A Letter from Executive Director Catherine O’Riordan

Catherine O’Riordan speaks at the 2023 Annual Meeting

Members, it gives me great pleasure to deliver this report to you from our incredible year as a Society in 2023. It is an opportunity to provide  a brief overview of what we accomplished together, and how well-positioned we are for the future. 

I think the most visible story to tell is one of numbers. We returned to Portland—historically, our most popular destination for the Annual Meeting—and saw an excellent return to in-person event attendance, with well over 4,000 scientists, educators and practitioners participating. Accordingly, as ecologists sought to resume personal connections following the pandemic, membership bounced back over 8,400 for the first time in several years. We hosted some limited virtual and hybrid experiences at the meeting, but noted that enthusiasm to connect online (including a hybrid plenary) seems to have waned. Much more popular were the first several events in the new virtual professional development program, which indicated that we added a meaningful benefit for members, but very notably which kinds of content, in which formats, work best for ecologists when taken online. 

We were able to fully return several other events and programs to in-person activity as well. The Mid-Atlantic Chapter held its first annual meeting since 2019 (University of Delaware), and our flagship undergraduate program, SEEDS, was able to hold a full schedule of field trips across the country. I was able to attend their leadership workshop at the Cary Institute for Ecosystem Studies. Being able to directly interact with the next generation of ecologists was inspiring and made me optimistic for the future of ecology! And so many of you seem to agree—following Phil Taylor’s pledge to match up to $100,000 in donations, we were able to fully fund the Henry L. Gholz SEEDS National Field Trip Endowment so that these crucial activities can continue in perpetuity. 

Last year was also a great one for the internal processes of the Society. It was the second year of our new governance structure following the redesign of our Board, ESA Council and committees. Emilie Graves (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Policy Section) served as elected Speaker of the Council, and was joined by Diogo Provete (Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Latin America & the Caribbean Chapter) as Speaker-elect. They helped to lead Council—now a representative body for our several dozen sections and chapters—through a round of critical feedback on the ESA Visioning Project and scoping strategic priorities for ESA in preparation for our 2024 Strategic Plan. Council also welcomed two new sections to ESA, the Private & Public Sector Ecologists, and Women in (Soil) Ecology, both of which bring better opportunities for under-represented ecologists to engage with us. 

On the committee front, we remained extremely busy. We are our members, and it’s through the committees and the dedicated member volunteers that serve on them that so much of the work of the Society is accomplished. I congratulate all of our committees for a job well done navigating complex waters and making smart recommendations. 

It really was a great year for us. I encourage you to read through each section of this report to see for yourself!