Education Working Group

Chair: Angela Moles ()

Members:

Dieter Hochuli

Anna Hopkins

Leanda Mason

Jodi Price

Francesca van den Berg

Purpose

The overall Education Working Group objectives are:

• develop a community of practice among ecologists involved in education
• to create opportunities for ecologists involved in education to engage with ESA
• to identify opportunities for ecologists to contribute to K-12 education in schools through outreach and curriculum development
• to promote and support ecology in tertiary education
• to support and promote research into ecological education, including identifying opportunities and threats to ecology education
• to provide illustrative examples of good practice, and develop a culture of sharing examples a good practice
• to provide guidance to educators on graduate attributes desired in ecologists by practitioners and researchers
• to make recommendations to the board for how the ESA could promote and support ecological education.

Strategic Alignment

There is an urgent need to raise the standing of ecology as a science in school curricula, and as a flagship in university programs.  Engaging with educators broadly, and developing educators already in the ESA community is a massive opportunity to improve how ecology is taught everywhere.

(ii) promoting the application of ecological principles to the development, utilisation and conservation of natural resources

(iii) advising governmental and other agencies in matters where the application of ecological principles may be relevant to their planning and decision making processes;

(iv) fostering, conservation and ecological management of native biota, their diversity, ecological function, and interaction with the environment;

(v) encouraging high professional and ethical standards among the Company’s Members and other ecologists;

(vii) facilitating the dissemination and exchange of ideas and information about ecology and the information among the Company’s Members, ecologists, other professional disciplines and the general public

(viii) educating the Company’s Members, ecologists, other professional disciplines and the general public about the environment;

The working group also aligns with Australia’s Ecosystem Science Council’s “Foundations for the Future”, the Australian ecosystem science long-term plan. This plan highlights as one of six priorities; “a general public that is inspired, informed and empowered with knowledge and understanding of Australian ecosystems.”  The report elaborates on this goal: “To put the Australian community in a position to make judgements and decisions about the use and management of their ecosystems, they need to be engaged with and informed about these ecosystems.”