Creativity is essential to science, especially in the formation of new ideas and the discovery of new phenomena, and yet rarely do we talk about its role in science. In this special session, we propose an in-depth discussion of the role of creativity in every-day science and how to best foster it, both individually and collectively in research teams.  What does it mean to be creative in ecology?  What are examples of highly creative work in ecology? What are the practices that promote creativity in our discipline?  To address these questions, we borrow lessons learned about creativity from other disciplines and use those lessons to seed and guide small group discussions led by moderators.  Ideas from the small groups will be gathered, synthesized, and presented to all participants to stimulate further discussion in plenary. We anticipate a number of outcomes, including provocative and insightful dialogue, ideas that can be implemented locally to stimulate creativity in research, and a manuscript introducing the topic to the field through a peer-reviewed journal.