Ann Bartuska | |
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 Bartuska at the Feds Feed Families 2015 | |
| Born | August 6, 1953 |
| Education | |
| Occupations | |
| Years active | 1981–present |
Ann M. Bartuska (born August 6, 1953) is an ecologist and biologist. She is a senior advisor at Resources for the Future and a former Deputy Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics (REE) at the United States Department of Agriculture and former USDA Chief Scientist. [1]
Bartuska graduated from Wilkes University in 1975 with a bachelor's degree in biology. She went on to earn a master's degree in botany and ecology from Ohio University in 1977, and a doctorate in biogeochemistry and ecosystem ecology from West Virginia University in 1981. [2] [3] Her dissertation, titled Detrital processes in a black locust reforested surface mine compared to a sugar maple dominated mixed hardwood stand, was completed under adviser, Dr. Gerald E. Lang. [3] Her research has focused on ecosystems processes in landscapes disturbed by coal mining. She is married to Dr. Mark R. Walbridge, Chair of the Department of Biology at West Virginia University. [4]
From 1982 until 1989 Bartuska managed research, development, and assessment programs associated with the effects of acid rain and air pollution, first for North Carolina State University and then under the United States Forest Service. Both projects fell under the National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program. [4] In 1989 she was named Assistant Station Director for Continuing Research at the Southeastern Forest Experiment Station; while there, she was responsible for research in both Florida and Georgia. [4] She joined the staff of Forest Environment Research at the Forest Service's Washington Office in 1991 as a Wetlands Specialist with the responsibility of developing a National Wetlands Research Program. [4] In 1992, when the Ecosystem Management staff was created, she was named the first head. [4] Bartuska spent a year in 1993 as the Forest Service Liaison to the National Biological Survey of the U.S. Department of Interior and in October 1994 became director of Forest Health Protection for the Forest Service.
In January 1999, Bartuska was named Director of Forest Management, of which she was the first woman and first ecologist to hold the position. [4] She would continue on as director, when Forest Management and Range Management were merged. [5] Bartuska left the Forest Service in 2001 to become the executive director of The Nature Conservancy's Invasive Species Initiative, and she remained there until 2004. [6] [7] She returned to the Forest Service as Deputy Chief for Research and Development in 2004 and from January to October 2009 served as acting Deputy Undersecretary for Natural Resources and Environment. [8] In 2010 she joined the USDA's Research, Education, and Economics (REE) mission area, where she was Deputy Under Secretary. [8] Her responsibilities included oversight over four agencies which support the REE mission: Agricultural Research Service (ARS - which includes the National Agricultural Library and National Arboretum), National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), Economic Research Service (ERS), and National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).
Ann Bartuska was named chair of the Subcommittee on Global Change Research (SGCR) by Dr. Tamara Dickinson, Principal Assistant Director for Environment and Energy at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy in 2016, of which she previously served as vice-chair. The group was created and is responsible for, meeting the requirement of the Global Change Research Act of 1990. [9] In 2017, Bartuska joined the non-profit, Resources for the Future (RFF), as vice president of the newly formed program on Land, Water, and Nature. [10] She currently serves as a senior adviser to RFF, focused on natural resources and forestry with special consideration of natural climate solutions through forest and agricultural lands. [11]
Bartuska was vice president for public affairs at the Ecological Society of America from 1996 to 1999 and president of the society from 2003–2004. [4] She was a co-chair of the Science and Technology for Sustainability Roundtable of the National Academies, served on the Board of the Council of Science Society Presidents, and is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science(AAAS) and Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native American in Science (SACNAS). [8] Bartuska has also served on the advisory board of the National Science Foundation and on the External Advisory Board for the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability. [1] She served as co-chair of the Ecological Systems subcommittee of the Committee on Environment, Natural Resources, and Sustainability of the White House National Science and Technology Council. She was also a part of the Sustainability Roundtable of the National Academy of Sciences. [9]
An ecosystem is a system that environments and their organisms form through their interaction. The biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows.
Natural capital is the world's stock of natural resources, which includes geology, soils, air, water and all living organisms. Some natural capital assets provide people with free goods and services, often called ecosystem services. All of these underpin our economy and society, and thus make human life possible.
Conservation biology is the study of the conservation of nature and of Earth's biodiversity with the aim of protecting species, their habitats, and ecosystems from excessive rates of extinction and the erosion of biotic interactions. It is an interdisciplinary subject drawing on natural and social sciences, and the practice of natural resource management.
Ecological restoration is the process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged, or destroyed. It is distinct from conservation and preservation in that it is an "attempt to co-design nature with nonhuman collaborators." Ecological restoration can reverse biodiversity loss, combat climate change, and support local economies. The United Nations named 2021-2030 the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.
Recreation ecology is the scientific study of environmental impacts resulting from recreational activity in protected natural areas. This field of study includes research and monitoring assessments of biophysical changes, analyses to identify causal and influential factors or support carrying capacity planning and management, and investigations of the efficacy of educational, regulatory, and site management actions designed to minimize recreation impacts. These ecological understandings of environmental impacts of outdoor recreation is critical to the management of recreation, ecotourism and visitation to natural spaces. Recreation ecology research has looked at the ecological impacts of hiking, camping and other outdoor recreation activities where the use and visitation is concentrated. As outdoor recreation shows increasing participation globally, questions and concerns are raised to which these can be managed sustainably with minimal impact to the environment.
Ecosystem management is an approach to natural resource management that aims to ensure the long-term sustainability and persistence of an ecosystem's function and services while meeting socioeconomic, political, and cultural needs. Although indigenous communities have employed sustainable ecosystem management approaches implicitly for millennia, ecosystem management emerged explicitly as a formal concept in the 1990s from a growing appreciation of the complexity of ecosystems and of humans' reliance and influence on natural systems.
Carl Folke, is a trans-disciplinary environmental scientist and a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. He is a specialist in economics, resilience, and social-ecological systems, viewing such systems as intertwined and potentially unexpected in their interactions. As a framework for resource management, this perspective brings important insights to environmental management, urban planning, and climate adaptation. He suggests ways to improve our ability to understand complex social-ecological interactions, deal with change, and build resilience, often working at smaller scales as a step towards addressing larger scales.
Margaret A. Palmer is a Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Entomology at the University of Maryland and director of the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC). Palmer works on the restoration of streams and rivers, and is co-author of the book Foundations of Restoration Ecology. Palmer has been an invited speaker in numerous and diverse settings including regional and international forums, science-diplomacy venues, and popular outlets such as The Colbert Report.
Karachepone N. Ninan is an ecological economist. Dr. Ninan was born in Nairobi, Kenya where he had his early school education. Thereafter he relocated to India where he continued his high school and college education.
Sharon J. Hall is an ecosystem ecologist and associate professor at the School of Life Sciences at Arizona State University. Her research focuses on ecosystem ecology and the ways that human activity interacts with the environment.
Emily Stanley is an American professor of limnology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She was named a 2018 Ecological Society of America Fellow and her research focuses on the ecology of freshwater ecosystems.
Sandra Myrna Díaz ForMemRS is an Argentine ecologist and professor of ecology at the National University of Córdoba. She studies the functional traits of plants and investigates how plants impact the ecosystem.
Elena M. Bennett is an American ecosystem ecologist specializing in studying the interactions of ecosystem services on landscape. She is currently a Professor and the Canada Research Chair in Sustainability Science at McGill University. She was inducted to the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists, and Scientists in 2017. She was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 2022 and became a Guggenheim Fellow in the same year.
Leah R. Gerber is a conservation biologist and environmental scientist most known for her contributions to the field of biodiversity conservation. She has conducted research on population ecology, conservation decision-making, and the application of innovative quantitative methods in conservation biology.
Sarah Bekessy is an Australian interdisciplinary conservation scientist with a background in conservation biology and experience in social sciences, planning, and design. Her research interests focus on the intersection between science, policy, and the design of environmental management. She is currently a professor and ARC Future Fellow at RMIT University in the School of Global, Urban and Social Studies. She leads the Interdisciplinary Conservation Science Research Group.
Madhu Verma is Indian born environmental economist presently working as Chief Economist at WRI India. She has worked extensively on Economic Valuation & Green Accounting of Ecosystems & Biodiversity, Ecosystem-Economy Modelling, Tiger & Snow Leopard Habitat Valuation, Forest- Fiscal Federalism and Payment for Ecosystem Services.
Yude Pan is a senior research scientist with the Climate, Fire, and Carbon Cycle Sciences group of the Northern Research Station, USDA Forest Service, and a senior investigator of the Harvard Forest at Harvard University. Her work is in the fields of Ecosystem ecology and Global Change Biology. She studies terrestrial ecosystems and how environmental stressors affect complex interactions within those ecosystems. Much of her research focuses on forest ecosystems and how they relate to the carbon cycle as a whole, as well as forecasting complex effects of land use, climate change and air pollution on forest ecosystems.
Carmen Cid is a Latin American urban wetland ecologist and faculty member at Eastern Connecticut State University. She focuses on ecology education and diversity in science. Cid is a fellow of the Ecological Society of America (ESA)
Carol Arlene Johnston is a Professor Emeritus in the Department of Natural Resource Management at South Dakota State University. Johnston is known for her research on beaver ecology and wetlands.
Indigenous science is the application and intersection of Indigenous knowledge and science. In ecology, this is sometimes termed traditional ecological knowledge. Indigenous science refers to the knowledge systems and practices of Indigenous peoples, which are deeply rooted in their cultural traditions and relationships understanding of an Indigenous Nations territory or place. Indigenous science is holistic. It follows the same methods of Western science including : observation, prediction, interpretation, questioning. Despite the knowledge and expertise that Indigenous science brings, it has often been devalued by the Western scientific establishment. However, there has been a growing recognition in recent decades of the importance of incorporating Indigenous perspectives and knowledge systems into mainstream scientific practice, particularly in fields such as ecology and environmental management.
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