Ecologists have been hard at work developing a framework to provide ecological literacy for all. Since the Ecological Society of America endorsed the Four-dimensional Ecology Education (4DEE) curricular framework in 2018, the ESA 4DEE Task Force has been spreading the word about this multidimensional undergraduate curricular approach that elevates the human dimension in the teaching of a hierarchy of ecology topics, while stressing development of ecological field and technology skills that prepare students for today’s environmental workforce.The 4DEE Task Force has been following the goals of the AAAS 2011 Vision and Change initiative for enhancing undergraduate education in the life sciences and guiding the ESA membership to connect their mentoring efforts to improve ecological literacy on a society-wide basis. The 2021 ESA annual meeting theme focuses on making vital connections with groups of like-minded faculty who are engaged in similar efforts to improve ecology research and teaching. In this session we propose to connect to ESA populated faculty mentoring networks with the efforts to strategically improve the career development process for training of competitive environmental professionals. We have engaged six ESA members involved in faculty mentoring networks that showcase various ways to improve ecology teaching across scales, habitats, from introductory to upper level undergraduate courses and integrating innovative technology and large scale ecological databases in undergraduate lab experiences. These networks are currently connecting faculty with similar research and teaching interests in creating whole courses, learning modules, restructuring biology major programs, and developing best pedagogical practices for diverse students. Their efforts in these environmental professional networks provide: state-of-the-art field experiences, a broad range of science skills, elevate the human dimension in ecology education outreach, grounded in validated cross-cutting biological themes. We will be asking the speakers to address how they perceive the ESA 4DEE curricular framework can be used to reflect and collectively provide an action plan for expanding the ESA outreach of 4DEE enhancement of the ecological career development of today’s rising environmental professional. Here are the questions we will have our speakers address in their presentation: How can your faculty mentoring network benefit from and help expand alignment of undergraduate curricula to ESA 4DEE guidelines? What can ecologists in ESA learn from the efforts of your group of colleagues who focus on innovating and implementing best practices in ecology education? What barriers does your network see as deterring integration of 4DEE in undergraduate ecology teaching?