IALE-North America Newsletter
SUMMER 2022 | VOLUME 37
IN THIS ISSUE:
President’s Message
Kimberly With, meeting and working in silico during the pandemic
Greetings, Landscape Ecologists!
As the new President of IALE-North America, I’d like to begin this first message by (re)introducing myself, especially for the benefit of our newer members whom I’ve not yet had the opportunity to meet since our annual conferences went virtual. Briefly, I am a Professor in the Division of Biology at Kansas State University, where I teach conservation biology and landscape ecology, and have spent much of my career studying the effects of habitat loss, fragmentation, and land management on vertebrate populations (mostly birds and herptiles) in temperate and tropical grasslands, as well as on insects in experimental model landscapes. I have been a member of IALE-NA (and its predecessor, US-IALE) for most of my career, having served in various capacities within the organization as well as on the editorial board of Landscape Ecology for many years. It is therefore my honor to now serve as the IALE-NA President for the next two years.
These past few years have been challenging and stressful ones for many of us, as we struggle to adapt to a “new normal” in the wake of a global pandemic. As an organization, IALE-NA has likewise had to adapt. Notably, we have held our last three annual conferences online in response to ongoing concerns regarding the emergence and spread of the novel coronavirus and its variants. The decision to shift to a virtual meeting has been difficult and comes after the host committee has already invested a great deal of time and energy in making arrangements for an in-person conference. While a virtual conference cannot duplicate the immersive experience and other benefits of an in-person conference, this has at least enabled us to come together as a community to talk about our science and its applications, in spite of the ongoing pandemic. For many graduate students and early-career researchers, our virtual conferences may have offered one of the few opportunities they have had to present their research and to network with other professionals in the field.
Although a virtual conference may appear to take less effort to host than an in-person meeting, there is still a great deal of work involved in moving the program to an online platform, organizing the sessions and other meeting events, and ensuring that everything runs smoothly. We thus owe an enormous debt of gratitude to the Program Chairs and Host Committees who so nimbly shifted to an online meeting format during these pandemic years, including the 2022 Program Co-Chairs (Janet Franklin and Helen Regan) and Host Committee (Darrel Jenerette, Li An, Francisco Escobedo, Caitlin Cunningham, Payton Phillips, and Steve Matthews), as well as to Leslie Pelch and her colleagues at Delaney Meeting and Events Management for implementing the meeting within the virtual conference platform, chairing many of the sessions, and recording and making the presentations available online for later viewing.
As the latest COVID-19 variant (or subvariant) sweeps across North America this summer, it is still too early to know what the future may hold for next year’s meeting. However, we are planning to return to an in-person meeting and are scheduled to hold our annual conference on March 19-23, 2023 in Riverside, California, where we were meant to gather this past year. After so many years of meeting in silico, it will be wonderful to gather again in person and I am very much looking forward to seeing you all there! You can find out more about the plans for next year’s meeting in this newsletter.
Many of us consider IALE-North America to be our professional home. We thus have a vested interest in its continued success. Renewing one’s membership at year’s end is a simple step we can all take in support of IALE-NA; recruiting new members is another. Please reach out to any of your colleagues whose research interests align with landscape ecology and invite them to join IALE-North America. For those who supervise graduate students or postdocs, please check to see whether they are up-to-date on their memberships and encourage them to attend our next conference in Riverside. To facilitate your recruitment efforts, we have just launched a new Ambassador Program, which outlines how to be an effective ambassador for IALE-NA, along with brochures (in English, French, and Spanish) that can be downloaded and either posted or distributed to colleagues at your institution or at other conferences you attend.
For those wanting to contribute further, please consider volunteering to serve on one of our standing committees. We have a number of positions available as members rotate off these committees; please see the “help wanted” section of this newsletter for additional information, or contact the current Committee Chair to enquire how you can get involved. We are a relatively small professional society and are therefore dependent on members like you to help us enact our programs and develop new initiatives. Volunteering to serve on one (or more!) committees is a great way to get involved in the society, to meet and interact with other landscape ecologists, and to make a significant contribution to the organization.
Speaking of significant contributions, I would like to acknowledge the IALE-NA Officers and Committee Chairs who have either finished their terms or are stepping down this year. These include our immediate past President, Nancy McIntyre; Councillors-at-Large, Li An and Betty Kreakie; Student Representative, Caitlin Cunningham; and the outgoing Chairs of the Awards Committee (Betty Kreakie), Policy Committee (Audrey Mayer), and Sponsorship Committee (Brian Buma and Tom Albright). This organization has always been as much about the people as it has been about the science, and these folks epitomize the best of IALE-NA. We thank you for your service and for helping to make IALE-North America a stronger, better, and more inclusive organization.
Finally, I want to welcome to the IALE-NA Executive Committee our new Student Representative, Animesh Ghose; Councillors-at-Large, Darrel Jenerette and Ilona Naujokaitis-Lewis; and to congratulate Jeffrey Hepinstall-Cymerman on his election to a second term as Treasurer. They join the continuing members of the Executive Committee: Secretary Steve Matthews, Councillors-at-Large Kristin Byrd and Yessica Rico Macebo del Castillo, and Student Representative Payton Phillips. I look forward to working with all of you this coming year to advance the mission of IALE-North America.
Onward and upward,
Kimberly A. With
President, IALE-North America | 2022-2024
Division of Biology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506 USA
[email protected]
As the new President of IALE-North America, I’d like to begin this first message by (re)introducing myself, especially for the benefit of our newer members whom I’ve not yet had the opportunity to meet since our annual conferences went virtual. Briefly, I am a Professor in the Division of Biology at Kansas State University, where I teach conservation biology and landscape ecology, and have spent much of my career studying the effects of habitat loss, fragmentation, and land management on vertebrate populations (mostly birds and herptiles) in temperate and tropical grasslands, as well as on insects in experimental model landscapes. I have been a member of IALE-NA (and its predecessor, US-IALE) for most of my career, having served in various capacities within the organization as well as on the editorial board of Landscape Ecology for many years. It is therefore my honor to now serve as the IALE-NA President for the next two years.
These past few years have been challenging and stressful ones for many of us, as we struggle to adapt to a “new normal” in the wake of a global pandemic. As an organization, IALE-NA has likewise had to adapt. Notably, we have held our last three annual conferences online in response to ongoing concerns regarding the emergence and spread of the novel coronavirus and its variants. The decision to shift to a virtual meeting has been difficult and comes after the host committee has already invested a great deal of time and energy in making arrangements for an in-person conference. While a virtual conference cannot duplicate the immersive experience and other benefits of an in-person conference, this has at least enabled us to come together as a community to talk about our science and its applications, in spite of the ongoing pandemic. For many graduate students and early-career researchers, our virtual conferences may have offered one of the few opportunities they have had to present their research and to network with other professionals in the field.
Although a virtual conference may appear to take less effort to host than an in-person meeting, there is still a great deal of work involved in moving the program to an online platform, organizing the sessions and other meeting events, and ensuring that everything runs smoothly. We thus owe an enormous debt of gratitude to the Program Chairs and Host Committees who so nimbly shifted to an online meeting format during these pandemic years, including the 2022 Program Co-Chairs (Janet Franklin and Helen Regan) and Host Committee (Darrel Jenerette, Li An, Francisco Escobedo, Caitlin Cunningham, Payton Phillips, and Steve Matthews), as well as to Leslie Pelch and her colleagues at Delaney Meeting and Events Management for implementing the meeting within the virtual conference platform, chairing many of the sessions, and recording and making the presentations available online for later viewing.
As the latest COVID-19 variant (or subvariant) sweeps across North America this summer, it is still too early to know what the future may hold for next year’s meeting. However, we are planning to return to an in-person meeting and are scheduled to hold our annual conference on March 19-23, 2023 in Riverside, California, where we were meant to gather this past year. After so many years of meeting in silico, it will be wonderful to gather again in person and I am very much looking forward to seeing you all there! You can find out more about the plans for next year’s meeting in this newsletter.
Many of us consider IALE-North America to be our professional home. We thus have a vested interest in its continued success. Renewing one’s membership at year’s end is a simple step we can all take in support of IALE-NA; recruiting new members is another. Please reach out to any of your colleagues whose research interests align with landscape ecology and invite them to join IALE-North America. For those who supervise graduate students or postdocs, please check to see whether they are up-to-date on their memberships and encourage them to attend our next conference in Riverside. To facilitate your recruitment efforts, we have just launched a new Ambassador Program, which outlines how to be an effective ambassador for IALE-NA, along with brochures (in English, French, and Spanish) that can be downloaded and either posted or distributed to colleagues at your institution or at other conferences you attend.
For those wanting to contribute further, please consider volunteering to serve on one of our standing committees. We have a number of positions available as members rotate off these committees; please see the “help wanted” section of this newsletter for additional information, or contact the current Committee Chair to enquire how you can get involved. We are a relatively small professional society and are therefore dependent on members like you to help us enact our programs and develop new initiatives. Volunteering to serve on one (or more!) committees is a great way to get involved in the society, to meet and interact with other landscape ecologists, and to make a significant contribution to the organization.
Speaking of significant contributions, I would like to acknowledge the IALE-NA Officers and Committee Chairs who have either finished their terms or are stepping down this year. These include our immediate past President, Nancy McIntyre; Councillors-at-Large, Li An and Betty Kreakie; Student Representative, Caitlin Cunningham; and the outgoing Chairs of the Awards Committee (Betty Kreakie), Policy Committee (Audrey Mayer), and Sponsorship Committee (Brian Buma and Tom Albright). This organization has always been as much about the people as it has been about the science, and these folks epitomize the best of IALE-NA. We thank you for your service and for helping to make IALE-North America a stronger, better, and more inclusive organization.
Finally, I want to welcome to the IALE-NA Executive Committee our new Student Representative, Animesh Ghose; Councillors-at-Large, Darrel Jenerette and Ilona Naujokaitis-Lewis; and to congratulate Jeffrey Hepinstall-Cymerman on his election to a second term as Treasurer. They join the continuing members of the Executive Committee: Secretary Steve Matthews, Councillors-at-Large Kristin Byrd and Yessica Rico Macebo del Castillo, and Student Representative Payton Phillips. I look forward to working with all of you this coming year to advance the mission of IALE-North America.
Onward and upward,
Kimberly A. With
President, IALE-North America | 2022-2024
Division of Biology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506 USA
[email protected]
2023 Meeting Update: Riverside, California
The Riverside, CA Host Committee of IALE – North America's 2023 Annual Meeting is looking forward to hosting the event in person, March 19-23! The theme of the 2023 conference is “Equity, Inclusion, and Landscapes of Change” and highlights will include:
- Workshop on Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity
- Social Event Focused on Inclusion
- Engaging Plenaries
- Cindy Montanez, CEO, TreePeople
- Alexandra D. Syphard, Ph.D., Chief Scientist, Vertus Wildlife Insurance Services
- Cindy Montanez, CEO, TreePeople
- All of the features of the meeting you normally look forward to:
- Poster Session
- Student/Mentor Lunch
- Networking Events
- Workshops - Call for Workshops Opens in Late August!
- Symposia - Call for Symposia Opens in Late August!
- Scientific Excursions
- Presentations - General Call for Abstracts Open Early November!
Student News & Notes
Hello from your IALE-North America Student Representatives, Payton Phillips and Animesh Ghose. IALE-NA has always had a strong focus on student mentoring and participation, which has not dimmed after years of online meetings. This year’s virtual meeting included 107 students from the US, Canada, and beyond.
While we still miss gathering together at in-person meetings, this third fully virtual conference provided unique opportunities for us to network and connect with the landscape ecology community. This meeting included two separate student-mentor events. First, the traditional student-mentor event was held over Zoom this year. Students were able to choose from 16 different breakout rooms with over 40 professional mentors based on their research interests and career goals. Thanks to all the students and mentors who participated!
In addition, the IALE-NA Mentorship program had a very successful first year, with 16 pairs of students and mentors. These students and mentors met multiple times throughout the year, culminating in a final virtual meeting during the conference. We are excited about the success of this new program, piloted by former Councilor-at-Large and Student Representative Caitlin Cunningham, and would like to thank all the students and mentors involved.
Following the meeting, we held an election for our new student representative and selected Animesh Ghose. Animesh is a PhD student at McGill University. His work focuses on understanding the impact of human activities on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning across spatial and temporal scales. Animesh obtained a Masters in Ecology from Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue and has worked on a variety of projects devoted to ecology and conservation. Congratulations to Animesh, and thank you to all the candidates for running!
We look forward to seeing everyone in person at the 2023 meeting in Riverside, California.
While we still miss gathering together at in-person meetings, this third fully virtual conference provided unique opportunities for us to network and connect with the landscape ecology community. This meeting included two separate student-mentor events. First, the traditional student-mentor event was held over Zoom this year. Students were able to choose from 16 different breakout rooms with over 40 professional mentors based on their research interests and career goals. Thanks to all the students and mentors who participated!
In addition, the IALE-NA Mentorship program had a very successful first year, with 16 pairs of students and mentors. These students and mentors met multiple times throughout the year, culminating in a final virtual meeting during the conference. We are excited about the success of this new program, piloted by former Councilor-at-Large and Student Representative Caitlin Cunningham, and would like to thank all the students and mentors involved.
Following the meeting, we held an election for our new student representative and selected Animesh Ghose. Animesh is a PhD student at McGill University. His work focuses on understanding the impact of human activities on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning across spatial and temporal scales. Animesh obtained a Masters in Ecology from Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue and has worked on a variety of projects devoted to ecology and conservation. Congratulations to Animesh, and thank you to all the candidates for running!
We look forward to seeing everyone in person at the 2023 meeting in Riverside, California.
IALE-NA 2022 Awards Update
Congratulations to the following award winners from the IALE-NA Annual Meeting!
Best Student Presentation
The Best Student Presentation Award recognizes scientific merit and presentation skill of a student at the annual meeting. The winner of the Best Student Presentation for the 2021 meeting was Tin Hang Hung (University of Oxford) for “GenDivRange: A Novel Database of Population Genetic Diversity and Dispersal Distance across a Wide Range of Taxa to Test the Evolutionary Determinants of Species Range Limits.” We also had one honorable mention recipient: April Martinig (University of Alberta) for “Temporal clustering of prey in wildlife passages provides no evidence of a prey-trap, instead vegetated highway medians act as foraging habitat.”
The Awards Committee would like to thank to this year’s judges, who graciously donate their time to evaluate the talks and posters!
Student Travel Awards
Twenty Student Awards were supported this year with funding to cover conference registration provided by IALE-NA. The 2022 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 IALE-NA membership. The recipient of the 2022 Outstanding Paper Award was Riley Andrade and coauthors for the paper “Predicting the assembly of novel communities in urban ecosystems” in Landscape Ecology 36.1 (2021): 1-15.
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 recipient of this year’s award was Dr. David Theobald. Dr. Theobald has been a member and attendee of our meetings for many years. While working in academia as a faculty member at Colorado State University, his research focused on land-use trends in the United States. More recently, he founded his own company, Conservation Planning Technologies, that harvests big data and performs spatial analyses on behalf of stakeholders. In addition to this company, he has written a book (GIS Concepts and ArcGIS Methods, available free as a PDF from his company’s website, davidmtheobald.com), developed a Google Earth Engine toolbox (LandSCaPeN), a Google Earth Engine data product (a global human modification dataset), and over 100 peer-reviewed publications.
Distinguished Service Award
The award for Distinguished Service recognizes individuals who have contributed exceptionally to IALE-NA in terms of time, energy, and dedication that advanced the mission of IALE-NA in an extraordinary manner. The recipient of this year’s award was Dr. Kristin Byrd. Dr. Byrd is the inaugural chair of the EID (Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity) Committee, and has been a force in moving our society forward on this issue. Under Dr. Bryan leadership, the EID Committee has drafted a very thoughtful and comprehensive strategic plan. We are grateful for Dr. Byrd and the entire EID Committtee’s dedication to help the Society advance this critical priority. Thank you!
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 Dr. Carol Johnston. Dr. Johnston has been working in landscape ecology of wetlands throughout her long and distinguished career, with a principal focus on how beavers are key ecosystem engineers of boreal landscapes. To quote her nomination letter: she is an early practitioner of wetlandscape ecology, she has consistently been an advocate of geospatial approaches to ecological questions, and she has amassed an impressive body of scholarship on how one non-human species shapes and reshapes the wet/land interface, driving ecological dynamics across watersheds.
---The 2022 US-IALE Awards Committee
Betty Kreakie (chair), Jennifer Costanza, Sarah Goslee, Dan Kashian, Emily Minor, and Ilona Naujokaitis-Lewis
Best Student Presentation
The Best Student Presentation Award recognizes scientific merit and presentation skill of a student at the annual meeting. The winner of the Best Student Presentation for the 2021 meeting was Tin Hang Hung (University of Oxford) for “GenDivRange: A Novel Database of Population Genetic Diversity and Dispersal Distance across a Wide Range of Taxa to Test the Evolutionary Determinants of Species Range Limits.” We also had one honorable mention recipient: April Martinig (University of Alberta) for “Temporal clustering of prey in wildlife passages provides no evidence of a prey-trap, instead vegetated highway medians act as foraging habitat.”
The Awards Committee would like to thank to this year’s judges, who graciously donate their time to evaluate the talks and posters!
Student Travel Awards
Twenty Student Awards were supported this year with funding to cover conference registration provided by IALE-NA. The 2022 recipients were:
- Erin Matula, Northern Michigan University
- Skye Greenler, Oregon State University
- Shelby Snapp, The University of Oklahoma
- Alison Deak, University of Oregon
- Casey Hamilton, The Pennsylvania State University
- Claire Wang, Clark University
- Erin Rowland-Schaefer, Northern Illinois University
- Thomas Bilintoh, Clark University
- David Grace, University of Michigan
- Wenxin Yang, Arizona State University
- Kimberly Serno, Baylor University
- Shelby Weiss, University of Oregon
- Emlyn Crocker, University of Connecticut
- Abigail Dunn, University of Connecticut
- Louis Jochems, Boise State University
- Olivia Spencer, The Pennsylvania State University
- Stuart Steidle, University of Oregon
- Logan Hysen, Humboldt State University
- Danial Nayeri, Humboldt State University
- Ara Metz, University of Northern Colorado
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 IALE-NA membership. The recipient of the 2022 Outstanding Paper Award was Riley Andrade and coauthors for the paper “Predicting the assembly of novel communities in urban ecosystems” in Landscape Ecology 36.1 (2021): 1-15.
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 recipient of this year’s award was Dr. David Theobald. Dr. Theobald has been a member and attendee of our meetings for many years. While working in academia as a faculty member at Colorado State University, his research focused on land-use trends in the United States. More recently, he founded his own company, Conservation Planning Technologies, that harvests big data and performs spatial analyses on behalf of stakeholders. In addition to this company, he has written a book (GIS Concepts and ArcGIS Methods, available free as a PDF from his company’s website, davidmtheobald.com), developed a Google Earth Engine toolbox (LandSCaPeN), a Google Earth Engine data product (a global human modification dataset), and over 100 peer-reviewed publications.
Distinguished Service Award
The award for Distinguished Service recognizes individuals who have contributed exceptionally to IALE-NA in terms of time, energy, and dedication that advanced the mission of IALE-NA in an extraordinary manner. The recipient of this year’s award was Dr. Kristin Byrd. Dr. Byrd is the inaugural chair of the EID (Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity) Committee, and has been a force in moving our society forward on this issue. Under Dr. Bryan leadership, the EID Committee has drafted a very thoughtful and comprehensive strategic plan. We are grateful for Dr. Byrd and the entire EID Committtee’s dedication to help the Society advance this critical priority. Thank you!
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 Dr. Carol Johnston. Dr. Johnston has been working in landscape ecology of wetlands throughout her long and distinguished career, with a principal focus on how beavers are key ecosystem engineers of boreal landscapes. To quote her nomination letter: she is an early practitioner of wetlandscape ecology, she has consistently been an advocate of geospatial approaches to ecological questions, and she has amassed an impressive body of scholarship on how one non-human species shapes and reshapes the wet/land interface, driving ecological dynamics across watersheds.
---The 2022 US-IALE Awards Committee
Betty Kreakie (chair), Jennifer Costanza, Sarah Goslee, Dan Kashian, Emily Minor, and Ilona Naujokaitis-Lewis
Update from 2022 Student Travel Award Recipients
Abigail Dunn
University of Connecticut
Integrating Human Dimensions, Encounter, and Landscape Data to Evaluate Human-Timber Rattlesnake Conflict
The IALE-NA conference was a unique experience that I was privileged to participate in. I enjoyed the wide range of presentation topics and always was able to find a session of interest to me. I particularly enjoyed the sessions on urban landscapes and incorporating justice, diversity, and inclusion into public outreach. The networking event between students and professionals was also a great way to interact more with presenters, understand the wide variety of careers that incorporate landscape ecology, and receive advice on career building skills. Using the award to attend the conference allowed me to gain a better understanding of how my research fits into the larger vision of landscape ecology and complements other ongoing projects. The experience also allowed me to form new connections with other students and professionals from across the country, and I was even able to connect with a UConn alum!
Alison Deak
University of Oregon
Modeling the effects of prescribed fire on future fire regimes under climate warming, Siskiyou Mountains, USA
The experience at IALE provided me was an opportunity to network with other landscape ecologists and learn about the various research being done in this broad field. I really enjoyed the networking event where I was able to learn about other fire ecology work being done by landscape ecologists. Without the award I would not have been able to attend the conference or have my first experience drafting an academic poster and being a coauthor for a conference presentation.
Ara Metz
University of Northern Colorado
Quantifying Erosion Susceptibility as a Function of Geomorphic Variables, Trail Type, and Use with Implications for Trail Planning in the City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks
Receiving the IALE award helped me gain experience talking about my research in a conference setting. I found the virtual conference to be an accessible way to attend various conferences without the commitment of travel. I believe the second and third day of the conference went smoother than day one once all of the technical issues had been resolved. I am glad I got to attend the IALE conference even if it was virtual and was pleased to get to network with such awesome people in landscape ecology.
Casey Hamilton
Penn State
Predicting berry plant distribution under climate change in Bristol Bay, AK
IALE-NA 2022 was an amazing experience for me made possible through this travel award. It was the first time I had the opportunity to present my work at a conference as a graduate student, representing a major milestone in my research career. Even though the conference and my presentation were virtual, it was nonetheless valuable to have this opportunity to present my work to and receive feedback from members of the Landscape Ecology community, a community I haven’t yet had the opportunity to connect with in grad school. After my presentation, I got a few great questions prompting me to think about my work in new ways and generate new ideas about future work.
Furthermore, I loved getting to watch the rest of my session (I was lucky enough to present first!) and engage with research very closely related to mine—again, something that I don’t get to do very often coming from a broad-scope interdisciplinary Geography department at my university. In fact, the senior graduate student presenter who went after me presented on amazing species distribution modeling work she’s doing for her PhD, work similar to my own, which gave me some great ideas about where I could potentially take my research in the future. I was impressed with all of the presentations I saw and extremely grateful to get my foot in the door of this community. I am extremely grateful for this opportunity and thank the organizers for affording me this award which made all of these experiences, invaluable to my early career as a graduate student, possible.
Claire Wang
Clark University
Quantifying the Temporal Pattern of Land Change of a Time Series: an Analysis on Categorical Variables with MapBiomas
My academic interest focuses on spatial statistics and land change. During my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees, I realize the importance of knowing the trends, novel methods and theories, and the intelligent tools to help conduct research. The learning process can be achieved faster attending academic conferences such as IALE. I attended a symposium organized by my professor and a Ph.D. student of his, where participants presented novel methods to analyze land change in time series. The questions I received help me refine the details and think into other aspects in my research; other presentations triggered insights for my potential research questions in the future, such as categorizing land change and applying my methods on different data types. I also watched other webinars and symposia (or recordings), especially those talking about land change processes, managements, and advanced GIS technologies, such as machine learning and AI in remote sensing. As I program for my research and aim to forward my topics to broader stories, I am very interested in the human-geography aspects of land change as well as the cutting-edge developments.
This award can benefit my graduate school process by covering part of my hardware/software expenses. It is also a recognition of my novel method and its contribution to the academia. If I were selected for the award, my approach is likely to be more widely used and implemented by scholars, which also helps me get advice and future research insights.
Danial Nayeri
Cal Poly Humboldt State
One species, two worlds: identifying habitat covariates and optimal scales of Mexican spotted owl habitat selection between canyonland and forest habitats
As the very first International conference that I participated in, I think the conference was brilliant, informative, and motivational. Brilliant because of the diversity of attendees and presenters, informative because of the content of all the talks and motivational as there was lots of great science being presented. There were lots of novel methodologies and approaches being presented by great scholars. It was the first time I was hearing about them and at first I felt bad, I felt that I knew nothing. But I think it was more motivational and it inspired me to read more and try harder to learn more and more.
I think the conference played an important role in my career being the first international conference that I attended and getting the chance to know more about the topic I’m fascinated about. I am also a member of IALE now and I feel honored about it. It was the first time I attended IALE, but It definitely wouldn’t be the last, many more to come. All in all, I enjoyed participating in this conference and learned a lot about recent advances in my favorite topic, I think this conference helped me recognize some of the people that I share interest with and will be my future supervisors/colleagues.
David Grace
University of Michigan
Inferring Nonmarket, Spiritual Values for Landscape Pattern with Social Media & Participatory GIS Data on Sacred Sites
Thank you for your financial support of my attendance to IALE-NA 2022. In addition to learning from other presentations, my experience as a student presenter in the Novel Digital Approaches session were quite helpful for me to share my research among the field of colleagues I hope to continue to cultivate. I was able to meet with Dr. Ginger Allington and Dr. Jamie Trammell during the student-mentor networking social. I also learned of the opportunity to serve as a student representative on the IALE-NA executive committee, and I was able to meet and discuss this possibility with current representative, Payton Phillips. These experiences were made possible by my travel award. I look forward to continued involvement in IALE-NA, and I am eager to support other students' involvement in the future.
Emlyn Crocker
University of Connecticut
Mechanisms of Knowledge Transfer in Forest Landscape Management
While virtual, IALE-NA 2022 was definitely a success and positively impacted my career. I’ve started my master’s degree Fall 2020 and am in the midst of finishing my thesis research this spring. With the bulk of my graduate experience occurring during a global pandemic, there have been few opportunities to present my work at conferences – virtual or in person. I’ve been looking forward to attending IALE for over a year and it was very useful to share my research and received feedback as I work towards publication. I found the networking sessions particularly useful and inspiring as I work to understand various employment options and career tracks post-graduation.
The travel award was very helpful in allowing me to attend IALE this year. My lab has limited funding and can only afford to fund one conference for each masters student per year. Receiving the travel scholarship for IALE enabled me to attend both IALE and another regional conference; both of which I was able to present my work at. These opportunities have shaped the jobs I am currently applying for and I’m grateful everyone at IALE for making it happen.
Erin Matula
Northern Michigan University
Wild rice vulnerabilities Using freely available LANDFIRE data to explore past & present vegetation
The opportunity to attend and present at the IALE-NA conference was the pinnacle of my undergraduate career. The professional and presentation skills that I learned during this conference gives me a head start in my graduate studies at Trent University in Ontario and prior to my career path. Personally, I have always been comfortable presenting work in classes but presenting in front of professionals this past week is a perfect challenge especially before I present my graduate studies. The preparation for this conference was very important as well. I aimed to be prepared for any question under the sun through different lenses and backgrounds. The addition of the PySAL workshop was a great introduction to python coding in a spatial analysis sense as well. Because I was awarded the Student Travel Scholarship, I was able to focus on fully immersing myself in the conference more so and it is beneficial for future references on my CV and stories to pass on and inspire other students.
Erin Rowland-Schaefer
Northern Illinois University
Direct and indirect impacts of restored tallgrass prairie management on small mammals: a preliminary investigation
I had a wonderful experience attending the IALE 2022 meeting. I attended several talk sessions and learned about exciting new work related to my field of study, as well as sharing my own work and receiving interesting questions and suggestions. I also had the opportunity to engage with professionals in the field during the student/professionals networking event. We had great conversations on building networks, selecting journals to target for submissions, and branding work as landscape ecologists. I also really enjoyed the plenary talks I attended. I was especially appreciative to hear about ongoing efforts to expand diversity, equity, and inclusion in the organization.
This award allowed me to attend this conference without the burden of finances. I was able to network, learn about emerging methods and techniques, and also develop an interest in greater participation in IALE-NA. All of these experiences will help me conduct better work and build a network of potential colleagues and collaborators for my work now and in the future. I am incredibly appreciative of this opportunity.
Kimberly Serno
Baylor University
Comparison of Tree-based Machine Learning Methods to Predict Average Breeding Season Abundance of a Declining Sagebrush Obligate Species
The IALE-NA conference has always been a good experience each time I have been able to attend, even virtually. This year was no different. With the student travel award I was able to attend the virtual conference without financial worry. During the conference I was able to see a wide variety of different talks, from those related to my subject area (conservation with machine learning models) and others outside my area. I learned so much from this conference and the wonderful talks I was able to see. I also had some engaging questions for my talk that were thought provoking and appreciated. I hope to be able to continue to attend the IALE-NA conferences in the future and look forward to next year's conference being in person!
Logan Hysen
California Polytechnic University, Humboldt
A Tale of Two Owls: Using Multi-Scale Optimization Models to Identify Nuances in Habitat Selection Between Two Owl Subspecies
This is the first scientific conference I have ever participated in, and I truly enjoyed my experience. I was able to attend many excellent presentations and learn a lot about some of the cutting edge research that is being done in landscape ecology. In addition, I was able to have interesting conversations with other participants through the chat function and ask/answer questions. This helped me network some but also helped me gain a deeper understanding of different landscape ecology concepts and methods that would have otherwise required a deep dive into the literature. On the other hand, I also now know which concepts I will need to dive deeper into.
I think this award benefitted my graduate school process by giving me a forum through which to display my research and my capabilities to potential PhD advisors as well as to the general scientific community. This is an opportunity that I would not have had if it was not for the generous travel award. The amazing thing about conferences is that there are so many bright minds that come together, which can really stimulate new ideas and new collaborations. I am very thankful to have gotten to be a part of that.
Louis Jochems
Boise State University
Assessing the socio-ecological drivers of an invasive aquatic plant in Great Lakes coastal wetlands
My experience at NA-IALE 2022 was informative and exciting. Due to the pandemic and timeline of my PhD research, I have not been able to present at a conference up until now. I am grateful for the opportunity to finally share my work with others in the field of landscape ecology. I was able to connect to fellow graduate students and practitioners to discuss new ideas related to my research and other topics. The ability to listen to talks, videos, and then connect with other attendees on the virtual platform was fairly seamless. Overall, I had a positive experience at IALE and will incorporate what I learned into the next steps as I embark on my career path after graduate school. I hope to participate in person next year!
Shelby Snapp
University of Oklahoma
Modeling Futurity: examining epistemological assumptions and political processes in urbanization modeling
This conference was a fantastic experience for me. It was the first time I have given a full-length talk about my research in front of an audience. Winning the award gave me the confidence that I needed that my research was interesting, which made the presentation go all the better. Engaging with people during and after my presentation also gave me the opportunity to discuss my and others' research in a new context. Finally, being in a geography department, I do not get to interact with conservation biologists or landscape ecologists as often as I would like. I really treasured the opportunity to learn from so many scientists in diverse disciplines, especially ones that are not directly connected with mine. Thanks IALE-NA, and I look forward to next year!
Shelby Weiss
University of Oregon
Contexts mediating future shifts in vegetation composition in interior Alaska boreal forests under climate change
Attending IALE-NA 2022 was a positive and beneficial experience, despite the virtual format. It provided an opportunity for me to present some early results from the dissertation research, which is particularly helpful at this stage in my program where I am moving toward publication as well as beginning to look for job opportunities for after I graduate. I especially appreciated the section of Whova devoted to job opportunity postings and I checked this regularly throughout the program.
Some of the sessions I attended, such as the “Remote Sensing for Landscape Change and Disturbance” session and the “Methods to Analyze a Time Series of Land Cover Maps” were also quite helpful by introducing me to publicly available datasets and methods that I was previously only minimally aware of, such as data produced from GEDI. This has encouraged me to think more about how I might expand the work I’m doing and incorporate new data into my ongoing projects. I also really enjoyed hearing about methods related to time series spatial analysis, as this is a large aspect of my planned dissertation work.
Skye Greenler
Oregon State University
Collaboratively mapping cultural fire regimes in Northern California: Co-production to advance landscape fire modeling
The IALE-NA Conference was a great place for me to practice communicating my research to diverse audiences- some of whom are very familiar with the topics I presented and others who are not- and to get to hear about the research that other people in my field are working on. This conference was also special to me because it was the first time that I was invited to speak as part of a special session by someone who is not a close collaborator. The session I spoke in was full of really interesting talks on how to co-produce science with stakeholders outside of academia and there were several other talks on working with Indigenous communities, which was exciting. It was inspiring to get to virtually “meet” several folks whose research I have followed for years, but have never talked to. I also had several conversations over the conference virtual platform with people who are interested in similar research questions and am planning to meet with them in the coming weeks to discuss how my research methods may be transferable to their systems and questions. I was able to attend some of the presentations outside of my session and it’s always inspiring to hear what other people are thinking about and how they are approaching their research questions and collaborations. Because the conference date was changed when it was switched to virtual, I was not able to attend all of the events I wanted to, but was able to go back to the recorded talks and will be able to watch more in the next few weeks. As a graduate student, conferences like IALE-NA are great opportunities to broaden my scientific thinking, talk to others working on similar questions in different systems, and to network with a diverse community of researchers.
Stuart Steidle
University of Oregon
Testing Presence, Assessing Attitudes: Study of a Virtual Tour in an 'Aesthetically Challenged' Landscape
IALE 2022 provided a sampling of diverse research interests and presentations that speak to the breadth of ecology and ecological concerns. The substance here would definitely provide a fruitful basis for discussion and engagement if we were all in-person for the event. I appreciated the forum where job opportunities were posted.
This is my first time to present at a conference in graduate school and it gave me the opportunity to think through what is most important to communicate about my research and how to do so. I'm thankful for the opportunity to share my work with peers and others!
Thomas Mumuni Bilintoh
Clark University
Methods To Compare Regions Concerning a Category’s Changes During a Time Series
IALE is one of the best academic conferences I have ever attended! It was helpful to have everything well-organized and receive timely updates concerning expectations from the conference organizers.
IALE offered me the opportunity to share my research and receive constructive feedback, which will aid me in developing and writing my dissertation. In addition, I made new connections during the conference, and I hope these connections. I believe these connections will serve as a bridge between my research and what others study.
Wenxin Yang
Arizona State University
A Review of Connectivity Measures for Protected Areas
This was my first IALE conference and it was fantastic. Throughout the conference, I presented a paper of my ongoing research, participated in the mentor-mentee program, had a virtual meetup with other student participants, and attended many sessions that aligned really well with my research interests. My research focus has been measuring connectivity of protected areas and I learned about many advanced research that approached connectivity from different lenses, including methodological improvement, latest applications, new data products, and sociopolitical implications of protected areas conservation. The presentations broadened my knowledge on connectivity. I also very much enjoyed the collaborative atmosphere, inclusiveness and kindness from members of the community through conversations with my mentor, other students, and watching the jeopardy session. All of the experiences make me look forward to next year’s in-person conference more.
I appreciate the recognition of the student travel award greatly, which has benefited my graduate school process very much. It gave me such a good opportunity to present my research, receive feedback, and get exposed to other wonderful studies in the same direction. The experience helped me gain a better understanding of connectivity which was essential to my PhD work. It also enabled me to refine my existing research to think more comprehensively to produce better research. I am very thankful for this experience.
University of Connecticut
Integrating Human Dimensions, Encounter, and Landscape Data to Evaluate Human-Timber Rattlesnake Conflict
The IALE-NA conference was a unique experience that I was privileged to participate in. I enjoyed the wide range of presentation topics and always was able to find a session of interest to me. I particularly enjoyed the sessions on urban landscapes and incorporating justice, diversity, and inclusion into public outreach. The networking event between students and professionals was also a great way to interact more with presenters, understand the wide variety of careers that incorporate landscape ecology, and receive advice on career building skills. Using the award to attend the conference allowed me to gain a better understanding of how my research fits into the larger vision of landscape ecology and complements other ongoing projects. The experience also allowed me to form new connections with other students and professionals from across the country, and I was even able to connect with a UConn alum!
Alison Deak
University of Oregon
Modeling the effects of prescribed fire on future fire regimes under climate warming, Siskiyou Mountains, USA
The experience at IALE provided me was an opportunity to network with other landscape ecologists and learn about the various research being done in this broad field. I really enjoyed the networking event where I was able to learn about other fire ecology work being done by landscape ecologists. Without the award I would not have been able to attend the conference or have my first experience drafting an academic poster and being a coauthor for a conference presentation.
Ara Metz
University of Northern Colorado
Quantifying Erosion Susceptibility as a Function of Geomorphic Variables, Trail Type, and Use with Implications for Trail Planning in the City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks
Receiving the IALE award helped me gain experience talking about my research in a conference setting. I found the virtual conference to be an accessible way to attend various conferences without the commitment of travel. I believe the second and third day of the conference went smoother than day one once all of the technical issues had been resolved. I am glad I got to attend the IALE conference even if it was virtual and was pleased to get to network with such awesome people in landscape ecology.
Casey Hamilton
Penn State
Predicting berry plant distribution under climate change in Bristol Bay, AK
IALE-NA 2022 was an amazing experience for me made possible through this travel award. It was the first time I had the opportunity to present my work at a conference as a graduate student, representing a major milestone in my research career. Even though the conference and my presentation were virtual, it was nonetheless valuable to have this opportunity to present my work to and receive feedback from members of the Landscape Ecology community, a community I haven’t yet had the opportunity to connect with in grad school. After my presentation, I got a few great questions prompting me to think about my work in new ways and generate new ideas about future work.
Furthermore, I loved getting to watch the rest of my session (I was lucky enough to present first!) and engage with research very closely related to mine—again, something that I don’t get to do very often coming from a broad-scope interdisciplinary Geography department at my university. In fact, the senior graduate student presenter who went after me presented on amazing species distribution modeling work she’s doing for her PhD, work similar to my own, which gave me some great ideas about where I could potentially take my research in the future. I was impressed with all of the presentations I saw and extremely grateful to get my foot in the door of this community. I am extremely grateful for this opportunity and thank the organizers for affording me this award which made all of these experiences, invaluable to my early career as a graduate student, possible.
Claire Wang
Clark University
Quantifying the Temporal Pattern of Land Change of a Time Series: an Analysis on Categorical Variables with MapBiomas
My academic interest focuses on spatial statistics and land change. During my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees, I realize the importance of knowing the trends, novel methods and theories, and the intelligent tools to help conduct research. The learning process can be achieved faster attending academic conferences such as IALE. I attended a symposium organized by my professor and a Ph.D. student of his, where participants presented novel methods to analyze land change in time series. The questions I received help me refine the details and think into other aspects in my research; other presentations triggered insights for my potential research questions in the future, such as categorizing land change and applying my methods on different data types. I also watched other webinars and symposia (or recordings), especially those talking about land change processes, managements, and advanced GIS technologies, such as machine learning and AI in remote sensing. As I program for my research and aim to forward my topics to broader stories, I am very interested in the human-geography aspects of land change as well as the cutting-edge developments.
This award can benefit my graduate school process by covering part of my hardware/software expenses. It is also a recognition of my novel method and its contribution to the academia. If I were selected for the award, my approach is likely to be more widely used and implemented by scholars, which also helps me get advice and future research insights.
Danial Nayeri
Cal Poly Humboldt State
One species, two worlds: identifying habitat covariates and optimal scales of Mexican spotted owl habitat selection between canyonland and forest habitats
As the very first International conference that I participated in, I think the conference was brilliant, informative, and motivational. Brilliant because of the diversity of attendees and presenters, informative because of the content of all the talks and motivational as there was lots of great science being presented. There were lots of novel methodologies and approaches being presented by great scholars. It was the first time I was hearing about them and at first I felt bad, I felt that I knew nothing. But I think it was more motivational and it inspired me to read more and try harder to learn more and more.
I think the conference played an important role in my career being the first international conference that I attended and getting the chance to know more about the topic I’m fascinated about. I am also a member of IALE now and I feel honored about it. It was the first time I attended IALE, but It definitely wouldn’t be the last, many more to come. All in all, I enjoyed participating in this conference and learned a lot about recent advances in my favorite topic, I think this conference helped me recognize some of the people that I share interest with and will be my future supervisors/colleagues.
David Grace
University of Michigan
Inferring Nonmarket, Spiritual Values for Landscape Pattern with Social Media & Participatory GIS Data on Sacred Sites
Thank you for your financial support of my attendance to IALE-NA 2022. In addition to learning from other presentations, my experience as a student presenter in the Novel Digital Approaches session were quite helpful for me to share my research among the field of colleagues I hope to continue to cultivate. I was able to meet with Dr. Ginger Allington and Dr. Jamie Trammell during the student-mentor networking social. I also learned of the opportunity to serve as a student representative on the IALE-NA executive committee, and I was able to meet and discuss this possibility with current representative, Payton Phillips. These experiences were made possible by my travel award. I look forward to continued involvement in IALE-NA, and I am eager to support other students' involvement in the future.
Emlyn Crocker
University of Connecticut
Mechanisms of Knowledge Transfer in Forest Landscape Management
While virtual, IALE-NA 2022 was definitely a success and positively impacted my career. I’ve started my master’s degree Fall 2020 and am in the midst of finishing my thesis research this spring. With the bulk of my graduate experience occurring during a global pandemic, there have been few opportunities to present my work at conferences – virtual or in person. I’ve been looking forward to attending IALE for over a year and it was very useful to share my research and received feedback as I work towards publication. I found the networking sessions particularly useful and inspiring as I work to understand various employment options and career tracks post-graduation.
The travel award was very helpful in allowing me to attend IALE this year. My lab has limited funding and can only afford to fund one conference for each masters student per year. Receiving the travel scholarship for IALE enabled me to attend both IALE and another regional conference; both of which I was able to present my work at. These opportunities have shaped the jobs I am currently applying for and I’m grateful everyone at IALE for making it happen.
Erin Matula
Northern Michigan University
Wild rice vulnerabilities Using freely available LANDFIRE data to explore past & present vegetation
The opportunity to attend and present at the IALE-NA conference was the pinnacle of my undergraduate career. The professional and presentation skills that I learned during this conference gives me a head start in my graduate studies at Trent University in Ontario and prior to my career path. Personally, I have always been comfortable presenting work in classes but presenting in front of professionals this past week is a perfect challenge especially before I present my graduate studies. The preparation for this conference was very important as well. I aimed to be prepared for any question under the sun through different lenses and backgrounds. The addition of the PySAL workshop was a great introduction to python coding in a spatial analysis sense as well. Because I was awarded the Student Travel Scholarship, I was able to focus on fully immersing myself in the conference more so and it is beneficial for future references on my CV and stories to pass on and inspire other students.
Erin Rowland-Schaefer
Northern Illinois University
Direct and indirect impacts of restored tallgrass prairie management on small mammals: a preliminary investigation
I had a wonderful experience attending the IALE 2022 meeting. I attended several talk sessions and learned about exciting new work related to my field of study, as well as sharing my own work and receiving interesting questions and suggestions. I also had the opportunity to engage with professionals in the field during the student/professionals networking event. We had great conversations on building networks, selecting journals to target for submissions, and branding work as landscape ecologists. I also really enjoyed the plenary talks I attended. I was especially appreciative to hear about ongoing efforts to expand diversity, equity, and inclusion in the organization.
This award allowed me to attend this conference without the burden of finances. I was able to network, learn about emerging methods and techniques, and also develop an interest in greater participation in IALE-NA. All of these experiences will help me conduct better work and build a network of potential colleagues and collaborators for my work now and in the future. I am incredibly appreciative of this opportunity.
Kimberly Serno
Baylor University
Comparison of Tree-based Machine Learning Methods to Predict Average Breeding Season Abundance of a Declining Sagebrush Obligate Species
The IALE-NA conference has always been a good experience each time I have been able to attend, even virtually. This year was no different. With the student travel award I was able to attend the virtual conference without financial worry. During the conference I was able to see a wide variety of different talks, from those related to my subject area (conservation with machine learning models) and others outside my area. I learned so much from this conference and the wonderful talks I was able to see. I also had some engaging questions for my talk that were thought provoking and appreciated. I hope to be able to continue to attend the IALE-NA conferences in the future and look forward to next year's conference being in person!
Logan Hysen
California Polytechnic University, Humboldt
A Tale of Two Owls: Using Multi-Scale Optimization Models to Identify Nuances in Habitat Selection Between Two Owl Subspecies
This is the first scientific conference I have ever participated in, and I truly enjoyed my experience. I was able to attend many excellent presentations and learn a lot about some of the cutting edge research that is being done in landscape ecology. In addition, I was able to have interesting conversations with other participants through the chat function and ask/answer questions. This helped me network some but also helped me gain a deeper understanding of different landscape ecology concepts and methods that would have otherwise required a deep dive into the literature. On the other hand, I also now know which concepts I will need to dive deeper into.
I think this award benefitted my graduate school process by giving me a forum through which to display my research and my capabilities to potential PhD advisors as well as to the general scientific community. This is an opportunity that I would not have had if it was not for the generous travel award. The amazing thing about conferences is that there are so many bright minds that come together, which can really stimulate new ideas and new collaborations. I am very thankful to have gotten to be a part of that.
Louis Jochems
Boise State University
Assessing the socio-ecological drivers of an invasive aquatic plant in Great Lakes coastal wetlands
My experience at NA-IALE 2022 was informative and exciting. Due to the pandemic and timeline of my PhD research, I have not been able to present at a conference up until now. I am grateful for the opportunity to finally share my work with others in the field of landscape ecology. I was able to connect to fellow graduate students and practitioners to discuss new ideas related to my research and other topics. The ability to listen to talks, videos, and then connect with other attendees on the virtual platform was fairly seamless. Overall, I had a positive experience at IALE and will incorporate what I learned into the next steps as I embark on my career path after graduate school. I hope to participate in person next year!
Shelby Snapp
University of Oklahoma
Modeling Futurity: examining epistemological assumptions and political processes in urbanization modeling
This conference was a fantastic experience for me. It was the first time I have given a full-length talk about my research in front of an audience. Winning the award gave me the confidence that I needed that my research was interesting, which made the presentation go all the better. Engaging with people during and after my presentation also gave me the opportunity to discuss my and others' research in a new context. Finally, being in a geography department, I do not get to interact with conservation biologists or landscape ecologists as often as I would like. I really treasured the opportunity to learn from so many scientists in diverse disciplines, especially ones that are not directly connected with mine. Thanks IALE-NA, and I look forward to next year!
Shelby Weiss
University of Oregon
Contexts mediating future shifts in vegetation composition in interior Alaska boreal forests under climate change
Attending IALE-NA 2022 was a positive and beneficial experience, despite the virtual format. It provided an opportunity for me to present some early results from the dissertation research, which is particularly helpful at this stage in my program where I am moving toward publication as well as beginning to look for job opportunities for after I graduate. I especially appreciated the section of Whova devoted to job opportunity postings and I checked this regularly throughout the program.
Some of the sessions I attended, such as the “Remote Sensing for Landscape Change and Disturbance” session and the “Methods to Analyze a Time Series of Land Cover Maps” were also quite helpful by introducing me to publicly available datasets and methods that I was previously only minimally aware of, such as data produced from GEDI. This has encouraged me to think more about how I might expand the work I’m doing and incorporate new data into my ongoing projects. I also really enjoyed hearing about methods related to time series spatial analysis, as this is a large aspect of my planned dissertation work.
Skye Greenler
Oregon State University
Collaboratively mapping cultural fire regimes in Northern California: Co-production to advance landscape fire modeling
The IALE-NA Conference was a great place for me to practice communicating my research to diverse audiences- some of whom are very familiar with the topics I presented and others who are not- and to get to hear about the research that other people in my field are working on. This conference was also special to me because it was the first time that I was invited to speak as part of a special session by someone who is not a close collaborator. The session I spoke in was full of really interesting talks on how to co-produce science with stakeholders outside of academia and there were several other talks on working with Indigenous communities, which was exciting. It was inspiring to get to virtually “meet” several folks whose research I have followed for years, but have never talked to. I also had several conversations over the conference virtual platform with people who are interested in similar research questions and am planning to meet with them in the coming weeks to discuss how my research methods may be transferable to their systems and questions. I was able to attend some of the presentations outside of my session and it’s always inspiring to hear what other people are thinking about and how they are approaching their research questions and collaborations. Because the conference date was changed when it was switched to virtual, I was not able to attend all of the events I wanted to, but was able to go back to the recorded talks and will be able to watch more in the next few weeks. As a graduate student, conferences like IALE-NA are great opportunities to broaden my scientific thinking, talk to others working on similar questions in different systems, and to network with a diverse community of researchers.
Stuart Steidle
University of Oregon
Testing Presence, Assessing Attitudes: Study of a Virtual Tour in an 'Aesthetically Challenged' Landscape
IALE 2022 provided a sampling of diverse research interests and presentations that speak to the breadth of ecology and ecological concerns. The substance here would definitely provide a fruitful basis for discussion and engagement if we were all in-person for the event. I appreciated the forum where job opportunities were posted.
This is my first time to present at a conference in graduate school and it gave me the opportunity to think through what is most important to communicate about my research and how to do so. I'm thankful for the opportunity to share my work with peers and others!
Thomas Mumuni Bilintoh
Clark University
Methods To Compare Regions Concerning a Category’s Changes During a Time Series
IALE is one of the best academic conferences I have ever attended! It was helpful to have everything well-organized and receive timely updates concerning expectations from the conference organizers.
IALE offered me the opportunity to share my research and receive constructive feedback, which will aid me in developing and writing my dissertation. In addition, I made new connections during the conference, and I hope these connections. I believe these connections will serve as a bridge between my research and what others study.
Wenxin Yang
Arizona State University
A Review of Connectivity Measures for Protected Areas
This was my first IALE conference and it was fantastic. Throughout the conference, I presented a paper of my ongoing research, participated in the mentor-mentee program, had a virtual meetup with other student participants, and attended many sessions that aligned really well with my research interests. My research focus has been measuring connectivity of protected areas and I learned about many advanced research that approached connectivity from different lenses, including methodological improvement, latest applications, new data products, and sociopolitical implications of protected areas conservation. The presentations broadened my knowledge on connectivity. I also very much enjoyed the collaborative atmosphere, inclusiveness and kindness from members of the community through conversations with my mentor, other students, and watching the jeopardy session. All of the experiences make me look forward to next year’s in-person conference more.
I appreciate the recognition of the student travel award greatly, which has benefited my graduate school process very much. It gave me such a good opportunity to present my research, receive feedback, and get exposed to other wonderful studies in the same direction. The experience helped me gain a better understanding of connectivity which was essential to my PhD work. It also enabled me to refine my existing research to think more comprehensively to produce better research. I am very thankful for this experience.
EID Committee Update
The EID committee submitted a proposal, led by Dr. Kusum Naithani, to the NSF BioLEAPS program (Leading Culture Change Through Professional Societies of Biology). If funded, the proposal will provide two years of funding to implement many of the action items in the EID Strategic Plan. The purpose of this Bio-LEAPS DESIGN project is to test approaches to achieving culture change within IALE-NA with respect to inclusion of individuals of historically underserved and under-represented groups in STEM (IHUGS). The project addresses the Strategic Plan goals to 1) increase capacity by building a volunteer base and generate funding to support the long-term sustainability of the EID efforts started by volunteers; 2) build a diverse and more representative membership by strategic recruitment of IHUGS members through an ambassador program, mentorship network, and outreach events to the other societies that serve IHUGS communities; 3) increase opportunity and recognition for members of all backgrounds by making conference activities and websites accessible, increasing diversity of award recipients, and providing culturally competent mentorship; and 4) champion participation by creating opportunities for inclusive networking and increasing diverse representation on the IALE-NA executive board and other committees, expert panels and organized symposia. The award will also provide the opportunity to submit a larger BioLEAPS Implementation proposal to sustain these activities in partnership with a network of other societies.
Communications Committee Update
Introducing the IALE-NA Ambassador Program!
Members of the EID committee and the communications committee have combined forces and created an Ambassador Program as a way to help increase diversity of our membership (and membership size).
We are looking to find current members willing to act as Ambassadors to promote membership in IALE-NA to colleagues, collaborators, peers, students, especially targeting equity-seeking groups and groups currently under-represented in IALE-NA. We have developed a set of tools (an Ambassador’s “cheat sheet” and promotional flyers in English, Spanish and French) to help you!
You do not have to do a lot to act as an Ambassador! Some simple ideas include:
If you would like more resources, or just have questions about how to proceed, please contact the Ambassador coordinator ([email protected]). As well, if you DO engage in some Ambassador work, and are successful in bringing some new and diverse members into our society, please share your story with us via this email! Being an Ambassador should be fun and informal. I think most people who are members of IALE-NA value their membership; the goal of the Ambassador program is to share our fantastic society with a wider group! Thanks for your support!
Yolanda Wiersma, Communications Committee Chair
Kristin Byrd, EID Committee Chair
We are looking to find current members willing to act as Ambassadors to promote membership in IALE-NA to colleagues, collaborators, peers, students, especially targeting equity-seeking groups and groups currently under-represented in IALE-NA. We have developed a set of tools (an Ambassador’s “cheat sheet” and promotional flyers in English, Spanish and French) to help you!
You do not have to do a lot to act as an Ambassador! Some simple ideas include:
- Like many landscape ecologists, you probably also attend other disciplinary conferences (e.g., geography, wildlife biology, urban studies). Consider printing out the flyers and leaving them on a display table at a conference you are attending.
- When discussing landscape-themed work with collaborators and students, consider giving them copies of the flyers and encouraging them to attend an IALE-NA meeting .
- When giving a landscape ecology-themed talk, consider mentioning the inspiration you get through membership in our society at the end of a talk, with our website (www.ialena.org) and Twitter handle (@iale_na) prominently displayed.
- If you are affiliated with an organization or work with a partner that has some kind of newsletter (e.g., natural history society, conservation organization, government agency), consider asking the editor if you can contribute a short write up about what landscape ecology (and by extension IALE-NA as a society) can bring to that audience.
If you would like more resources, or just have questions about how to proceed, please contact the Ambassador coordinator ([email protected]). As well, if you DO engage in some Ambassador work, and are successful in bringing some new and diverse members into our society, please share your story with us via this email! Being an Ambassador should be fun and informal. I think most people who are members of IALE-NA value their membership; the goal of the Ambassador program is to share our fantastic society with a wider group! Thanks for your support!
Yolanda Wiersma, Communications Committee Chair
Kristin Byrd, EID Committee Chair
Help Wanted!
Communications Committee
Have you ever wanted to be a journalist? The communications committee puts out press releases and news stories, and would love to put you on our beat! Stories of all kinds and lengths are welcome! Contact the communications chair, Yolanda Wiersma ([email protected])
Parlez-vous français? Hablo y espanol? The communications committee would like to secure a roster of French and Spanish speakers who are willing to assist with translation of small pieces of written communications materials. This is occasional work when we have news we want to get out in all three official languages of North America. Contact the communications chair, Yolanda Wiersma ([email protected])
Sponsorship Committee and Chair
IALE-NA is searching for a new sponsorships chair. The sponsorship chair maintains and grows sponsorship relationships so that our meetings and other opportunities are as accessible and rewarding as possible to our membership. As such, duties typically include maintaining contact with existing sponsors, bringing in new sponsors, and maintaining records of sponsorship contacts and levels. This role also involves coordination with the IALE-NA executive committee and conference host committees/contractor, which typically take the lead on local meeting-specific sponsorships. Time commitment is light (1-3 hrs/month) and largely flexible, with a handful of conference calls per meeting cycle. Please contact Tom Albright ([email protected]) for questions, interest, or nominations.
Membership Liaison
As we all know maintaining connections is an important part of functioning systems. The same is true for remaining connected to IALE-North America. We are looking to reengage our membership liaison role, which serves to as our point-of-contact with members and other facets of the regional chapter. In this time where it is important that we sustain and grow IALE-North America, having someone to help sustain these connections is important. Please see the Bylaws (Article 4 Section 2) for more details or contact Steve Matthews ([email protected]) with questions.
Looking for other ways to get involved?
There are many other opportunities to get involved in IALE-North America and we need your help! We have a host of committees that are essential to running IALE-North America. We encourage you to reach out to current chairs. There is so much great work that is being accomplished and we need your assistance to maintain and grow IALE-North America.
Have you ever wanted to be a journalist? The communications committee puts out press releases and news stories, and would love to put you on our beat! Stories of all kinds and lengths are welcome! Contact the communications chair, Yolanda Wiersma ([email protected])
Parlez-vous français? Hablo y espanol? The communications committee would like to secure a roster of French and Spanish speakers who are willing to assist with translation of small pieces of written communications materials. This is occasional work when we have news we want to get out in all three official languages of North America. Contact the communications chair, Yolanda Wiersma ([email protected])
Sponsorship Committee and Chair
IALE-NA is searching for a new sponsorships chair. The sponsorship chair maintains and grows sponsorship relationships so that our meetings and other opportunities are as accessible and rewarding as possible to our membership. As such, duties typically include maintaining contact with existing sponsors, bringing in new sponsors, and maintaining records of sponsorship contacts and levels. This role also involves coordination with the IALE-NA executive committee and conference host committees/contractor, which typically take the lead on local meeting-specific sponsorships. Time commitment is light (1-3 hrs/month) and largely flexible, with a handful of conference calls per meeting cycle. Please contact Tom Albright ([email protected]) for questions, interest, or nominations.
Membership Liaison
As we all know maintaining connections is an important part of functioning systems. The same is true for remaining connected to IALE-North America. We are looking to reengage our membership liaison role, which serves to as our point-of-contact with members and other facets of the regional chapter. In this time where it is important that we sustain and grow IALE-North America, having someone to help sustain these connections is important. Please see the Bylaws (Article 4 Section 2) for more details or contact Steve Matthews ([email protected]) with questions.
Looking for other ways to get involved?
There are many other opportunities to get involved in IALE-North America and we need your help! We have a host of committees that are essential to running IALE-North America. We encourage you to reach out to current chairs. There is so much great work that is being accomplished and we need your assistance to maintain and grow IALE-North America.
Stay in Touch!
- Website: www.ialena.org
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/ialenorthamerica
- Twitter: @iale_na
- IALE Website: www.landscape-ecology.org
- IALE Current Newsletter: https://www.landscape-ecology.org/Bulletin