Organized Oral Session
Hybrid Session
Luanna Prevost
Associate Professor
University of South Florida
Tampa, Florida, United States
Maria Miriti, PhD
Professor of Ecology
The Ohio State University
Columbus, Ohio, United States
Justin St. Juliana
Senior Lecturer
Cornell University
Ithaca, New York, United States
As we consider the meeting’s theme “ESA for All Ecologists”, it is essential to consider who makes up our community of ecologists. ESA Reports (such as the Women and Minorities in Ecology II (WAMIE II report)) show that participation in ESA is low for ecologists of color and women. To build a community where all persons are welcomed into ecology, it is essential to consider how we teach ecology students, some of whom will go on to professional careers in ecology.
The Four-Dimensional Ecology Education (4DEE) framework has been adopted by ESA as a framework to guide teaching students in ecology courses as well as non-ecology majors who encounter ecology in their undergraduate preparation. The framework focuses on what we want undergraduates studying ecology to know and be able to do. It also explicitly connects students’ knowledge of ecology to other overarching concepts in the sciences and to the societal issues that surround ecological challenges. These foci of the four dimensions move forward student understanding and engagement in ecology. However, the framework does not explicitly provide guidance for inclusive teaching practices. As we expand implementation of the framework, educators need support and models for creating inclusive learning environments that foster diverse participation. This session seeks to explore the educational perspectives of ecologists from underrepresented groups and examples of how the 4DEE framework can be implemented to consider and create inclusive opportunities to engage in ecology.
This session will address the following questions: 1) What do persons from historically marginalized populations identified as important components of and practices in ecology education? 2) What gaps or opportunities are present in the 4DEE framework regarding inclusiveness? 3) How can we integrate inclusive practices into ecology education by drawing on both recent research and existing models from underrepresented groups? 4) How can 4DEE be leveraged to create learning environments that are inclusive of instructors and students from diverse/marginalized populations?
Presenting Author: Luanna B. Prevost – University of South Florida
Presenting Author: Ariel Rawson – The Ohio State University
Co-author: Tatjana Washington, n/a – University of Chicago
Co-author: Khanh Ton – Rhodes College-TN
Co-author: Felix "Javi" Berrios - Ortega – University of Puerto Rico-Humacao
Co-author: Ariel Rawson – The Ohio State University
Presenting Author: Melissa K. Nelson – Arizona State University
Presenting Author: Aramati Casper – Colorado State University
Presenting Author: Nia Morales – University of Florida
Co-author: Darryl Reano – Arizona State University
Presenting Author: Erica S. Tietjen – Nevada State College