Author Archives: Jody Peters

About Jody Peters

Ecological forecasting is going to transform our understanding of ecology. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to help coordinate efforts to improve and move the field forward.

Early Career Forecaster Spotlight – Abby Lewis

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May 18, 2026

In this first installment of an ongoing “Early Career Forecaster Spotlight” series, we put the spotlight on Abigail Lewis, who is currently a postdoctoral fellow with the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. This Early Career Forecaster Spotlight series is run by EFI’s Student and Early Career Association (EFISECA) and highlights early career forecasters to learn about their journey and work within ecological forecasting and to share knowledge and tips for those interested or currently working in the ecological forecasting field. If you would like to nominate an early career forecaster to be interviewed, please do so using this form.

Here is the link to the “Early Career Forecaster Spotlight” series, which will be populated with this and future posts.

  1. How did you get introduced to ecological forecasting?

I did my Ph.D. with Cayelan Carey at Virginia Tech and was introduced to ecological forecasting through her lab. Cayelan co-taught a graduate seminar on ecological forecasting with Quinn Thomas in the spring of 2020 (what a time) that was a really helpful introduction to the field. 

My first involvement in EFI was during the all-hands meeting in 2020. I remember volunteering to take notes for my breakout group and then immediately regretting it because I didn’t know how to spell the forecasting acronyms and jargon people were throwing around. But after that meeting I kept looking around and wondering what would be needed to forecast the things around me. Could I predict where an ant would move next? Could I predict what birds I would hear on my walk? Are some things inherently unpredictable? Eventually, I decided I needed help answering these questions, so I joined the EFI Theory Working Group, and I have been closely involved with that group ever since.

  1. What are your current research or academic interests and how do they relate to ecological forecasting?

My research is at the intersection of aquatic science and ecological forecasting. Currently, I am a postdoctoral Climate Change Fellow at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC), where I am working to develop forecasts of methane emission from coastal wetlands. 

One question that has been especially interesting to me recently is whether global change may alter the predictability of ecological dynamics. Researchers at SERC have been running two intensive whole-ecosystem experiments in the marsh, where they experimentally raise temperatures up to 6 ºC above ambient. Using data from these experiments, we are seeing that methane emissions are not only higher but also more variable and less predictable under warmer conditions. 

Next up, I will be starting a faculty position in the Odum School of Ecology at the University of Georgia in August 2027. In that position, I plan to continue building a research program focused on understanding and forecasting the effects of global change on aquatic ecosystem function.

Abby Lewis standing in front of an in situ warming experiment in SERC’s Global Change Research Wetland.

 

  1. What motivates you in ecological forecasting? If applicable, are there any stakeholders or end-users you work with?

One of the main end users I am currently working with is the California Air Resources Board (CARB). CARB is building a comprehensive greenhouse gas budget across the state, and I am helping to set up the capacity for process-based forecasts of methane emission from coastal wetlands as part of that effort. This project involves collaboration with several other EFI members, including the pecan team and Jim Holmquist, one of my supervisors at SERC. 

  1. What are the key lessons you have learned in your ecological forecasting work?

One key lesson has been that ecological forecasting shifts the research process in subtle ways that are beneficial even outside of a forecasting context. To be able to generate near-term forecasts at SERC, I needed to set up workflows for real-time data processing. Now, using those workflows, we are able to visualize the data coming in every day and immediately assess if there are any maintenance needs or if something surprising is happening that we might want to monitor with additional sampling. By looking at the data and seeing when forecasts are more or less accurate, we have started to find new and interesting patterns that help us better understand the fundamental ecosystem ecology happening out in the marsh. 

  1. What is the biggest challenge you have faced in ecological forecasting and how did you overcome it?

There are lots of incremental challenges in ecological forecasting. Developing real-time workflows for driver and observation data can be difficult, and keeping those data pipelines working requires attention. I have found that I need to budget a little bit of time every day to monitor and maintain data pipelines and visualizations, especially as these workflows are getting used by a growing community of researchers across SERC. Throughout all of this, I have been fortunate to work on top of lots of pre-existing cyberinfrastructure from the EFI-NEON forecasting challenge, Virginia Reservoirs LTREB, and the Technology in Ecology lab at SERC. 

Another challenge is the learning curve of vocabulary and methods in ecological forecasting. Both EFISECA and the EFI Education working group have been helpful for me—these groups do a lot of work to help compile resources and provide support for new forecasters. 

  1.  What do you want to share with folks interested in becoming involved with ecological forecasting (e.g., resources, advice, etc.)?

Do it! 

I have really enjoyed being involved with EFI working groups. They are always open to new members—all you need to do is hop on the monthly zoom call for whatever group interests you. EFISECA is an especially great home for early career forecasters, and early career forecasters are also encouraged to join the other thematic working groups. 

EFI members have created and compiled many resources for getting started with forecasting, and any summary I try to do here would be woefully incomplete. The EFI website is a great place to start exploring those resources.

When all else fails, the best advice is usually to reach out to Jody Peters 🙂 Jody is unbelievably great about connecting folks with resources, researchers, working groups, etc. related to ecological forecasting. 

  1. Optional fun question! Do you have a special or favorite place from your research, travels, or education? 

Most recently, I just got back from a short backpacking trip on Assateague Island National Seashore. It was beautiful! Lots of cool birds; I woke up to ~20 egrets, a family of green-winged teal, and a greater yellowlegs hanging out in the wetland by our campsite (see photo). 

Retirement Congratulations to Diana Dalbotten!

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April 8, 2026

Long-time EFI member Diana Dalbotten has retired, and the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Education working groups want to commemorate her impact on EFI through her focus on making STEM and data science education inclusive, particularly for Native American students. Below you can find the perspectives Diana shared with EFI, as well as lessons learned from Diana that were shared by DEI/Education working group participants during a recent working group call.

Diana provided 42 years of service and leadership at the University of Minnesota’s St. Anthony Falls Laboratory (SAFL), where she was the Associate Director of Diversity and Broader Impacts. In addition to Diana’s contributions to EFI, she has been a co-founder and leader in the following organizations and projects.

Perspectives Diana has brought to the EFI community are:

  • Building cross-institution partnerships among universities, tribal colleges, and agencies.
  • Developing community-based participatory research to integrate Indigenous knowledge into environmental research and policy discussions.
  • Supporting place-based and data-driven teaching methods that use local environmental data to teach Earth science.
  • Encouraging programs focused on recruitment, mentoring, and retention of underrepresented students in science careers.

Diana was recruited into the EFI community in 2018 specifically to support and advise the community on diversity issues. She attended the 2019 in-person EFI conference, where the EFI working groups were initiated, and has been a chair/co-chair for the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion working group since its inception. Diana pushed the DEI working group to develop a Strategic Plan in 2020, which was evaluated in 2024 to highlight EFI activities aligned with that Strategic Plan and identify additional opportunities for the community.

Diana was instrumental in both the 4-part “Conversations on Diversity and Data” virtual seminar series in 2020 to foster conversations, actions, and to make community connections to promote diversity within ecological forecasting and the “FEWS Seminar Series: Why Summer Research & REUs Really Are For You!” which supported students to share their research and develop their presentation skills as well as provided critical advice for students looking for summer research opportunities. 

Finally, Diana has shared her connections to professors and directors at Salish Kootenai College, a Tribal college, California Polytechnic University, Humboldt (CPH), a Hispanic-Serving and Minority-Serving institution, and the University of New Mexico, Gallup (UNMG), a 2-year community college with high Hispanic and Native American student enrollment, with EFI collaborators. These connections have led to three Alfred P. Sloan Foundation-funded projects that have developed data science and ecological forecasting educational materials, provided mentoring for students, and supported research conducted by underrepresented students. The Sloan funding enabled UNMG and CPH students to present their research from the NEON Forecasting Challenge at the GA meeting in 2025, and supported EFI community members who delivered data science training workshops at the GA 2025 meeting, the EFI 2024 conference, and the upcoming EFI2026 conference, and the AIHEC-Native FEWS 2024 Conference, and at multiple sessions of the SLAWR REU.

EFI leadership has also been impacted by Diana and the Sloan activities, leading both Nievita Bueno Watts (CPH) and Antoinette Abeyta (UNMG) to provide leadership in the Education and DEI working group activities, to serve as voting members on the EFI Steering Committee.

Lessons learned from Diana: 

  • Identify synergies across communities. Diana knows how to use her networks and often supports activities that have buy-in and support across the communities she works with.
  • Maximize funding from multiple sources to support student travel. Diana always looked for ways to use multiple pots of money to support REU and GA travel by leveraging her networks, synergizing activities across grants, and boldly reaching out to collaborators and sponsors to secure additional funding when needed.
  • Invest in students and colleagues long-term. Diana cares about the students and colleagues she works with. For example, Antoinette started as a student in Diana’s REU program, earned her PhD from SAFL, and developed into a collaborator with Diana on multiple grants and activities.
  • Support local talent and meet students where they are at. The SLAWR REU project offers multiple options to meet students’ needs. There are research options for those who want to travel to conduct research away from their home institution, and local research opportunities for individuals who want to conduct research but can’t travel due to family responsibilities.
  • Every student is a learner and a teacher. No matter a student’s age or experience, they have things to teach and should be empowered to do so.
  • Learning should be fun, and all learners are more engaged when they are having fun. And if you are organizing an event, make sure it is fun!
  • Develop a strong core of collaborators. Write grants with people you like.
  • Small, impactful changes are meaningful. They accumulate!
  • See people holistically. Students are not just scientists; they also have other interests. Consider how to incorporate their interests. Find out what students do for fun. Value people for the whole, not just for their research and the contributions they make to your research program.
  • If you are trying to connect with or develop a project with a group that shows little or no interest, keep trying, keep building relationships, and keep showing up. A no from one person does not mean a no for the whole community.

The EFI DEI/Education working group thanks Diana for the lasting impact she has made on the EFI community over the past 7 years. We are looking forward to hearing occasional updates on her recent art projects, the live music she is enjoying, her success betting at the horse track, and the joy her family brings her during her retirement. If you attend a future Geoscience Alliance meeting, we are sure you’ll get to catch up with her as well!

EFI’s New Fiscal Sponsorship

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February 26, 2026

The EFI Steering Committee is pleased to announce that after much exploration, EFI is now a fiscally sponsored project of Ecologistics, Inc!

Fiscal sponsorship is a formal arrangement in which a current non-profit agrees to serve as an incubator for a charitable program external to itself that does not have tax-exempt status yet. In this arrangement, Ecologistics is the fiscal sponsor that is “hosting” EFI as the charitable program. See more about Ecologistics’ fiscal sponsorship program here.

This means that EFI now has a bank account, can accept donations, and can serve as the lead or a subaward on grant proposals. 

A huge thanks goes to the four EFI Steering Committee cohorts who have worked on this project since 2022. Between 2022 and early 2024, the Steering Committee identified and convened an Executive Advisory Committee to provide advice on options to support EFI’s long-term fiscal, legal, and organizational sustainability. The recommendation to explore fiscal sponsorship from that group prompted the Steering Committee to explore and connect with a wide range of potential fiscal sponsors over the next two years. In early February this year, Ecologistics approved EFI as a fiscally sponsored project. The current Steering Committee approved the sponsorship, acknowledging the overlap of EFI’s missions with that of Ecologistic’s mission to collaborate with people and organizations around the world to create resilient and healthy communities that are environmentally and economically sustainable, and socially just. 

Executive Advisory Committee members:
Kathie Weathers – Global Lake Ecological Observatory Network, GLEON; Ecological Society of America, ESA,
Kari Jordan – The Carpentries,
Nicole Crane – Society for Conservation Biology; One People One Reef,
Caroline Stem – Conservation Measures Partnership,
Lou Woodley – Community for Scientific Collaboration and Community Engagement, CSCCE

All voting and ex-officio Steering Committee members since 2022 who contributed to this project:
*Mike Dietze (Boston University),
*Melissa Kenney (University of Minnesota),
Nievita Bueno Watts (California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt),
Carl Boettiger (University of California Berkeley),
Alyssa Willson (University of Notre Dame),
Glenda Wardle (University of Sydney),
Christy Rollinson (Morton Arboretum),
Kira Sullivan-Wiley (PEW Charitable Trust),
Jake Zwart (US Geological Survey),
Quinn Thomas (Virginia Tech),
Jason McLachlan (University of Notre Dame),
*Jody Peters (University of Notre Dame),
Meghan Beatty (University of Florida),
Chris Brown (NOAA/University of Maryland),
Istem Fer (Finnish Meteorological Institute),
*Anna Sjodin (US Environmental Protection Agency),
Kayode Oshinubi (Northern Arizona University),
Alistair Hobday (CSIRO),
Michael Gerst (University of Maryland/National Institute of Standards and Technology),
*Korryn Bodner (University of Guelph),
Antoinette Abeyta (University of New Mexico, Gallup),
John Zobitz (Augsburg University),
Cara Gallagher (Aarhus University),
Hannah O’Grady (University of Notre Dame),
Jasper Slingsby (University of Cape Town),
Patricia Dumandan (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences)

*Special thanks to Melissa Kenney, Anna Sjodin, and Korryn Bodner, Mike Dietze, and Jody Peters, who provided additional leadership to facilitate Executive Advisory Committee calls or participate in calls with and compile information about potential sponsors.

EFI at AGU 2025

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December 2, 2025

Below is the list of poster and oral presentations for EFI’s hosted session at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) 2025 Conference in New Orleans, as well as other ecological forecasting-related talks, and talks by EFI community members that may be of interest. All times are listed in US Central Time.

EFI has name badges! EFI community members can find Mike Dietze at the Conference to get a badge.

Thursday EFI Social – Meet up with others in the EFI community on Thursday evening, December 18, from 6:00-8:00 pm at the Rusty Nail, just a short walk from the convention center.

EFI’s Friday Poster and Oral Sessions – EFI’s oral and poster sessions on “Ecological Forecasting in Managed and Natural Systems: Hydrology, Agriculture, and the Earth System” will be held on Friday, December 19. We’re excited to have a great set of speakers that span cyberinfrastructure, decision making, and forecasts for coastal, terrestrial, and agricultural systems. Details of the talks and posters are below.

Friday Oral Session (8:30-10:00, Rm: 265-266 – Nola CC)

Friday Poster Session (8:30-12:00, Hall EFG – Poster Hall)

Other Forecasting Presentations & Presentations by the EFI Community

If you are presenting an ecological forecasting-related talk or poster that you don’t see on the list, email EFI so we can get it added!

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday