Introduction

EFI and the ESA Statistical Ecology Section are hosting the second round of the Statistical Methods Virtual Webinar Series.
Speakers present a statistical method or tool followed by an overview of R code used with that method and what to be aware of with those R packages. Upcoming webinars and recordings and R resources from previous webinars in this series are available on the webinar webpage.

On Monday, April 3, 2023 at noon US eastern Dr. Brian Stock from NOAA will present on Bayesian Stable Isotope Mixing Models and the MixSIAR R package
Register to attend here: https://bit.ly/3EDeTm0
European EFI Chapter Monthly SeminarsThe European EFI Chapter (EEFI) is hosting monthly seminars in 2023 on 12 April, 10 May, and 14 June at 1pm CET.

Dr. Harry Watkins from St. Andrews Botanic Garden will present on 12 April on “Plants on the move: using a botanic garden to forecast habitat assembly dynamics under climate change.” Register to join the call at http://bit.ly/3ypUIV9.

Details about the speakers, links to register for upcoming calls, and recordings from previous presentations can be found on the EEFI webpage.
Oceania EFI Chapter Monthly SeminarsThe Oceania EFI Chapter (OEFI) is hosting monthly seminars in 2023 on 23 March, 25 May, 22 June, 24 August, 21 September, 2 November, and 14 December at 3pm AET, noon AWT, and 5pm NZ.

Dr. Steph Brodie from CSIRO will present on 25 May on "Skillful ecological forecasts for marine resource management". Register to join the call at https://bit.ly/427AOMb.

Details about the speakers, links to register for upcoming calls, and recordings from previous presentations can be found on the OEFI webpage.
Save the Date!EFI 2024 ConferenceDate: June 4-6, 2024
Location: Finnish Meteorological Institute, Helsinki, Finland

This 3-day community-wide EFI meeting aims at bringing together scientists, agencies, industry, and stakeholders to build a community of practice and to advance research, applications, and collaboration around near-term (subdaily to decadal) ecological forecasts. Find more details and updates on the EFI 2024 Conference webpage.
The EFI-NEON Research Coordination Network is an NSF-funded grant to create a community of practice that builds capacity for ecological forecasting by leveraging NEON data products. The first round of the NEON Ecological Forecast Challenge begins in 2021. The Challenge revolves around five theme areas that span aquatic and terrestrial systems, and population, community, and ecosystem processes across a broad range of ecoregions that uses data collected by NEON.
Opportunity to Get Involved! EFI Distributed Leadership & Governance Committee The Distributed Leadership & Governance committee helps EFI to delegate tasks, distribute leadership across the organization, and cultivate new leaders to promote open, clear, and consistent communication with the EFI membership about what EFI is doing.

EFI is seeking expressions of interest from individuals from a range of backgrounds and career stages who are interested in contributing as stewards of change to the governance and operational needs of EFI. The Distributed Leadership Committee will be comprised of 3-4 individuals and will provide opportunities for mentorship and leadership within EFI.
Additional details about the Distributed Leadership Committee can be found on page 17 of the Strategic Plan.

Interested individuals can fill out this form to provide a short description (200-300 words) of your interest in participating on the committee and the skills and viewpoints you will bring to the committee. The EFI Steering Committee will review expressions of interest during their June call and will follow up after that.
About: Mission Statement, Shared Values & Principles, Member Profiles and Forecasting Projects
Working Groups Organized Around Seven Cross-Cutting Themes: Theory; Statistical Methods & Tools; Cyberinfrastructure; Education; Diversity, Equity & Inclusion; Translation and Actionable Science; Standards for Forecast Output and Metadata
Resources: Publications, Educational and Multimedia Resources, Videos
Stay Connected: Our Listserv shares high-level announcements, our Blog highlights forecasting activities going on, you can follow us on Twitter @ecoforecast, or you can request to join our community of forecasters on Slack (send request to eco4cast.initiative@gmail.com)