Drawing courtesy of Kristen Elsmore
The Future of Natural History: The role and relevance of natural history in the 21st century
Organizer: Jay Stachowicz, WSN President
On the 100th anniversary of the Society, the Presidential Symposium will reflect on the relevance of Natural History to 21st century science. Many of the key challenges for science and society moving forward will require natural history data, and increasingly natural history is being integrated into studies of major contemporary problems. The speakers in this symposium all provide evidence of this in their approach to science. Each had their first publications firmly grounded in Natural History, and several of these are now classics in the field. Each has continued to keep that natural history approach as their careers have matured and they attack major challenges in ecology and evolutionary biology. After the symposium, each speaker will chair a contributed session based on the topic of their talks (all 4 to be run concurrently following the conclusion of the presidential symposium). We encourage anyone interested in presenting in these Special Topic Sessions to select the appropriate session at abstract submission.
Confirmed Speakers:
Emmett Duffy, Smithsonian Institution, Topic: “Networked natural history for a new century”
Mary O’Connor, University of British Columbia, Topic: “The future of natural history: it is just a matter of time”
Rick Grosberg, UC Davis, Topic: “The future of molecular ecology in the sea: beyond connectivity”
Drew Harvell, Cornell University, Topic: “Turning up the heat on marine disease”