The Ecological Society of America (ESA), the world’s largest community of professional ecologists, recently selected a research paper whose lead author is Myla Aronson, assistant professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources, as the winner of its Sustainability Science Award.
The award recognizes the authors of the scholarly work that “makes the greatest contribution to the emerging science of ecosystem and regional sustainability through the integration of ecological and social sciences.”
“Biodiversity in the City: key challenges for urban green space management,” published in the Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, synthesizes the key challenges to sustaining biodiversity in urban systems and also incorporates the ecological and sociological principles to overcome those challenges.
According to the ESA, the article “has already had an impact on sustainability science, evidenced by its broad citation across diverse academic disciplines, including ecology, sustainability, and planning journals, as well as in city and regional planning documents and teaching curriculum.”
“We are honored that this work was recognized by ESA. The importance of ecological processes in urban sustainability science are often overlooked, but the recognition of this paper changes this narrative. I was incredibly lucky to work with such an outstanding group of co-authors, who each brought unique and meaningful perspectives to the ecology of urban green spaces and enabled this paper to have this impact.”
Aronson’s work focuses on the conservation of biodiversity in human-dominated landscapes. Her lab studies the ecological and social processes that shape urban plant and animal communities and best-management practices, design, and urban planning for biodiversity in cities.
Aronson also directs the Hutcheson Memorial Forest Center, which is protected and administered by Rutgers University. She is among a distinguished list of ecologists to win 2022 ESA awards for their outstanding contributions to ecology in new discoveries, teaching, sustainability, diversity, and lifelong commitment to the profession during a ceremony at the Society’s Annual Meeting in Montréal, Québec, in August.
Read more at the full list of 2022 ESA awardees.
News from https://sebsnjaesnews.rutgers.edu/2022/04/lead-author-myla-aronson-receives-sustainability-science-award-from-esa/