Learning by doing: Ecologists jump into the deep end to shape cities

The nexus of ecology with urban design and regional planning are critical intersections where facilitating knowledge-to-action can promote resiliency. For ecologists to increase engagement, retooling ecological contributions and repositioning the ecologist in knowledge co-production with urban designers and city officials is necessary. Educational and real-world training for ecologists are limited. Here we present the Earth Stewardship Initiative (www.earthstewardshipinitiative.com), a forum for ecologist to learn the skills to bridge gaps between scientific knowledge and research methods through design. ESI is a novel urban land planning training forum embedded in the ESA annual meeting creating a forum for learning by doing.