Inspiring Ecology

Inspiring Ecology

Friday 4 October 2024, 16:00 - 18:00hr

Lumen 1, Wageningen Campus

Invitation

We are thrilled to invite you to a special interactive event, “INSPIRING ECOLOGY”, featuring esteemed ecologists Daniel Laughlin (University of Wyoming, USA), Luke McCormack (Morton Arboretum, USA), and Joana Bergmann (Zalf, Germany) – see short bio’s below.

This event is designed to foster meaningful conversations about the pivotal choices you will face in your career as an ecologist. We will explore how to recognize and navigate career crossroads, make informed decisions, and determine where to invest your time and energy. In a world where natural environments are transforming at an unprecedented pace, how can you act wisely and with impact? Our distinguished speakers will reflect on these pressing questions, building on the insights from Daniel Laughlin's "Letter to a Young Ecologist" (2024). We encourage you to read this letter in preparation for our discussion. Following their reflections, we will engage in an open dialogue about the essentials every ecologist should know and how to become the best version of yourself.

• Prof. Daniel Laughlin is a plant ecologist at the Department of Botany at the University of Wyoming (USA). In his research lab, Daniel “pursues the truth about plants” by studying how plants function in order to understand how they change the world. His work integrates traits and demography to predict ecological dynamics and restore wild landscapes in a changing world. The “Inspiring Ecology” event builds on his recent “Letter to a Young Ecologist”.
• Dr. Luke McCormack is an ecologist at the Root Biology Lab at The Morton Arboretum (USA). With his team, Luke keeps demonstrating how important roots are for the health, resilience and productivity of ecosystems, and how they vary across species, environments and time. Digging deep into the belowground, he aims to fundamentally change how these systems are perceived.
• Dr. Joana Bergmann is the head of the Sustainable Grassland Systems group at the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (Germany). Here, she studies the functional biodiversity of grassland communities, and how this is impacted by land use. Looking both above- and belowground and across spatial scales, her work contributes to sustainably (re)shaping intensively used agricultural landscapes.

Organisers

• Liesje Mommer, Professor Belowground Ecology with the Forest Ecology & Management group WUR
• Monique Weemstra, Universitair docent with the Forest Ecology & Management group WUR
• Under the auspices of the Production Ecology & Resource Conservation Graduate School

All are welcome to join us for this enriching experience by registering here: