Ecological Science and Public Policy: an Intersection of Action Ecology

Bonilla, N. Omar; Scholl, Joshua P.; Armstrong, Melissa; Pieri, Dayani; Otero, Beatriz; Labrado, Amanda; McPherson, Damian; Nelson, Michelle R.

doi:10.1890/0012-9623-93.4.340

Cited by 9 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 7 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…and to facilitate the application of ecological science in the management of ecological systems.'' Very probably, many would cavil with the view of Nelson and Vucetich (2009) adopted in a recent SEEDS (ESA's program: Strategies for Ecology Education Diversity and Sustainability) statement (Bonilla et al 2012).…”

Section: Relevance Of This Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Traits of a good ecologist: What do ecologists think?

Reiners

Lockwood

2013

Ecosphere

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Much is inferred, but little is actually known, about how ecologists view themselves and what they value as scientists. We investigated these attitudes as part of a survey of non-student, U.S.-addressed members of the Ecological Society of America. The part of the survey reported in this paper requested ratings of 15 possible traits of a good ecologist. These traits embodied values associated with religious principles, aesthetics, caring for nature, and epistemic competence (via professional proficiency). The survey was completed by 20% of the potential respondent pool of 6,083 ecologists. The resulting trait scores were analyzed with respect to age, gender, level of education, nature of employment, primary domain of inquiry, principle method of analysis, and source of greatest professional satisfaction.Respondents ranked traits associated with professional proficiency highest and religious principles lowest. Reactions to ethical and aesthetic traits were mixed. With increasing age, rankings for ethical and aesthetic traits increased while scores for some aspects of epistemic proficiency declined. Gender effects were few. Ecologists with BA/BS or MA/MS degrees scored aesthetic and pro-social traits higher and epistemic proficiency traits lower than did PhD degree-holding respondents. Ecologists employed by government, business, or non-profits had uniquely different scoring spectra from one another and from the entire pool. Characterization of values held by ecologists classified by various domains of inquiry, primary methods of analysis, or sources of greatest professional satisfaction was complex. Particularly intriguing was that those who worked in the ecosystem domain, who used modeling and meta-data analysis as methods, or who received the most professional satisfaction from these same activities, exhibited strong support for several epistemic proficiency-related traits, while being relatively negative about traits in the aesthetic and nature-caring categories. These results put some empirical substance and conceptual structures behind perceptions that distinct subcultures exist in U.S. ecology.These results are relevant in three ways. First, they provide a framework by which individual ecologists may become aware of the motivations that drive them, the values that shape their attitudes, and the source and meaning of their professional priorities. Second, these results challenge mentors to be mindful of how they guide young ecologists in the development of their own values and priorities. Third, these results inform the leadership of professional organizations of the range and variation of positions that their member hold and that are relevant to initiatives the leadership may which to promote.

show abstract

Section: Relevance Of This Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Traits of a good ecologist: What do ecologists think?

Reiners

Lockwood

2013

Ecosphere

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Research has documented that citizen science can engage the public through hobbies and games [3] , [4] , support learning in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) [5] provide sources of large and complex datasets that catalyze advances in data visualization [6] , [7] , advance cyber-infrastructure and new analysis techniques [8] , [9] , [10] , [11] , and influence management and policy [12] , [13] , [14] , [15] . But is citizen science effective at science?…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Invisible Prevalence of Citizen Science in Global Research: Migratory Birds and Climate Change

2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Citizen science is a research practice that relies on public contributions of data. The strong recognition of its educational value combined with the need for novel methods to handle subsequent large and complex data sets raises the question: Is citizen science effective at science? A quantitative assessment of the contributions of citizen science for its core purpose – scientific research – is lacking. We examined the contribution of citizen science to a review paper by ornithologists in which they formulated ten central claims about the impact of climate change on avian migration. Citizen science was never explicitly mentioned in the review article. For each of the claims, these ornithologists scored their opinions about the amount of research effort invested in each claim and how strongly the claim was supported by evidence. This allowed us to also determine whether their trust in claims was, unwittingly or not, related to the degree to which the claims relied primarily on data generated by citizen scientists. We found that papers based on citizen science constituted between 24 and 77% of the references backing each claim, with no evidence of a mistrust of claims that relied heavily on citizen-science data. We reveal that many of these papers may not easily be recognized as drawing upon volunteer contributions, as the search terms “citizen science” and “volunteer” would have overlooked the majority of the studies that back the ten claims about birds and climate change. Our results suggest that the significance of citizen science to global research, an endeavor that is reliant on long-term information at large spatial scales, might be far greater than is readily perceived. To better understand and track the contributions of citizen science in the future, we urge researchers to use the keyword “citizen science” in papers that draw on efforts of non-professionals.

show abstract

“…, Bonilla et al. ). Further, stakeholder and community engagement embedded initially into ecological study designs is increasingly common.…”

Section: Why Highlight Human Dimensions and Diversity Equity And Inmentioning

confidence: 99%

Extending the Vision: Highlighting the Human Dimensions of the Ecological Society of America

Hettinger

Kumar

Eaves³

et al. 2019

Bulletin Ecologic Soc America

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Ecological Science and Public Policy: an Intersection of Action Ecology

Cited by 9 publications

References 7 publications

Traits of a good ecologist: What do ecologists think?

Traits of a good ecologist: What do ecologists think?

The Invisible Prevalence of Citizen Science in Global Research: Migratory Birds and Climate Change

Extending the Vision: Highlighting the Human Dimensions of the Ecological Society of America

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About