MEDIA ADVISORY
For immediate release

Alan Covich named ESA President

Alan Covich, Director of the Institute of Ecology at the University of Georgia , has been named President of the Ecological Society of America ( ESA ), the nation's leading professional society for environmental scientists.

Elected by the members of ESA for a one-year term, Alan Covich presides over more than 9,500 members in the United States and internationally. The Society was founded in 1915 to stimulate sound ecological research.

Covich's goals as President include fostering more communication among the Society's members regionally, nationally and internationally as ESA implements our long-term planning.

An important goal of the Society is to promote, clarify and communicate the science of ecology through reports, journals, research and expert testimony to Congress. ESA encourages members to responsibly apply their research and ecological expertise to public issues through education and public interaction. Members conduct research relevant to challenges such as habitat alteration, natural resource management, loss of biological diversity, ecosystem management, ozone depletion and global climate change, sustainable ecological systems, ecological restoration, and biotechnology.

“Our journals are reaching even more readers as our membership approaches 10,000 and electronic access increases. The excellent quality of our publications is recognized around the world for the depth and breadth of our science. Educational outreach activities are also increasing to meet the needs of students and teachers through SEEDS (Strategies for Ecology Education, Development and Sustainability) and numerous partnerships focused on science education. Our public policy initiatives continue to be ready to help provide expert advice from our well-organized Rapid Response Teams and with a series of events designed to inform decision makers about ecological issues. The Society will also be working towards a pilot project in the Southeast to help address regional environmental issues,” says Covich.

“I am excited about the prospects for engaging more members in all these activities. I welcome your suggestions and ideas as we continue to develop ESA as the outstanding professional society for those concerned about the increasing importance of ecological studies."

Covich has been at the University of Georgia from 2003 to 2006 as Director of the Institute of Ecology and is currently a Professor at the Institute. He previously served as head of Colorado State University's Department of Fishery and Wildlife Biology and was a professor of zoology at the University of Oklahoma and an assistant professor of biology at Washington University in St. Louis. Covich received his Ph.D. (1970) in biology from Yale University . His experience with the ESA includes chairing several committees, including the Society's aquatic ecology section, and serving on the appeals committee of the professional certification board.

Covich's research includes predator-prey chemosensory communication and species-specific roles in detrital processing chains. He is currently examining the various long-term effects of hurricanes, droughts, and urban growth on stream food webs within a framework of intersecting road and river networks in the Luquillo Experimental Forest , Puerto Rico . This interdisciplinary research is part of the National Science Foundation's BioComplexity and the Long Term Ecological Research programs in cooperation with the University of Puerto Rico and the USDA Forest Service's International Institute of Tropical Forestry. Covich's focus includes an analysis of natural disturbances, recreational fishing and shellfish harvesting on sustainable stream food webs and freshwater ecosystem services.