Bring your creative ideas as we collectively articulate a vision for how ESA sections that engage diverse populations can collaborate to promote diversity in ecological learning, community engagement, and scholarship.  Our aim is to strategically expand our reach and impact, especially important with the increase in number of ESA sections in recent years.

Participating sections will share their missions and highlight successes and challenges in engaging diverse populations and promoting diversity.  We’ll map relationships between missions to identify ways we can be mutually supportive. We will explore lessons learned and best practices from our experiences, and explore strategies that maximize common purposes  both  within and beyond ESA membership.

Discussion will include:

• Ways to increase awareness of our work and sessions among ESA membersOptions for minimizing competition for section membership
• Mechanisms for collaborative planning
• Advancing sessions at the annual conference that connect ESA members with communities at the conference locale  
• Best practices and tools to help ecologists engage with diverse communities as partners while listening to multiple perspectives
• Strategies to enhance the voice of diverse communities in ESA discourse and the listening circle of ecologists

Organized in partnership with the Traditional Ecological Knowledge, Environmental Justice, Inclusive Ecology,  Black Ecologists, Human Ecology, and Education Sections and the Committee on Diversity & Education, the session is open to ALL ESA sections and conference participants.  This session is part of achieving the Action Plan strategy of ESA's Committee for Diversity and Education: “Coordinate efforts with sections and chapters that reach diverse populations.”