This session celebrates the 20^th anniversary of the AmeriFlux network, which has been conducting research on carbon, water and energy exchange between terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere to understand the role of the terrestrial biosphere in global climate change.  Network scientists examine how diverse ecosystems respond to changes in their physical environment and affect their environments in turn. The sites include tundra, grassland, agricultural crops, and a variety of forests.  AmeriFlux and other similar networks arrived just as the climatic changes of the Anthropocene began to manifest.  This session aims to highlight research accomplishments, including long-term trends in ecosystem function, over the first 20 years of the AmeriFlux network, and to open discussions of further transformational ideas for the future. The session will begin with several invited oral presentations that cover major accomplishments including significant research findings on ecosystem-atmosphere interaction and major synthesis results such as continental analyses of the effects of climate and disturbance on carbon and water cycling. The session will begin with where we have been – the AmeriFlux strategic research priorities, and end with open discussion of big ideas for the future of the network and ecology, followed by refreshments provided by LiCor, Inc.