Mary Lofton earns Ecological Forecasting Outstanding Publication Award
While many of their water quality and other ecosystem forecasts are near-term (1-30 days ahead), the Center for Ecosystem Forecasting is looking further than 30 days into the future. They are looking years ahead to train the next generation of ecosystem forecasters, environmental data scientists, and water managers with their Macrosystems EDDIE (Environmental Data-Driven Inquiry and Exploration) undergraduate training program.
Through a series of active learning modules, students learn fundamental ecological concepts as they create forecasts for lakes and forests across the U.S. and beyond. Since it debuted seven years ago, the program has reached more than 35,000 students at more than 50 colleges and universities globally.
The program’s effectiveness was assessed and reported as a comprehensive study in the journal BioScience in 2024, confirming what the researchers long suspected – the modules are working. The lead author of the study, Mary Lofton, research scientist with the Center, recently won this year’s Ecological Society of America’s Ecological Forecasting Outstanding Publication Award. This was the second time a CEF member has won the award, as Quinn Thomas received the inaugural award in 2018.
“Overall, when it comes to advancing the field of ecological forecasting, your paper reinforces the critical importance of innovation and methodological advancements in teaching the next generation of ecological forecast users and producers,” wrote Michael Dietze, professor at Boston University who leads the Ecological Forecasting Initiative, on behalf of the nominating committee.
Created to be easily integrated into existing coursework, the Macrosystems EDDIE modules aim to complement educators’ work by teaching ecological concepts and quantitative skills, such as data visualization, modeling, and analysis. To facilitate a bridge from academia to industry, the modules teach students ecology while also enriching their quantitative skills to build a diverse workforce.
“I appreciated how the modules allowed students to better understand forecasting, including the data requirements, integration of models, and uncertainty associated with forecasts,” said David Richardson, professor of biology at the State University of New York at New Paltz. “The students expressed the value of learning these concepts as they apply to their fields of interest (e.g., environmental science) or in understanding forecasting from a variety of uses like weather apps.”
Work on new Macrosystems EDDIE modules is ongoing.
“I’m really excited about the new directions and audiences we’re exploring with the two new modules we’ve created this year,” said Lofton an affiliate with Fralin Life Sciences Institute's Global Change Center. “One is targeted for community college students enrolled in a water treatment plant operations program at Mountain Empire Community College in Wise County, Virginia, and we’re also piloting another module in partnership with colleagues at the University of Western Australia to teach time series modeling to environmental science students, using data from Australian water bodies. I’m really enjoying working with folks at both the local and global scales to develop modules that meet a variety of teaching and learning needs.”
