EUGENE P. ODUM AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN ECOLOGY …
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EUGENE P. ODUM AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN ECOLOGY EDUCATION The Eugene P. Odum Award for Excellence in Ecology Education recog- nizes an ecologist for outstanding teach- ing, outreach, and mentoring activities and for demonstrated ability to relate basic ecological principles to human affairs. The winner for 2002 is Dr. Alan R. Berkowitz, of the Institute for Eco- system Studies (IES) in Millbrook, New York. In the words of one Award Com- mittee member, he is “the embodiment of an eminent ecology educator-scholar.” Alan Berkowitz began his career as an undergraduate at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio. From there, he had numerous ecological education experiences, including park naturalist and resource manager at Grand Can- yon National Park, and naturalist at High Rock Park Conservation Center in New York. Following completion of his Ph.D at Cornell University, he immediately assumed his current posi- tion as Head of Education at the IES. As an ecological educator, Dr. Berkowitz has had tremendous impact on the education of K–12 students, col- legiate undergraduates, and the general public. He is the instigator and inspira- tion for numerous education initiatives, including the Schoolyard Ecology for Elementary Teachers program in which students and teachers study their imme- diate, familiar environment to learn eco- logical principles and processes. This program has had a tremendous effect on improving ecological literacy. He also has been quite active in NSF’s Re- search Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program. Another group to receive the benefit of Alan Berkowitz’ enthusiasm for eco- logical education is the ESA itself. In this role he has been “…instrumental in convincing the Society that ecological education, as well as research, should be recognized more formally.” As one of the founders of ESA’s Education Section and one of the strong voices in bringing ecological education to the forefront of the science education pro- grams at the NSF, Alan has used his
Transcript of EUGENE P. ODUM AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN ECOLOGY …
October 2003 153
EUGENE P. ODUM AWARD
FOR EXCELLENCE IN
ECOLOGY EDUCATION
The Eugene P. Odum Award forExcellence in Ecology Education recog-nizes an ecologist for outstanding teach-ing, outreach, and mentoring activitiesand for demonstrated ability to relatebasic ecological principles to humanaffairs. The winner for 2002 is Dr. AlanR. Berkowitz, of the Institute for Eco-system Studies (IES) in Millbrook, NewYork. In the words of one Award Com-mittee member, he is “the embodimentof an eminent ecology educator-scholar.”
Alan Berkowitz began his careeras an undergraduate at Antioch Collegein Yellow Springs, Ohio. From there,he had numerous ecological educationexperiences, including park naturalistand resource manager at Grand Can-yon National Park, and naturalist atHigh Rock Park Conservation Centerin New York. Following completionof his Ph.D at Cornell University, heimmediately assumed his current posi-tion as Head of Education at the IES.
As an ecological educator, Dr.Berkowitz has had tremendous impacton the education of K–12 students, col-legiate undergraduates, and the generalpublic. He is the instigator and inspira-tion for numerous education initiatives,including the Schoolyard Ecology forElementary Teachers program in whichstudents and teachers study their imme-diate, familiar environment to learn eco-logical principles and processes. Thisprogram has had a tremendous effect onimproving ecological literacy. He alsohas been quite active in NSF’s Re-search Experiences for Undergraduates(REU) program.
Another group to receive the benefitof Alan Berkowitz’ enthusiasm for eco-logical education is the ESA itself. Inthis role he has been “…instrumental inconvincing the Society that ecologicaleducation, as well as research, shouldbe recognized more formally.” As oneof the founders of ESA’s EducationSection and one of the strong voicesin bringing ecological education to theforefront of the science education pro-grams at the NSF, Alan has used his
change by approaching it as an ecological process with the same persistentlegacies and interactions with other features of the environment as otherwell-studied disturbances. It is clearly deserving of the 2003 W. S. CooperAward.
Cooper Award Subcommittee: Andrea Lloyd (Chair), Paul Dayton, SaraHotchkiss, Laura Hyatt, John Lichter, and Miles Silman.
David R. Foster
Glenn Motzkin
[Note: No photo provided for Benjamin Slater.]
154 Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America
MURRAY F. BUELL AWARD
Murray F. Buell ascribed greatimportance to the participation of stu-dents at meetings and to excellence inthe presentation of papers. To honorhis dedication to the Ecological Soci-ety of America and to the youngergeneration of ecologists, this award ispresented to a student for the out-standing oral paper presented at theSociety’s annual meeting.
The winner of the Murray F. Buellaward in 2003 is James Vonesh forhis paper “Multi-predator effects acrosslife-history stages: non-additivity ofegg- and larval-stage predation in anAfrican treefrog,” which is based onhis doctoral research at the Universityof Florida; he will finish this fallunder the supervision of Craig W.Osenberg. The Buell judges notedthat James had conducted a well-designed experiment informed by fieldobservations to examine whetherthe density- and size-mediated effectsof early life-stage predators can sig-nificantly alter predator–prey interac-tions in later stages. He found thatpredator effects across stages werenot independent, survival was greaterthan that predicted from the inde-pendent effects of predators, andboth the density and size effects ofearly predators enhanced survival inlater stages. James followed up this
primary conclusion by addressing theunexpected result that smaller tad-poles had higher survival than largertadpoles. To do this, he developed asimulation model parameterized withdata from additional experiments thatwere designed to describe the func-tional form of density- and size-spe-cific predation and growth rates ofsmall/early hatched vs. large/laterhatched tadpoles. Simulation resultsshowed that the surprising pattern ofsurvival observed in the principalexperiment (i.e., small tadpoles didbetter) could have arisen via fairlysimple mechanisms: compensatorygrowth in small tadpoles coupledwith a hump-shaped pattern of size/density specific risk. Small/earlyhatched tadpoles grew more rapidlythrough the vulnerable size classes toachieve higher overall survival.James did an excellent job of intro-ducing a complex topic to his audi-ence; his methods were sound, hisanalyses were creative, and his con-clusions were thorough. James’ worksignificantly enhances our understand-ing of trade-offs in predation risk acrosslife history stages, and paves the wayfor better theoretical models based onempirical results. James received hisM.S. from the University of Florida in1998, and his B.S. in 1991 from EckerdCollege in St. Petersburg, Florida.
wide range of skills to further this criti-cally important agenda.
Nominators and Odum Award sub-committee members were lavish inpraise of Alan. A common theme wasthat his contributions to ecology havebeen multifaceted and broad. One mem-ber wrote, “Alan is not only an excep-tional teacher, or mentor, or the leadon an important ecology education pro-gram. He exemplifies the scholarshipand intellect of an educator—and hasbeen extremely successful at applyinghis political acumen and incredible en-ergy to national, important and long-term achievements in ecology educa-tion.” Others noted his excellent peopleskills and ability to work with a widerange of personalities and skill levels,signs of a quintessential educator. Onereferee summed up his amazing accom-plishments: “His curriculum vita dem-onstrates the breadth and depth of hiswork in the field of ecology. It is not of-ten that we have such talent amongstus, and it is a most fitting acknowledg-ment to honor Dr. Berkowitz with theOdum Award.” It is with pleasure thatthe ESA presents Dr. Alan Berkowitzthe 2003 Eugene P. Odum Award forExcellence in Ecological Education.
Odum Education Award Subcom-mittee: Linda L. Wallace (Chair),Richard Bowden, Charlene D’Avanzo,Peter Feinsinger, Bruce Grant, andKathy Winnett-Murray.
Alan R. Berkowitz
James R. Vonesh
