1.Ecology in ASEAN Nations:Bridging Ideas, Building Talents Dr. Mark A. McGinleyFulbright Visiting Scholar, University of MalayaAssociate ProfessorHonors College and Department of Biological Sciences Texas Tech UniversityLubbock, Texas USAmark.mcginley@ttu.edu

2. Outline Introduce myself Quick history of ecology Opportunities and challenges facing ecologists inSE Asia Building Talents Bridging Ideas 3. About Me I have conducted research in behavioral, evolutionary, and community ecology of birds, mammals, and plants. Been a faculty member at Texas Tech University since 1991 4. Science Education MS2 Masters Degree to teach middle school teachers (grades 6 8) how to integrate math and science in the classroom. Funded by $3 million (US) grant http://www.ttumssquare.org/ Malaysian Bat Education Adventure Collaboration between colleagues in Department ofBiological Sciences, and Colleges of Education andMass Communications Use biology of Malaysian bats as the focus fordeveloping and integrated science curriculum for grades4 8. http://www.ttu-mbea.org/ 5. Informal Science Education Encyclopedia of Earth (EoE) http://www.eoearth.org/ Goal is to be the largest on-line source ofinformation about the environment in the world. All articles written by scholars, all articles undergopeer review. 6. Teaching Ecology in the Field 7. What Am I Doing Here? Fulbright Visiting Scholar, UM Fulbright Program Funded by U.S. government Encourage understanding by facilitatingexchange of scholars between U.S. andabroad Professors/professionals and students http://www.cies.org/about_fulb.htm I arrived in June and will remain until April Taught Special Topics in Ecology and Biodiversity at UM Malaysia Collection for EoE, Ecology Textbook 8. History of EcologyRevolutions in the 1960s1. Use of controlled manipulativeexperiments in the field Joseph Connell and Robert Paine Pioneered the use of manipulative controlled ecological experiments. 9. History of EcologyRevolutions in the 1960s2. Use of mathematics to generate ecological theory -Robert MacArthur and colleagues 10. Something to Think About! Looking back on my career, if I could doone thing over to make myself a betterecologist then I would have learned moremath!!!! Theory Modeling tools Statistical analyses 11. What did Old School ecologyteach us?Interactions are complex Abiotic and biotic factors important Combination of direct and indirect interactions Interactions can take a long time to expressthemselves Can increase progress if we allow ecologicaltheory to guide our investigations 12. More Modern Approach 1980s todayCLS Work in Collaborative teams Bring a variety of expertise together Conduct Long-term studies Synthesize what we have learned Search for generalities 13. Long Term Ecological Studies in Tropical Rainforests Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Field site located in Barro Colorado Island(BCI) in Gatung Lake in the Panama Canal 14. BCI 50 Hectare Plot BCI intensively studied since 1923 Flora well known 50 hectare Forest Dynamics Plot established in 1980. Census every tree and shrub > 1 cm in diameter at breast height 1982 census - 240,000 stems of 303 species of trees and shrubs Recensused every 5 years Robin Foster and Steven Hubbell http://www.ctfs.si.edu/data/pdf/CTFSbook_PDF/BCIchapt.pdf 15. BCI 50 Hectare Plot Many important papers have been basedon research conducted at this site. Often published in Science, Nature, andProceedings of the National Academy ofSciences, Ecology & Ecological Monographs 16. Center For Tropical ForestScience 17. CLS Approach Required Some Fundamental Changes Funding Although ecological research is much cheaperthan molecular biology, large-scale ecologicalstudies still require significant funding Need to fund collaborations If scientists are going to undertake long- term studies then they need to be confident that funding will be available Funding for synthesis 18. Funding For Ecological Research inthe U.S. Most funding for basic research comes form the National Science Foundation (NSF) Federal Government 1. Long Term Ecological Research program (LTER) 2. National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) 19. Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) US LTER Network Funds groups of scientists to worktogether over long time periods. The Long Term Ecological Research (LTER)Network established in 1980 26 LTER sites 1800 scientists/students http://www.lternet.edu/ 20. International Long Term EcologicalResearch Network- ILTER 40 members in the Pacific and Asia ILTER network Australia China Japan Korea Mongolia Taiwan Thailand 21. Synthesis The NCEAS mission is to: Advance the state of ecological knowledge throughthe search for general patterns and principles inexisting data Organize and synthesize ecological information in amanner useful to researchers, resource managers,and policy makers addressing importantenvironmental issues http://www.nceas.ucsb.edu/ 22. NCEAS Form working groups 10 visiting scientists Groups of scientists spend one or two weeks in Santa Barbara examining questions of interest. Examples of topics of working groups- Ecological response to climate change Effectiveness of marine preserves Temperate-tropical gradient in species richness Effects of introduced species 23. NCEAS Since its founding in 1995 400 projects involving over 4000 visiting scientists Over 1800 publications Many in journals with the highest impact factors http://www.nceas.ucsb.edu/products Ranked as the 22nd /38,000 environmental institutesworldwide in impact of its publications 24. Importance of Ecology in South East Asia Obviously, better understanding of ecologyand environmental issues is criticallyimportant to the future sustainabledevelopment of South East Asia. We know a lot more about ecologicalinteractions and the importance ofbiodiversity than we did when the UnitedStates was in a similar stage of economicdevelopment Please dont make the same mistakes we have!!! 25. Llano Estacado Today 26. Opportunities and ChallengesFacing South East Asian Ecologists Much greater biodiversity in the tropicsthan in the temperate regions True for terrestrial, aquatic, and marineecosystems 27. Opportunities and ChallengesFacing ASEAN Ecologists Opportunity Interesting systems, full of cool species poorly studied Understanding tropics key issue in ecology Challenge Lots of species to know difficult to be a casual worker in a system 28. Opportunities and Challenges Systematics Still new species to be discovered and classified Natural History Still need to learn about the basic biology of most species Modern ecology can not exist without building on work of taxonomists, systematists, and natural historians. Who is training the next generation of taxonomists? National and regional need! 29. Opportunities Urban Ecology a subfield of ecology which deals with the interaction between organisms in an urban or urbanized community, and their interaction with that community. 30. CLS Aproach in South East Asia Collaborative, long-term efforts will beuseful Established LTER sites could provide background and logistical support needed to foster research Synthesis could be valuable Basic questions Environmental issues 31. Where Will Funding Come From? Governments Are governments really interested in supporting research thatleads to a better understanding of the environment? In the U.S. we have seen funding depend on politics! Governments often has short-term perspective Corporations NGOs/Foundations Universities Governments, foundations, and general public will only support funding for ecological and environmental research if we make compelling arguments for why this research is valuable! We need to deliver this message!! 32. CLS Approach Requires Universities and other research groups tosupport collaborative, long-term research efforts Might require changes in organization, hiring, reward, promotion systems Governments may need to help facilitate interaction among local and international scholars Encourage travel and exchange May require efforts beyond single governments and require a regional approach Consortiums of Universities and research units CU, NUS, and UM could sponsor annualsynthesis meeting? ASEAN? 33. Building Talents of South EastAsian Ecologists Characteristics Generalist Systematics, natural history, and ecology (including ecological theory and statistics) Comfortable using tools from related fields Specialist Might need to specialize on a limited taxonomic group or specific region 34. Building Talents You will need to be better than scientists in the previous generation and your peers in the West! Work harder, work smarter! Find your niche Typically are best at what you enjoy the most Always present your work in context of relevant theory READ!!! Have to be familiar with the best scientific literature toconduct the best scientific research PRESENT and PUBLISH!!! publish and prosper Aim for the broadest audience that you can 35. Building Talents Possible Career PathHI*Time/Expertise Publish major syntheticpapersBecome mature expertHI* results in Publish Secure fundingnew areas Search for opportunitiesHI* Publish results thatAttract collaborators Inform ecological theorySecure fundingSearch for opportunitiesPublish systematicsGain expertise in your systemPublish natural history Publish species lists HI - High Impact 36. Bridging Ideas Collaboration with other scientists iscritical Local and international scientists Probably great potential future collaborators sitting in this room! Must be able to bridge basic and appliedresearch Embrace new technology, but use itappropriately 37. Bridging Ideas Form bridges with policy makers and the generalpublic. Advocates for the environment Be a reliable and trustworthy source of accurateinformation about the environment for citizens andperhaps more importantly, for policy makers. Ecologists in the US are often marginalized as treehuggers We have not done a good job of educating the US public Science Environment 38. Bridging Ideas Knowledge from other fieldsfields Knowledge from other of sciencYouKnowledge ofyourKnowledge of ecologicalKnowledge ofyour systemenvironmental system issuesKnowledge ofgeneral General publicecologicalandtheorypolicy makers 39. Bridging Ideas, Building Talents HI* Inform General Public?Time/ExpertisePublish majorsyntheticpapers Become mature expert HI* results inPublish Secure funding new areas Search for opportunities HI*Publish results that Attract collaboratorsInform ecologicaltheorySecure fundingSearch for opportunities Publish systematics Gain expertise in your system Publish natural historyPublish species listsHI - High Impact 40. Bridging Ideas supportYouKnowledge ofyourKnowledge of ecologicalKnowledge ofyour systemenvironmental system issuesKnowledge ofgeneralGeneral public andGoodecological policy makersdecisionstheory 41. Charles DarwinI trust and believe that the time spent in this voyage will produce its full worth in Natural History; and it appears to me the doing what little one can to increase the general stock of knowledge is as respectable an object of life, as one can in any likelihood pursue. 42. Thanks Texas Tech University U.S. Department of State Institute of Biological Sciences at University ofMalaya Conference organizing committee