Transformations in coupled natural-human systems are purposeful, human-driven regime shifts from undesirable regimes to those that are potentially more desirable. The goal of transformation is to actively shift degraded ecological and coupled systems to more desirable regimes by altering the structures and processes that define the system. Examples of recent transformations include dam removal for anadromous fishery restoration and the purposeful increase in green space in urban systems to foster provisioning of ecosystem services (e.g., hydrologic and ecological processes). Research on transformation, and the governance of specific transformations, is of critical importance as society attempts to adapt to accelerating environmental change. However, research on transformations is incipient and in need of attention from a range of disciplines including ecology. In this symposium, we have gathered a group of interdisciplinary scholars, including social scientists as well as both terrestrial and aquatic ecologists, to discuss examples of transformation from across the globe. Presentations will focus on the ecological and social details of specific transformations in an attempt to generate a set of common threads across the symposium. Speakers will focus their discussions around state variable changes, the influence of cross-scale interactions, necessary shifts in governance, and management interventions pre- and post-transformation. The purpose of this symposium is to engage a broad audience of ecologists in an interdisciplinary discussion of current research on transformations as well as future research directions. Transformation poses a significant risk to the livability of coupled natural-human systems and thus requires a rigorous development of scenarios and potential futures prior to initiating transformation to a new regime. Engagement of ecologists is necessary for these conversations to be comprehensive and synergetic. Ecologists can provide research on leading indicators and other identifying features of social-ecological thresholds that are necessary to support and further develop transformations in the face of rapid environmental change.