Natural History: The Basis for Ecological Understanding and a Global Sustainable Society.
Organizer: Joshua Tewksbury – Associate Professor, Department of Biology, University of
Washington, Seattle, WA 98115, tewksjj@u.washington.edu, 206 331-1893, 206 616-2129.
I will moderate the session.
Description
"Ecologists can learn much from simply observing animals before mentally breaking them down into fluctuations of organic carbon"
- E.S. Deevey
Natural history – the observational, descriptive, and comparative study of the natural world – forms the foundation of ecological research,
the grist for the creation of both ecological and evolutionary theory, and the backbone for conservation. Natural history is also a key
pathway to nurture fundamental human emotional connection to the non-human world. Our sense of place, and our society’s willingness to
prioritize open space, natural landscapes, and the species that inhabit these areas, depends upon a broad base of amateur and
professional naturalists.
Yet in the last 75 years, we have seen a steady loss in the practice of natural history in research,
education, and in society.
In this symposium, we will bring together naturalists from across disciplines and with different perspectives to examine the consequence
of the loss of natural history, and to discuss the future of natural history in society, research, and in education. We are particularly
interested in exploring the importance of the professional naturalist in the field of ecology.
The symposium will begin with an exploration of the deep roots of natural history, and a critical examination of the causes and consequences
of the decline in natural history from a contemporary (Thomas Fleischner), and historical perspective (John Anderson). We will then bridge
to examine the importance of direct experience in creating ecological knowledge (Anne Solomon), and the consequences of the loss of
this direct experience, taken from an anthropological perspective (Paul Dayton). These talks will allow us to explore the consequences
for conservation research and communication (Dee Boersma), for the mission of global environemental NGOs (Peter Kareiva) and the
furtherance of conservation policy (Jane Lubchenco) and for the future of agriculture, education, and sustainability (Gary Nabhan).
Finally, we will hear about natural history from the perspective of a President of a Major research University (David Schmidly) and
we will close with a proposal for a natural history curriculum for our country (Carlos Martinez del Rio and Tewksbury).
The symposium will end with a panel discussion focused on the future of natural history in ecology and the importance of
natural history for sustainability. We will pose explicit questions to the audience, and inviting them to help chart a course
for a new initiative – the Natural History Network (www.naturalhistorynetwork.org) - dedicated to the promotion of natural history.
Justification
Renaissance juggernaut
This symposium speaks to the core of the meeting theme: We will bring together leading practitioners of natural history from a
broad range of disciplines and ask them to collectively contemplate a series of questions: What is the future of natural
history in the 21st century? How are natural history and sustainability related? What can we do today to insure that the
tradition of deep natural history understanding is not lost from the field of ecology? This symposium will be well
attended because natural history has been the spark that ignited intellectual and emotional passion in a great many
ecologists.. The symposium will be successful because it draws on a diversity of speakers that see the importance of
natural history from different perspectives, as we have speakers focused on natural history education in small liberal
arts colleges and in large research academies, we have speakers from major NGOs concerned about the loss of natural
history knowledge in the people joining their organizations, and we have speakers from institutes committed to
sustainability and ecology, focused on the role of natural history research in the preservation of biodiversity.
Confirmed Speakers (in alphabetical order)
John Anderson, College of the Atlantic.
Title / topic : The History of Natural History.
webpage
Dee Boersma, Wadsworth Endowered Chair in Conservation Biology, Department of Biology, University of Washington.
Title / topic: Conservation and Natural History.
webpage
Paul K. Dayton, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD.
Title / topic: The loss of nature and the nature of the loss: sense of place, sense of culture and the importance of education.
webpage
Thomas L. Fleischner, Professor of Environmental Studies, Prescott College; President, Natural History Network.
Title / topic : Natural History: The Original Practice of Being Human
webpage
Peter Kareiva - Director of Science, The Nature Conservancy.
Title / topic : Will environmental NGO´s go extinct if natural history education dies?
webapge
Jane Lubchenco – Distinguished professor of Zoology, Oregon state University.
Title / topic: Communicating a passion for natural history
a href="http://lucile.science.oregonstate.edu/lubchenco/, status: Contacted, travelling.">webpage
Carlos Martínez del Rio - Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming.
Title / topic : A Natural History curriculum for cyborgs;
webpage
Gary Paul Nabhan, University of Arizona.
Title / topic : Natural History, Food, and Sustainability.
webpage
David Schmidly –President, University of New Mexico .
Title / topic: Archival Natural History – a view from the corner office.
webpage
Anne Solomon – Assistant Professor, Simon Frazier University.
Title / topic: The Direct Experience of Natural History: what we learn from Traditional Knowledge.
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