Education

Our focus is to build a diverse community of individuals who are 1) trained on the methods, theory and decision science to create iterative near-term forecasts, or 2) trained to use the forecast predictions in management and policy. The Education and Diversity & Inclusion are separate working groups, but work closely together with a focus on building an inclusive community of practice among ecological forecasting educators and developing open, collaborative, and extensible teaching materials at the undergraduate, graduate, and professional levels. We think training in ecological forecasting is important for all ecologists, not just those actively building forecasts. For example, the approaches used to design experiments and collect data can change nontrivially if we want to inform predictions.

Education Working Group Schedule of Calls:
The Education Group will meet jointly with the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion working group on Wednesdays at 2 pm US ET on January 14, February 11, March 11, April 8, May 13. A new schedule of calls will be developed for June to August 2026. We are always open to people joining the calls, contact us at eco4cast.initiative@gmail.com

Education Resources

August 25, 2025, Blog post jointly written with Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion working group members: EFI University for Everyone, https://ecoforecast.org/efi-university-for-everyone-update/

February 27, 2025, Blog Post jointly written with Education & Theory working group members: Resources for Reviewing Code, https://ecoforecast.org/resources-for-reviewing-code/

Publications

Paper on Ethics in Forecasting Educational Modules was published in both Teaching Issues and Experiments in Ecology and as a QUBES Open Educational Resource. This allows us to reach a broader audience. A DOI is available with the QUBES publication. Here are the two citations:

  1. Lewis, A.S.L., D.W. Howard, G. Koren, C. Kowalski, J. McLachlan, J.A. Peters, G. Smies, and O. Tabares. 2023. Ethics in ecological forecasting: four case-based teaching modules. Teaching Issues and Experiments in Ecology, Vol. 19: Practice #13. https://tiee.esa.org/vol/v19/issues/case_studies/lewis/abstract.html
  2. Lewis, A. S., Howard, D. W., Koren, G., Kowalski, C., McLachlan, J., Peters, J., Smies, G., Tabares, O. (2024). Ethics in ecological forecasting: four case-based teaching modules. EFI-RCN: Ecological Forecasting Initiative Research Coordination Network, QUBES Educational Resources. doi:10.25334/5D99-Y019

Module topics from the ethics paper

  • Module 1: Flying foxes and uncertainty
  • Module 2: Marine Fisheries and conflicts of interest
  • Module 3: Water Quality and Indigenous Knowledge
  • Module 4: Tropical forests and data availability

Willson, A. M., H. Gallo, J.A. Peters, A. Abeyta, N. Bueno Watts, C.C. Carey, T.N. Moore, G. Smies, R.Q. Thomas, W.M. Woelmer & J.S. McLachlan. 2023. Assessing opportunities and inequities in undergraduate ecological forecasting education. Ecology and Evolution, 13, e10001. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10001

Teaching Ecological Forecasting in Your Class!

Are you looking for fresh curriculum ideas? Consider including a one to three-hour active learning module on ecological forecasting that allows students to explore key forecasting concepts using real environmental data. The materials in the modules are in an RShiny format that introduces the concepts and gives hands-on applications for what is taught. Students can save their progress in the RShiny app so they do not need to complete the materials in one sitting.  Modules 6 and 7 are also available in an RMarkdown format for students with coding experience. This allows instructors who want to go a step further with their instruction to allow the students to understand and apply the code to new situations.

1) Module 5: Introduction to Ecological Forecasting (link to the module; link to the instructor materials)
2) Module 6: Understanding Uncertainty in Ecological Forecasts (link to the module; link to the instructor materials; link to the Rmarkdown material)
3) Module 7: Using Data to Improve Ecological Forecasts (link to the module; link to the instructor materials; link to the Rmarkdown material)
4) Module 8: Using Ecological Forecasts to Guide Decision Making (link to the module; link to the instructor materials)

These modules are part of the Macrosystems EDDIE series funded by the NSF Macrosystems Biology program. Each module uses NEON data to teach key forecasting concepts.

If you are interested in teaching these modules in your class, email Mary Lofton (melofton@vt.edu) or Cayelan Carey (cayelan@vt.edu).

Go the Educational Resources Page to get

  • Materials from Ecological Forecasting Courses & Workshops
  • A compiled list of over one hundred educational resources related to Ecological Forecasting
  • A compiled list of articles, papers, and websites related to using AI in the classroom
  • 2-page pdf overview of what ecological forecasting is and potential careers as well as examples of courses that is a starting point for students to learn more about the concepts and statistical and computational tools used in ecological forecasting
  • Infographics to support teaching and learning biostats in R
  • Example syllabi for ecological forecasting courses
Alyssa Wilson’s overview of the Education and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Working Group’s activities for the EFI 2022 Conference held May 23-25, 2022.

Notes from Working Group Calls
Chair: Jason McLachlan (University of Notre Dame)

  1. November 3, 2025 – joint Education and DEI Working Group call
  2. October 10, 2025 – joint Education and DEI Working Group call
  3. September 8, 2025 – joint Education and DEI Working Group call
  4. August 18, 2025 – joint Education and DEI Working Group call
  5. July 21, 2025 – joint Education and DEI Working Group call
  6. June 9, 2025 – joint Education and DEI Working Group call
  7. May 12, 2025
  8. April 14, 2025
  9. March 10, 2025
  10. February 10, 2025
  11. January 13, 2025
  12. December 16, 2024
  13. November 11, 2024
  14. October 21, 2024
  15. September 23, 2024
  16. August 16, 2024
  17. July 19, 2024
  18. June 28, 2024
  19. May 10, 2024
  20. April 12, 2024
  21. March 8, 2024
  22. February 9, 2024
  23. January 12, 2024
  24. December 4, 2023
  25. November 6, 2023
  26. October 2, 2023
  27. September 11, 2023
  28. August 17, 2023
  29. July 13, 2023
  30. June 15, 2023
  31. May 11, 2023
  32. April 13, 2023
  33. March 16, 2023
  34. February 9, 2023
  35. January 12, 2023
  36. December 5, 2022
  37. November 7, 2022
  38. October 10, 2022
  39. September 12, 2022
  40. August 10, 2022
  41. July 13, 2022
  42. June 15, 2022
  43. May 4, 2022
  44. April 6, 2022
  45. March 9, 2022
  46. February 9, 2022
  47. January 12, 2022
  48. November 18, 2021
  49. October 14, 2021
  50. September 16, 2021
  51. August 18, 2021
  52. July 14, 2021
  53. June 16, 2021
  54. May 10, 2021
  55. April 19, 2021
  56. March 29, 2021
  57. March 1, 2021
  58. February 1, 2021
  59. December 14, 2021
  60. November 16, 2021
  61. October 12, 2020
  62. September 14, 2020
  63. August 19, 2020
  64. July 22, 2020
  65. June 24, 2020
  66. May 27, 2020
  67. April 20, 2020
  68. April 13, 2020
  69. March 16, 2020
  70. February 17, 2020
  71. December 4, 2019
  72. October 16, 2019
  73. September 17, 2019 –joint Education and DEI Working Group call
  74. July 12, 2019 –joint Education and DEI Working Group call