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 on Fridays at noon US Eastern on January 12, February 9, March 8, April 12, and May 10. A new schedule of calls will be developed for June to August 2024. We are always open to people joining the calls, contact us at eco4cast.initiative@gmail.com

Education Resources

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