers. Their research and their career stories were extremely inspirational and I hope the young scientists in the audience felt that way too.”
There were a number of student focused activities including a walking tour of “The Loop” and the popular “We’ll Pick up the Tab” cocktail reception social, as well as the infamous NASA-MSU dinner for awardees. This year, students were offered the opportunity to select one workshop for no additional cost beyond the registration fee.
The Tuesday half-day excursions included an architectural boat tour of the Chicago River (luckily unfrozen), and a behind-the scenes view of research collections at the Field Museum of Natural History. A full day excursion to Indiana Dunes on Thursday was led by local USGS researchers Ralph Grundel and Noel Pavlovic. Attendees visited both the National Lakeshore and the State Park, learned about the local ecosystem, saw restoration sites, conquered the “3-dune challenge”, and saw "A Century of Progress" homes from the 1933 Chicago World's Fair.
The abstracts from the conference have been assembled into one pdf, available here: http://www.usiale.org/uploads/9/4/8/2/94821076/iale_2018_final_program_final.pdf
There were a number of student focused activities including a walking tour of “The Loop” and the popular “We’ll Pick up the Tab” cocktail reception social, as well as the infamous NASA-MSU dinner for awardees. This year, students were offered the opportunity to select one workshop for no additional cost beyond the registration fee.
The Tuesday half-day excursions included an architectural boat tour of the Chicago River (luckily unfrozen), and a behind-the scenes view of research collections at the Field Museum of Natural History. A full day excursion to Indiana Dunes on Thursday was led by local USGS researchers Ralph Grundel and Noel Pavlovic. Attendees visited both the National Lakeshore and the State Park, learned about the local ecosystem, saw restoration sites, conquered the “3-dune challenge”, and saw "A Century of Progress" homes from the 1933 Chicago World's Fair.
The abstracts from the conference have been assembled into one pdf, available here: http://www.usiale.org/uploads/9/4/8/2/94821076/iale_2018_final_program_final.pdf
Membership Note
We have 255 regular members, and 154 student members as of Aug 28, 2018. With our planned restructuring, we are exploring a pricing structure different levels of membership (annual or lifetime) and more categories than our current “Professional” and “Student”.
Amélie Davis, Membership Liaison
Amélie Davis, Membership Liaison
2019 Meeting: Fort Collins, Colorado
Conference Theme: Conservation Innovation
REMINDER: Submit your proposal to organize a symposium or host a workshop!
The US-IALE 2019 Annual Meeting is now accepting proposals to organize symposia and host workshops. We invite you to participate! All proposals must be submitted online by Wednesday, October 17 to be considered.
We encourage the submission of symposia and workshops that address the conference theme: Conservation Innovation, illustrating how your work builds on the foundation of landscape ecology theory, fosters new connections and innovates in solving urgent conservation challenges. We also encourage topics that address diversity, equity, and inclusion, including indigenous peoples’ perspectives.
Save the date! The Annual Meeting will be held April 7-11, 2019 in Fort Collins, Colorado.
Submit a Proposal
An Organized Symposium is a series of integrated presentations that address aspects of a single topic or theme. Symposia are the scientific centerpiece of the meeting and will run concurrently with other technical sessions. A symposium can consist of invited speakers only or be open to accepting presentations from the general call for abstracts, which will open in November 2018.
Workshops provide training on a specific skill, technique, or process and may involve one or more instructors. Workshops are intended to emphasize learning through participation, discussion, and "hands-on" activities. Attendance at workshops is by advance registration only, and a fee will be charged. Workshops will be half day in length, and will be offered on Tuesday, April 9 and Thursday, April 11.
Important Dates
REMINDER: Submit your proposal to organize a symposium or host a workshop!
The US-IALE 2019 Annual Meeting is now accepting proposals to organize symposia and host workshops. We invite you to participate! All proposals must be submitted online by Wednesday, October 17 to be considered.
We encourage the submission of symposia and workshops that address the conference theme: Conservation Innovation, illustrating how your work builds on the foundation of landscape ecology theory, fosters new connections and innovates in solving urgent conservation challenges. We also encourage topics that address diversity, equity, and inclusion, including indigenous peoples’ perspectives.
Save the date! The Annual Meeting will be held April 7-11, 2019 in Fort Collins, Colorado.
Submit a Proposal
An Organized Symposium is a series of integrated presentations that address aspects of a single topic or theme. Symposia are the scientific centerpiece of the meeting and will run concurrently with other technical sessions. A symposium can consist of invited speakers only or be open to accepting presentations from the general call for abstracts, which will open in November 2018.
Workshops provide training on a specific skill, technique, or process and may involve one or more instructors. Workshops are intended to emphasize learning through participation, discussion, and "hands-on" activities. Attendance at workshops is by advance registration only, and a fee will be charged. Workshops will be half day in length, and will be offered on Tuesday, April 9 and Thursday, April 11.
Important Dates
- Call for Organized Symposia: Deadline: October 17
- Organized Symposia finalized and announced by end of October. Symposia will be included as part of the technical program and will run concurrently with other general contributed sessions. All individual presentations within a special symposium, including those that have been invited, need to submit abstracts through the online Call-for-Abstract form.
- Call for Abstracts for oral presentations and posters: Opens November 1; Deadline: December 17. *Note: Deadline to submit all abstracts including individual speakers within a symposium, general contributed oral, and posters.
- Notifications of acceptance will be sent to submitting authors by early January, and the schedule will be posted online by mid-January.
Student News
Photo from the Student Walking Tour in Chicago, at the Cloud Gate Sculpture (aka “The Bean”)
Hello from the US-IALE Student Representatives, Erin Buchholtz and Kristin Braziunas.
US-IALE has always had a strong focus on supporting students at the annual meeting, and Chicago was no exception. The meeting brought together a record number of students, researchers, and professionals from around the country and abroad. Each year student representation at US-IALE continue to grow, and this year 174 students participated in the conference. This was the first meeting for over two-thirds of student attendees (based on 97 responses to the post-meeting survey). Thank you to everyone who made the journey, and welcome to the students new to US-IALE.
US-IALE sponsored and organized a variety of networking and professional activities for students. The diversity of attendees provided students with the chance to share in a wide range of perspectives, learn about research and career opportunities, and interact in more casual formats as well. Student activities included a walking tour (see photo of some of us at the Cloud Gate sculpture, AKA “The Bean”), student social, and “We’ll Pick up the Tab”, where students must find the professional who sponsored their drink ticket and get a chance to introduce themselves and talk about science. This year we did not have a student-mentor lunch, but we are currently working on planning a mentoring activity for the Fort Collins meeting. This will help us achieve our goal of having more focused and meaningful interactions between students and landscape ecology professionals in a variety of fields.
At the Chicago meeting, we also tried out a new option for workshops - students were invited to register for one workshop free of charge! This gave us all the opportunity to have a directed learning experience at the conference while taking into account our limited student budgets. Vijay Ramesh, an IALE student from Columbia University, also led a workshop called “Spatial Analysis Using R”. It was well-attended, and thanks to Vijay for his work introducing us to how to use R for spatial processes. If you are interested in leading a workshop for the 2019 annual meeting, or have a topic you’d like to see addressed, please let us know. Or, if you’re not a student, but would be interested in creating an opportunity for student professional development, please get in touch as planning the next annual meeting is already well underway.
Following the Chicago meeting, we held an election for the new student representative. The votes came in, and we elected Kristin Braziunas from University of Wisconsin-Madison. Congratulations Kristin and thanks to the other candidates for running.
As the 2019 annual meeting approaches, keep your eyes out for additional information regarding electing your next US-IALE Student Representative. We will be officially seeking nominations at the Fort Collins meeting to replace outgoing representative Erin as she finishes her 2-year term. Student representatives serve as voting members on the executive US-IALE board, representing the best interests of the broader students of Landscape Ecology. Each serves for a 2-year term, with the newly-elected representative overlapping with the current Student Representative. If you’ve enjoyed student activities in the past meetings, want to get more engaged in your professional organization, and/or want more opportunities to network and shape the US-IALE student activities, this is your chance!
Stay tuned, as US-IALE goes through the process to become North America IALE. We look forward to officially expanding our organization and welcome new student members from across the continent. And if international travel piques your interest, students are encouraged to submit their abstracts for the International IALE Meeting in Milan – check out the website for more info.
In closing, please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any feedback on student activities or involvement with US-IALE. And share your landscape ecology successes with us on Facebook or Twitter, so we can celebrate how awesome our students are!
Your Student Representatives-
Erin & Kristin
(Erin Buchholtz - ebuchholtz@tamu.edu, Kristin Braziunas – braziunas@wisc.edu).
US-IALE has always had a strong focus on supporting students at the annual meeting, and Chicago was no exception. The meeting brought together a record number of students, researchers, and professionals from around the country and abroad. Each year student representation at US-IALE continue to grow, and this year 174 students participated in the conference. This was the first meeting for over two-thirds of student attendees (based on 97 responses to the post-meeting survey). Thank you to everyone who made the journey, and welcome to the students new to US-IALE.
US-IALE sponsored and organized a variety of networking and professional activities for students. The diversity of attendees provided students with the chance to share in a wide range of perspectives, learn about research and career opportunities, and interact in more casual formats as well. Student activities included a walking tour (see photo of some of us at the Cloud Gate sculpture, AKA “The Bean”), student social, and “We’ll Pick up the Tab”, where students must find the professional who sponsored their drink ticket and get a chance to introduce themselves and talk about science. This year we did not have a student-mentor lunch, but we are currently working on planning a mentoring activity for the Fort Collins meeting. This will help us achieve our goal of having more focused and meaningful interactions between students and landscape ecology professionals in a variety of fields.
At the Chicago meeting, we also tried out a new option for workshops - students were invited to register for one workshop free of charge! This gave us all the opportunity to have a directed learning experience at the conference while taking into account our limited student budgets. Vijay Ramesh, an IALE student from Columbia University, also led a workshop called “Spatial Analysis Using R”. It was well-attended, and thanks to Vijay for his work introducing us to how to use R for spatial processes. If you are interested in leading a workshop for the 2019 annual meeting, or have a topic you’d like to see addressed, please let us know. Or, if you’re not a student, but would be interested in creating an opportunity for student professional development, please get in touch as planning the next annual meeting is already well underway.
Following the Chicago meeting, we held an election for the new student representative. The votes came in, and we elected Kristin Braziunas from University of Wisconsin-Madison. Congratulations Kristin and thanks to the other candidates for running.
As the 2019 annual meeting approaches, keep your eyes out for additional information regarding electing your next US-IALE Student Representative. We will be officially seeking nominations at the Fort Collins meeting to replace outgoing representative Erin as she finishes her 2-year term. Student representatives serve as voting members on the executive US-IALE board, representing the best interests of the broader students of Landscape Ecology. Each serves for a 2-year term, with the newly-elected representative overlapping with the current Student Representative. If you’ve enjoyed student activities in the past meetings, want to get more engaged in your professional organization, and/or want more opportunities to network and shape the US-IALE student activities, this is your chance!
Stay tuned, as US-IALE goes through the process to become North America IALE. We look forward to officially expanding our organization and welcome new student members from across the continent. And if international travel piques your interest, students are encouraged to submit their abstracts for the International IALE Meeting in Milan – check out the website for more info.
In closing, please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any feedback on student activities or involvement with US-IALE. And share your landscape ecology successes with us on Facebook or Twitter, so we can celebrate how awesome our students are!
Your Student Representatives-
Erin & Kristin
(Erin Buchholtz - ebuchholtz@tamu.edu, Kristin Braziunas – braziunas@wisc.edu).
US-IALE 2018 Awards Update
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Congratulations to the following award winners from the US-IALE Annual Meeting in Chicago, Illinois.
Best Student Presentation The objective of the Best Student Presentation Award is to recognize the best presentation given by a student at the annual meeting. We had 32 student entries in Chicago. The winner of the Best Student Presentation for the 2018 meeting was Timothy Swartz (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) for “Integrating Historical, Ecological, and Social Data to Understand Patterns of Amphibian Occupancy and Habitat Availability in an Agroecosystem.” We also had one honorable mention recipient: Brooke Cassell (Portland State University) for her presentation “Under Extreme Weather Conditions, Dry Mixed-conifer Forests in the Western U.S. Benefit from Spatial Optimization of Fuel Treatments.” The Awards Committee would like to offer special thanks to this year’s judges who graciously donating their time to evaluate the talks and posters: Hossam Eldien Abdel Moniem, Ginger Allington, Sarah Boyle, Amelie Davis, Nathan De Jager, Whalen Dillon, Andrew Elmore, Robert Fahey, Kristen Floress, Sarah Goslee, Eric Gustafson, Jeffrey Hepinstall-Cymerman, Jeffrey Hollister, Lucinda Johnson, Betty Kreakie, Anne Kuhn, Jalene LaMontagne, Todd Lookingbill, Marguerite Madden, Wendy McWilliam, Anita Morzillo, Maureen Murray, Jakub Nowosad, Esther Parish, Humberto Perotto, Morgan Pfeiffer, Roy Plotnick, Jiangxiao Qiu, Andrew Reinmann, Jessica Salo, Brian Sturtevant, Molly Van Appledorn, Jelena Vukomanovic, Yolanda Wiersma, Kimberly With, and Pat Zollner. Student Travel Awards Ten Student Travel Awards were supported this year with funding provided by US-IALE. These awards included up to $700 for travel to the conference in Chicago and were selected from an applicant pool of 34 students. The 2018 recipients were:
Outstanding Paper in Landscape Ecology Award The purpose of the Outstanding Paper in Landscape Ecology Award is to recognize papers published during the past two years that make an outstanding contribution to the field of landscape ecology. Papers are nominated by the US-IALE membership. The recipient of the 2018 Outstanding Paper Award was Meredith McClure for the paper: Meredith L. McClure . Andrew J. Hansen . Robert M. Inman. 2016. Connecting models to movements: testing connectivity model predictions against empirical migration and dispersal data. Landscape Ecology 31:1419–1432 Distinguished Landscape Practitioner Award The objective of the Distinguished Landscape Practitioner Award is to recognize outstanding applications of the principles of landscape ecology to real-world problems. The recipients of this year’s awards were Sam Cushman and Jim Wickham. Sam Cushman is a research ecologist with US Forest Service and a US-IALE councilors-at-large. In addition to his contributions to software applications (such as FRAGSTATS, CDPOP, and UNICOR), Sam has over 160 refereed publications since 2000 and was cited 1931 times in 2017 alone. Jim Wickham is senior research ecologist at the US Environmental Protection Agency’s National Exposure Research Laboratory. Jim coordinates and directs EPA’s participation in the Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics (MRLC) consortium, the federal consortium the produces the National Land Cover Database (NLCD). Distinguished Service Award The award for Distinguished Service recognizes individuals who have contributed exceptionally to US-IALE in terms of time, energy, and dedication that advanced the mission of US-IALE in an extraordinary manner. The recipient of this year’s award was Nancy McIntyre, professor of landscape and community ecology in the Department of Biological Sciences at Texas Tech University. Over the last 15 plus years, she has actively participated in nearly all aspects of the society. She has severed as chair of the nominating committee (2004-2010) and as councilor-at-large (2003-2005). Currently, she is member of the foreign scholar travel award committee (2007-present). We enthusiastically thank Nancy for her continual and crucial support of our society. Distinguished Landscape Ecologist The Distinguished Landscape Ecologist Award recognizes individuals whose long-term scientific contribution has helped to define the field of landscape ecology. The recipient of this year’s award was Jianguo (Jack) Liu, University Distinguished Professor and Rachel Carson Chair in Sustainability at Michigan State University. To quote one of his nominating letters: “Jack is one of the most influential landscape ecologists working today, and has done as much as anyone to foster the growth of landscape ecology as a discipline and of US-IALE as the signature organization representing the discipline.” ---The 2018 US-IALE Awards Committee Betty Kreakie (co-chairs), Todd Lookingbill (co-chairs), Pete August, Jennifer Costanza, Dan Kashian, Steven Walters, & Jingle Wu |
Travel Award Recipients
Sam Cushman with Ross Meentemeyer
James Wickham with Ross Meentemeyer
Nancy McIntyre with Ross Meentemeyer
Jianguo Lui with Ross Meentemeyer
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Foreign Scholar Travel Award
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The purpose of the FSTA is to provide support for landscape ecologists from foreign countries to attend the annual US-IALE symposium and to foster international exchange about advances in landscape ecology. Winners are selected based primarily on high quality scientific endeavors that advance landscape ecology, but early career scientists with demonstrated financial need also receive high priority. Please consider applying for the 2019 symposium in Fort Collins, CO; the application deadline aligns with that of the conference abstract deadline (December 17, 2018). More details on eligibility and the selection criteria can be found on the US-IALE website (http://www.usiale.org/foreign-scholar-award.html).
We received 23 applications this year representing 12 countries: Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Colombia, Ghana, India, Iran, Madagascar, Nepal, Republic of Moldova, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. Special thanks to Robert Corry (Univ. of Guelph), Deahn Donner (USFWS), Anne Kuhn (U.S. EPA), Nancy McIntyre (Texas Tech Univ.), and Tammy Wilson (National Park Service) of the FSTA Committee for taking the time to carefully review and rank the applications. Indranil Mondal (India) and Jing Wang (China) were awarded US$1200 to help with their travel expenses to the 2018 Chicago symposium. Congrats to these stellar foreign scholars! As always, during the 2019 symposium, we will be holding the annual Silent Book and Software Auction. Please remember to donate any books you may have on your shelves…old and new are greatly appreciated. There will be tables at registration for you to drop off your goodies. Also, don’t forget to bid early and often on the great items that will be available at the auction. All proceeds from sales directly fund the FSTA scholarships. |
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NASA-MSU Program turns 21
The NASA-MSU Professional Enhancement Awards Program turns 21 this year. The awards are made possible by support from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Michigan State University (MSU). The program has supported more than 420 students from approximately 160 institutions worldwide since 1998 to present their research and interact with leading scientists and other attendees at US-IALE meeting and IALE Congress. Numerous former awardees have made outstanding achievements.
This year, the 20 new awardees had opportunities to present their research, meet at a special celebration dinner gathering with speakers of the NASA-MSU sponsored symposium on telecoupling (http://www.usiale.org/symposia2018.html) and workshop on telecoupling (http://www.usiale.org/workshops2018.html), learn the latest developments in landscape ecology, present their research, build professional networks with other conference attendees, and collaborate on telecoupling (http://csis.msu.edu/telecoupling). They also received award certificates from Dr. Ross Meentemeyer (President of US-IALE) at the conference banquet.
This year, the 20 new awardees had opportunities to present their research, meet at a special celebration dinner gathering with speakers of the NASA-MSU sponsored symposium on telecoupling (http://www.usiale.org/symposia2018.html) and workshop on telecoupling (http://www.usiale.org/workshops2018.html), learn the latest developments in landscape ecology, present their research, build professional networks with other conference attendees, and collaborate on telecoupling (http://csis.msu.edu/telecoupling). They also received award certificates from Dr. Ross Meentemeyer (President of US-IALE) at the conference banquet.
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NASA-MSU Awardees (Class of 2018)
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NASA MSU Group Photo
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The 2018 NASA-MSU Awards Committee consists of Jianguo (Jack) Liu (Chair), Garik Gutman (NASA), Jennifer Carducci (MSU), Doreen Gordon (MSU), Sue Nichols (MSU), and James Vatter (MSU).
Communications Committee
The communications from US-IALE via social media have been growing. We are now sitting at over 330 followers. According to Twitter analytics, we’ve reached 10.2K “twitter impressions” over the last 28 days alone. The Twitter feed has mostly been used to broadcast information about US-IALE (conference deadlines, news from the parent IALE, etc.). We also retweet any posts that we think might be relevant to our members, announcements about jobs, graduate positions, papers, funding, etc. If you want your tweet broadcast, then please tag us (@us_iale). Also note that there is a new handle (@iale_na) waiting in the wings (currently inactive).
As a committee, we haven’t done much to increase the website content. We’d like to increase the content on the “What is landscape ecology?” page (http://www.usiale.org/what-is-landscape-ecology.html) and the teaching resources page (http://www.usiale.org/teaching-resources.html). If you would like to help create content for these page (or other aspects of the website), or have any other suggestions for the communications committee, please contact me!
Yolanda Wiersma, Chair of Communications Committee
ywiersma@mun.ca
@YolandaWiersma
As a committee, we haven’t done much to increase the website content. We’d like to increase the content on the “What is landscape ecology?” page (http://www.usiale.org/what-is-landscape-ecology.html) and the teaching resources page (http://www.usiale.org/teaching-resources.html). If you would like to help create content for these page (or other aspects of the website), or have any other suggestions for the communications committee, please contact me!
Yolanda Wiersma, Chair of Communications Committee
ywiersma@mun.ca
@YolandaWiersma
New US-IALE Officers
The following officers were elected in spring 2018.
Councillor-at-Large: Tom Edwards
I am a Research Ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, Utah Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, and Professor in the Department of Wildland Resources, Utah State University. I teach graduate level classes in The Design and Analysis of Ecological Research, and Landscape Ecology. I am also involved in a collaborative effort to develop a MOOC on landscape ecology centered out of Zurich ETH, Switzerland. My current research interests include bioregional conservation planning, and the development of methods for assessing and monitoring biological diversity at large landscape scales. These efforts include (i) a European-based effort of the joint effects of climate and land change on biodiversity in Western Europe, (ii) landscape-scale modeling for the integration of energy extraction and rare species management and conservation in the Intermountain West.
I was Co-Chair of the 2009 US IALE Annual Meeting, Snowbird, Utah, have been a regular member of IALE since its early years, and am in the last year of service as the Secretary-General for the IALE International Executive Committee. I view the position of Councilor-at Large as an important link to the IALE membership. I will bring the extensive understanding I now have of the international community of IALE scientists to IALE-US, especially now that IALE-US is expanding to North America.
Councillor-at-Large: Jelena Vukomanovic
I am an Assistant Professor in the College of Natural Resources and a Faculty Fellow in the Center for Geospatial Analytics at NC State University. My research and teaching focus on landscape change, ecosystem services, and participatory modeling, where I work across disciplinary boundaries to develop innovative analytics for scenario-based modeling and equitable futures. I am a committed advocate for equity and diversity at my institution and plan to continue that work with US-IALE. I lead a college-level Women in Science Discussion group – an active community of faculty and graduate students focused on peer-support and mentoring to address the challenges faced by women in science. I also serve on NC State’s Association of Women Faculty Steering Committee and on the Planning Committee for the University’s annual Showcase of Women’s Scholarship. I look forward to working with the entire US-IALE community to shape our association’s bright future.
As Councilor-at-Large of US-IALE, I look forward to working with President Janet Silbernagel to uphold and further develop our culture of engagement by: 1) establishing a mentoring network for women scientists and practitioners, with an emphasis on supporting our graduate students and early-career members; 2) dedicating space within the Annual Meeting for diversity and inclusion discussion and resources for allies; 3) diversifying opportunities for member engagement outside of the Annual Meeting.
Treasurer: Jessica Price
I am a Landscape Conservation Ecologist with The Nature Conservancy in New York. My work focuses on applying interdisciplinary approaches to develop innovative solutions to landscape-scale conservation challenges that meet the needs of both people and nature, especially in the areas of renewable energy and climate resilience. I received my PhD in Landscape Ecology from the University of Wisconsin at Madison in 2016 where I worked in the Silbernagel Lab to build and model landscape scenarios to evaluate the effectiveness of various forest management strategies under climate change pressures in Michigan and Wisconsin.
I have served as US-IALE Treasurer since 2016 and look forward to my second term in the position. I was a Student Representative to the US-IALE Executive Committee from 2010 to 2012. I also have experience teaching, coordinating service-learning projects for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as planning and executing research symposia. I consider US-IALE my ‘home’ organization and am excited to continue to serve the Landscape Ecology community as US-IALE Treasurer.
Student Representative - Kristin Braziunas
I am a PhD student in my second year at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, working with Dr. Monica Turner in the Department of Integrative Biology. I study the effects of climate change and changing fire regimes on forest ecosystems and human communities in the Northern Rocky Mountains, combining forest simulation modeling with remotely sensed and field data. Before beginning my graduate program, I worked for 7 years managing energy, policy, and community engagement programs in the sustainability non-profit sector, served on the boards of two community service organizations and a local foundation, and planned both academic and professional conferences and workshops. As the Treasurer of the Integrative Biology graduate student organization, I helped launch a graduate student mentorship program that pairs first-year students with graduate mentors who provide guidance, support, and social connections.
As a student representative, I will advocate for (1) better representation of diversity and inclusion of underrepresented communities in IALE-North America, (2) continued support for professional development and networking opportunities at the annual meeting, and (3) improved funding and affordability for student attendees at the annual meeting. The transition to IALE-NA will provide an important opportunity to increase diversity and inclusion in our organization. I propose adding one or more new student representative positions designated for students from Mexico and Canada. I also support sustaining and expanding networking events, workshops, and amenities that are no-cost for students at the annual meeting. I will actively seek student feedback and suggestions for other ways to be your advocate. I’m proud of IALE-NA’s strong student community, and I am very excited for the opportunity to serve as your representative.
Councillor-at-Large: Tom Edwards
I am a Research Ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, Utah Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, and Professor in the Department of Wildland Resources, Utah State University. I teach graduate level classes in The Design and Analysis of Ecological Research, and Landscape Ecology. I am also involved in a collaborative effort to develop a MOOC on landscape ecology centered out of Zurich ETH, Switzerland. My current research interests include bioregional conservation planning, and the development of methods for assessing and monitoring biological diversity at large landscape scales. These efforts include (i) a European-based effort of the joint effects of climate and land change on biodiversity in Western Europe, (ii) landscape-scale modeling for the integration of energy extraction and rare species management and conservation in the Intermountain West.
I was Co-Chair of the 2009 US IALE Annual Meeting, Snowbird, Utah, have been a regular member of IALE since its early years, and am in the last year of service as the Secretary-General for the IALE International Executive Committee. I view the position of Councilor-at Large as an important link to the IALE membership. I will bring the extensive understanding I now have of the international community of IALE scientists to IALE-US, especially now that IALE-US is expanding to North America.
Councillor-at-Large: Jelena Vukomanovic
I am an Assistant Professor in the College of Natural Resources and a Faculty Fellow in the Center for Geospatial Analytics at NC State University. My research and teaching focus on landscape change, ecosystem services, and participatory modeling, where I work across disciplinary boundaries to develop innovative analytics for scenario-based modeling and equitable futures. I am a committed advocate for equity and diversity at my institution and plan to continue that work with US-IALE. I lead a college-level Women in Science Discussion group – an active community of faculty and graduate students focused on peer-support and mentoring to address the challenges faced by women in science. I also serve on NC State’s Association of Women Faculty Steering Committee and on the Planning Committee for the University’s annual Showcase of Women’s Scholarship. I look forward to working with the entire US-IALE community to shape our association’s bright future.
As Councilor-at-Large of US-IALE, I look forward to working with President Janet Silbernagel to uphold and further develop our culture of engagement by: 1) establishing a mentoring network for women scientists and practitioners, with an emphasis on supporting our graduate students and early-career members; 2) dedicating space within the Annual Meeting for diversity and inclusion discussion and resources for allies; 3) diversifying opportunities for member engagement outside of the Annual Meeting.
Treasurer: Jessica Price
I am a Landscape Conservation Ecologist with The Nature Conservancy in New York. My work focuses on applying interdisciplinary approaches to develop innovative solutions to landscape-scale conservation challenges that meet the needs of both people and nature, especially in the areas of renewable energy and climate resilience. I received my PhD in Landscape Ecology from the University of Wisconsin at Madison in 2016 where I worked in the Silbernagel Lab to build and model landscape scenarios to evaluate the effectiveness of various forest management strategies under climate change pressures in Michigan and Wisconsin.
I have served as US-IALE Treasurer since 2016 and look forward to my second term in the position. I was a Student Representative to the US-IALE Executive Committee from 2010 to 2012. I also have experience teaching, coordinating service-learning projects for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as planning and executing research symposia. I consider US-IALE my ‘home’ organization and am excited to continue to serve the Landscape Ecology community as US-IALE Treasurer.
Student Representative - Kristin Braziunas
I am a PhD student in my second year at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, working with Dr. Monica Turner in the Department of Integrative Biology. I study the effects of climate change and changing fire regimes on forest ecosystems and human communities in the Northern Rocky Mountains, combining forest simulation modeling with remotely sensed and field data. Before beginning my graduate program, I worked for 7 years managing energy, policy, and community engagement programs in the sustainability non-profit sector, served on the boards of two community service organizations and a local foundation, and planned both academic and professional conferences and workshops. As the Treasurer of the Integrative Biology graduate student organization, I helped launch a graduate student mentorship program that pairs first-year students with graduate mentors who provide guidance, support, and social connections.
As a student representative, I will advocate for (1) better representation of diversity and inclusion of underrepresented communities in IALE-North America, (2) continued support for professional development and networking opportunities at the annual meeting, and (3) improved funding and affordability for student attendees at the annual meeting. The transition to IALE-NA will provide an important opportunity to increase diversity and inclusion in our organization. I propose adding one or more new student representative positions designated for students from Mexico and Canada. I also support sustaining and expanding networking events, workshops, and amenities that are no-cost for students at the annual meeting. I will actively seek student feedback and suggestions for other ways to be your advocate. I’m proud of IALE-NA’s strong student community, and I am very excited for the opportunity to serve as your representative.
Stay in Touch!
- Website: www.usiale.org
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/usiale
- Twitter @us_iale; @iale_na
- IALE Website: www.landscape-ecology.org
- IALE Current Newsletter: www.landscape-ecology.org/services/publications/iale-bulletin/new-iale-bulletin-out-now.html
- IALE World Congress (Milan, Italy, July 1-5, 2019) Website: www.landscape-ecology.org/events/iale-world-congress-2019-call-for-symposia.html