Ecological Forecasting Initiative Conference 2025 gathers at Virginia Tech
Many researchers enjoy the summer break as a time to refresh and relax.
Cayelan Carey and Quinn Thomas, the co-directors for the Virginia Tech Center for Ecosystem Forecasting, began their summer break with a bang.
At the Inn at Virginia Tech, the Center for Ecosystem Forecasting hosted the 2025 Conference for the Ecological Forecasting Initiative, which is an international scientific consortium aimed at building and supporting an interdisciplinary community of practice around near-term (daily and decadal) ecological forecasts.
For four days, Carey and Thomas welcomed 100 attendees representing five countries and 10 disciplines from May 19 through May 22. Kevin Pitts, Dean of the College of Sciences, also briefly welcomed the attendees on the first day of the conference.
Three keynote speakers gave presentations:
Mark Urban from the University of Connecticut spoke on “Forecasting the Future of Ecological Forecasting”
Antoinette Abeyta from the University of New Mexico Gallup spoke on “Building Accessible Pathways to Environmental Data Science”
Kate Thibault from the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON), Batteille, spoke on “Using Continental-Scale Observatories to Empower the Field of Ecological Forecasting”
In addition, there were a total of 30 oral presentations, 17 workshops, and a poster session with 36 posters. Virginia Tech had over 20 faculty, research scientists, technicians, and students from five different colleges in attendance to showcase their forecasting research.
The overall goals of the conference were to bring together the ecological forecasting community to accomplish the following:
Build collaborations
Showcase ecological forecasting research, education, and engagement activities
Learn forecasting skills in training workshops
Engage with forecasters and decision-makers from federal and state agencies, academia, and other forecast end users
