Challenges and opportunities for early-career ecologists interested in connecting science and policy

Background/Question/Methods

The need to connect science and society has never been greater.  The global citizenry is facing complex environmental and societal challenges, such as climate change, emerging infectious diseases, and food security, that require innovative, interdisciplinary approaches and solutions grounded in best-available ecological knowledge.  Ecologists have an important and unique role to play in informing and supporting decisions. 

Results/Conclusions

Engagement with decision makers presents both challenges and opportunities for early-career scientists.  Challenges include: perceptions that time spent engaging with decision makers is a “distraction” or “detraction” from a student’s work, lack of training opportunities for young scientists interested in communicating with policy makers, and misalignment in incentive structures between academia (where peer-reviewed technical publications and grant funding are highly valued) and the policy arena (where relationship building and in-person communication of science are highly valued).  Despite these challenges, many early-career scientists are benefitting from engagement with local, state, tribal, Federal, non-governmental, and private sector partners and natural resource managers.  Through these interactions, young scientists are becoming skilled in communicating science to non-scientists, a skill that all ecologists can benefit from.  In addition, early-career ecologists are learning about the information needs of decision makers, which can enhance the utility and relevance of future research that they conduct.  Looking ahead, there is no “one-size-fits-all” model for partnerships between ecologists and decision makers, but scientists of all career stages will be needed at the table to improve access and integration of scientific information into policies and practices.