Kiyoko Miyanishi ESA's fourth decade (1946–1955) coincided with the start of the Cold War, and the Society was not immune to its impact. The September 1951 Bulletin reported that ESA had received a request (from whom wasn't stated) for “a definition of its field of activity suitable for establishing its military essentiality and its place in the civilian economy.” In response, a Committee on the National Scientific Roster and Related Problems was duly appointed “to take care of demands resulting from the present national emergency.” The Committee in turn asked ESA members for information on “services which ecologists can render the military establishment or civilian economy under peacetime mobilization or actual warfare.” Subsequently, in the March 1952 issue, the Committee presented its report: “A Statement of the Scope and Activities of the Profession and the Role of Ecologists in the Military Program.” The report included sections on: professional qualifications of ecologists; criteria for competence of personnel; services which ecologists can render the military establishment (such as development and application of camouflage methods, planning and supervision of crop and livestock production, land improvement and rehabilitation programs in occupied areas under military government); services which ecologists can render civilian economy under peacetime mobilization or actual warfare; and classification of activities of ecologists into categories of essentiality. Another indication of the Cold War's impact was the formation in 1954 of a Committee on the Effect of Radioactivity on Natural Populations. The fourth decade was also a period of significant organizational changes within the Society. The first of these resulted from the previously reported contentious vote at the end of 1945 on a by-law to restrict the Committee for the Preservation of Natural Conditions from carrying out any conservation advocacy. The by-law change did not preclude providing information and advice on ecological implications of any preservation-related proposals, but did prohibit any “direct action designed to influence legislation” on the Society's behalf. As a result, the Preservation Committee upon their own request was discontinued. ESA members who were in favor of taking “direct action” then formed a separate organization, the Ecologists' Union, which held its first business meeting in conjunction with ESA's 1946 annual meeting. The Ecologists' Union changed its name in 1950 to The Nature Conservancy and continued to meet annually with ESA. At the end of the decade in 1955, when ESA's constitution was revised, the by-law on limitation made it clear to members that: “Lobbying or activities specifically designed to influence legislation are not among the objectives of the Society and no official group within the Society shall engage in such activity.” Although not discussed in the Bulletin, it might be interesting to know the extent to which ESA's limitation on lobbying and advocacy was driven by rules or regulations governing the acceptable activities of non-profit organizations who can issue tax-deductible receipts for donations, or by the Society's desire to maintain its scientific credibility. A second change for ESA was in the timing and affiliation of its annual meeting, a result of a vote in 1948 in favor of full membership in the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS), an organization that was intended to represent the biological sciences in national and international matters and that had replaced its predecessors, the American Biological Society and the Union of American Biological Societies. Having previously held all but one of its annual meetings with AAAS in late December, ESA decided in 1949 henceforth to meet with AIBS in early September. Unlike the AAAS meetings that were held in hotels in large cities, AIBS had made the decision to hold their meetings on university campuses, the rationale being the increasingly prohibitive costs of projection equipment rentals and professional projectionists. In fact, for ESA's final meeting with AAAS in New York in 1949, AAAS had announced that it was no longer paying these costs and was passing them on to participating societies. In response, ESA asked its members to severely limit their use of projectors in presentations and instead to prepare mimeograph copies (a pre-Xerox duplicating method which our senior members might recall using) of their tables and figures as handouts. Aside from financial considerations, it was pointed out in the Bulletin that the handouts were “more effective than figures thrown on a screen where they are often legible only to those seated in the first few rows.” Previously, in the March 1948 Bulletin, the ESA Secretary had commented on “the considerable unfavorable comments on the use of lantern slides” in oral presentations at meetings. (Keep in mind that, at that time, tables would have been prepared either by hand or by typewriter in 12-point font.) The third significant change resulted from a concern raised by ESA's Committee on Coordination in 1954 about the increasingly divergent interests among ESA members and potential splintering within the discipline of ecology that could lead to loss of members to more specialized societies. The Committee proposed that ESA take steps “to promote establishment and growth of special interest sections within the framework of the Society to combat any tendencies toward separation.” In its report, the Committee presented a case study of the structural organization of the Entomological Society of America with its Governing Board composed of a President, President-Elect, Past-President, Secretary, and representatives elected by and from each branch and section. Branches represented geographic regions while sections represented disciplinary subdivisions. Sections functioned in arranging meeting programs and in facilitating the work of the Society. The Committee report concluded that: “growth of a scientific society inevitably makes for patterns of division in terms of geography and areas of special interest. Organizational unity is achieved by a common annual meeting, a broadly representative council, by a balanced editorial board and set of officers, and by a common treasury. Recognition of new and specialized fields of interest culminate in formal constitutional recognition of sections, and in detailed provision for their representation on governing boards, editorial committees and in the responsibility to arrange for specialized paper sessions.” The response of ESA to the Committee's report was a major revision of ESA's constitution in 1955 that, among other changes, allowed for any group of ten or more members to petition for the establishment of a special section. While at that time, the only geographically based group recognized in the constitution was the Western Section, we know that ESA eventually also adopted the idea of the Entomological Society's “branches,” recognizing them in the constitution as the current ESA Chapters. ESA membership dues during this decade went up to $7.50. Membership numbers from 1942 to 1947 had stagnated at ~700 despite regular calls in the Bulletin for the recruitment of new members: “The Society wants and needs more members. Let every member get a new member.” In 1948 a Membership Committee was appointed to address this concern. Likely due to the efforts of the committee, in 1952 ESA's membership for the first time exceeded 1000. By the end of the fourth decade, membership had reached 1248 with 32 life members. However, female representation remained stuck at ~7%. Each issue of the Bulletin continued to list the names of new members, resignations, and deceased. New members joining during this decade included: Nelson G. Hairston (1947), Jean Langenheim (1948), Robert H. Whittaker, F. Herbert Bormann, and Robert McIntosh (1949), Arthur D. Hasler (1950), A. W. Kuchler, Robert H. MacArthur, and William H. Drury (1952), Lawrence B. Slobodkin and George M. Woodwell (1953), David Pimentel and Jonathan D. Sauer (1954), Frank B. Golley, Jr. and Miron L. Heinselman (1955). Although brief obituaries had at times appeared in the Bulletin, the first Resolutions of Respect prepared by the Committee on Resolutions appeared in the March 1951 Bulletin for Ada Hayden and Forrest Shreve, followed by one for E. A. Birge in June. In total, nine Resolutions of Respect were published in 1951, including ones for members who were amateur collectors, conservationists, teachers, natural historians, etc., not necessarily notable people who had made significant or lasting contributions to ecology. The Committee on Resolutions continued for several years preparing Resolutions of Respect for various deceased members but began to realize they had a problem in lacking any guidelines on who should be accorded a Resolution of Respect. By 1955, in frustration, the Committee reported that they were being sent names of deceased members who had not done any work in ecology and about whom they could find nothing to write and therefore requested from the Society clarification on the intent of these resolutions to enable them to set some guidelines. ESA's leadership was somewhat re-organized and expanded during this decade. Prior to 1945, there had been no continuity in the positions of President and Vice-President. Starting in 1945, the Vice-President automatically became President. Also, in accordance with the 1946 revision of the constitution, four council members at large were appointed and this expanded leadership of Executive Committee and Council met for the first time in 1947. Regarding elections, the normal procedure during this period was for the Nominating Committee to put forward a slate of candidates for all executive and council positions unopposed. The slate also included nominations of editors and editorial boards. Then, at the annual ESA business meeting, probably after a call for nominations from the floor had elicited no response, the Secretary would move that the slate be accepted as a unanimous ballot and the motion would pass. ESA's first award, the George Mercer Award, was announced in the March 1948 Bulletin and presented in 1949 to Henry P. Hansen. Subsequent winners during this decade included Frank Pitelka (1953) and F. Herbert Bormann (1954). Initially, the Mercer Award was presented to the recipient by the president of his institution rather than at the annual meeting. This decade saw ESA elect its first female president, E. Lucy Braun, in 1950 as well as recognize its first Eminent Ecologist, Henry S. Conard, in 1954. The second Eminent Ecologist was A. H. Wright in 1955. ESA's 35th annual meeting was its first with AIBS at Ohio State University in September 1950 (ESA continued to meet with AIBS off and on until 1998). AIBS charged a registration fee of $3 and “wives of members” were given complimentary badges admitting them to all activities. (No similar consideration was offered to the husbands of members.) The registration fee covered publication and mailing of the general program, refreshments and facilities for the Biologists' Smoker, projection equipment and operators, as well as “tea and entertainment for the ladies and other guests.” The local committee that year also had a “ladies' committee to plan such a program as might interest the wives and daughters of members” including “an afternoon tea and a trip to nearby localities of historic interest.” Attendance was ~200. Despite the move of ESA's annual meetings to AIBS, members continued to organize sessions and present their research at the December AAAS meetings, and the Bulletin continued to publish the relevant portions of the AAAS meeting programs. Also, although regular June meetings of ESA's Western Section had been discontinued during the war years (1943–1945), they resumed in 1946 and continued through this decade. An interesting comment in the Bulletin indicating the usual dress code at meetings was the exception made for the 1954 meeting in Gainesville: “Since the weather may be hot, open-collared sport shirts are the accepted garb except for banquets, etc.” Through the fourth decade, ESA annual meetings continued in much the same format with generally 3–5 symposia and 4–7 contributed sessions. No mention appears in the meeting programs of any poster-type sessions during this period. Contributed oral sessions had 5–14 talks, and presentation times remained variable and at the discretion of the presenter. Although the majority appeared to be 10 or 15 minutes, there were also some that were 5, 7, 8, 12, 20, or 25 minutes. Visual aids were undergoing a transition through this decade, and both the old 3¼ × 4 inch glass lantern slides and the new 2 × 2 inch transparency slides were being used in oral presentations. While concurrent sessions were now a regular meeting feature (to a maximum of 3), contributed session titles remained for the most part very general: Plant Ecology, Animal Ecology, Limnology and Oceanography, Animal Behavior, General Ecology. By the end of the decade, the revised 1955 constitution for the first time recognized a standing Committee on Meetings that was “responsible for arranging programs at the annual meeting.” The ESA Bulletin was also adopting some new technology. The September 1952 issue was the first to use on its cover a color reproduction made “from 35-mm kodachrome by new, inexpensive method.” It generated sufficient excitement among Bulletin readers that the following December issue included an article “A Simplified System of Color Printing” by H. C. Staehle, one of the developers of this new technology. Ever mindful of publishing costs, however, the editors of Ecology and Ecological Monographs indicated that they were “prepared to consider inclusion of Kodachrome reproductions in papers whenever the authors can furnish the cost of the plates.” The Awards Committee of the Ecological Society of America solicits and encourages nominations from members of the ESA for each of the awards listed below. ESA especially encourages nominations of candidates from traditionally underrepresented groups, including women and minorities. In preparing a nomination, it would be helpful to consult with the Chair of the specific award subcommittee (e-mails below) or the Awards Committee Chair, Alan Hastings (E-mail: amhastings@ucdavis.edu). More information about the process is available on ESA's web page (http://www.esa.org/aboutesa/awards.php) Nominations for awards to authors for specific publications (George Mercer Award, W. S. Cooper Award, Sustainability Science Award) should include the full citation, a copy of the publication (electronic if possible), and a letter of nomination. Nominations for awards to an individual for a body of work (Eminent Ecologist Award, Odum Education Award, Honorary Member Award, Distinguished Service Citation) should include a curriculum vitae, a letter of nomination, and no more than three additional letters of support. To be given full consideration, nominations for awards should be completed by 15 December 2014. We welcome nominations that reflect the diversity of the Society's membership. A nomination should be submitted as a single PDF file to E-mail: awards@esa.org, with the name of the award in the subject line. The Eminent Ecologist Award is given to a senior ecologist in recognition of an outstanding body of ecological work or of sustained ecological contributions of extraordinary merit. Nominees may be from any country and need not be ESA members. Recipients receive lifetime active membership in the Society. Recent recipients include Simon Levin, Thomas G. Whitham, Robert J. Naiman, William Reiners, and Jane Lubhcenco. For more information about the award, please contact Robert Holt, Chair (2012–2015), Eminent Ecologist Award Subcommittee (E-mail: rdholt@ufl.edu) The Eugene P. Odum Award recognizes an ecologist for outstanding work in ecology education. This award was generously endowed by, and named for, the distinguished ecologist Eugene P. Odum. Through teaching, outreach, and mentoring activities, recipients of this award have demonstrated their ability to relate basic ecological principles to human affairs. Nominations recognizing achievements in education at the university, K–12, and public levels are all encouraged. Recent recipients include John C. Moore, Charlene D'Avanzo, Martin B. Main, and Manuel Molles. For more information about the award, please contact Kenneth Klemow, Chair (2012–2015), ESA Odum Education Award Subcommittee (E-mail: kenneth.klemow@wilkes.edu) The Mercer Award is given for an outstanding ecological research paper published by a younger researcher (the lead author must be 40 years of age or younger at the time of publication). If the award is given for a paper with multiple authors, all authors will receive a plaque, and those 40 years of age or younger at the time of publication will share the monetary prize. The paper must have been published in 2011 or 2012 to be eligible for the 2013 award. Nominees may be from any country and need not be ESA members. Recent recipients include Tracy Langkilde, Carla Staver and Sally Archibald, P. T. J. Johnson and J. T. Hoverman, and Douglas Rasher. For more information about the award, please contact Ingrid Parker, Chair (2012–2015), Mercer Award Subcommittee (E-mail: imparker@ucsc.edu) The W. S. Cooper Award is given to honor an outstanding contributor to the fields of geobotany and/or physiographic ecology, the fields in which W. S. Cooper worked. This award is for a single contribution in a scientific publication (single or multiple authored). Nominees need not be ESA members and can be of any nationality. Recent recipients include SK. Lininger, Guy S. Robinson, and Margaret B. Davis and colleagues, Kevin Boyce and colleagues, J. A. Thompson and colleagues, and S.L. Wing and colleagues. For more information about the award, please contact David Ackerly, Chair (2013–2016), Cooper Award Subcommittee (E-mail: dackerly@berkeley.edu) The Distinguished Service Citation is given to recognize long and distinguished volunteer service to the ESA, to the larger scientific community, and to the larger purpose of ecology in the public welfare. Recent recipients are Kay Gross, Rosina Bierbaum, Donald Strong, Janet Lanza, and Wes Jackson. For more information about the award, please contact Lou Pitelka, Chair (2014-2017), Distinguished Service Citation Subcommittee (E-mail: lpitelka@neoninc.org). The Sustainability Science Award is given to the authors of a scholarly work that makes the greatest contribution to the emerging science of ecosystem and regional sustainability through the integration of ecological and social sciences. One of the most pressing challenges facing humanity is the sustainability of important ecological, social, and cultural processes in the face of changes in the forces that shape ecosystems and regions. This ESA award is for a single scholarly contribution (book, book chapter, or peer-reviewed journal article) published in the last five years. Nominees need not be ESA members and can be of any age, nationality, or place of residence. Recent recipients are Boris Worm and colleagues, and R. S. Reid and colleagues, and Fikret Berkes. For more information about the award, please contact the Chair of the Sustainability Science Awards Subcommittee who will be listed on the ESA website. The Innovation in Sustainability Science Award is given to the authors of a peer-review paper published in the past five years that exemplifies leading edge work on solution pathways to sustainability challenges. The award recognizes that the application of sustainability science is enabled by linking ecological science with advances in other biophysical disciplines, engineering, the social sciences (e.g., economics, anthropology, public policy, governance), and other fields. The award recognizes higher risk ideas that are yet to be fully tested but hold great promise for achieving a sustainable world. Nominees need not be ESA members and can be of any age, nationality, or place of residence. This is a new award. For more information about the award, please contact the Chair of the Sustainability Science Awards Subcommittee who will be listed on the ESA website. The Commitment to Human Diversity in Ecology Award is in recognition of long-standing contributions of an individual toward increasing the diversity of future ecologists through mentoring, teaching, or outreach. Recent recipients include Sonia Ortega and Charles Nilon. For more information about the award, please contact Julie Reynolds, Chair (2013–2016), Commitment to Human Diversity in Ecology Award Subcommittee (E-mail: julie.a.reynolds@duke.edu) There are two Whittaker Awards given annually. The Whittaker Distinguished Ecologist award recognizes an ecologist with an earned doctorate—and an outstanding record of contributions in ecology—who is not a U.S. citizen and is not currently residing in the United States. This award provides funds for travel to the United States for research or to attend a meeting and covers expenses up to $2000. The Whittaker Award recognizes an outstanding ecologist in a developing country who is not a U.S. citizen and is not currently residing in the United States. The award is open to ecologists at any career stage and would cover expenses up to $1200 for travel to the United States for research or to attend a meeting. Requirements: Nominations for both awards can be made directly by the nominee or by an ESA member on behalf of the nominated ecologist. Nominations for these awards should include curriculum vitae, a letter of nomination, and no more than two additional letters of support. For more information about the award, please contact Jessica Gurevitch, Chair (2013–2016), Robert H. Whittaker Awards Subcommittee (E-mail: jessica.gurevitch@stonybrook.edu) The Awards Committee of the Ecological Society of America solicits and encourages nominations from members of the ESA for Fellows and Early Career Fellows of ESA. ESA especially encourages nominations of candidates from traditionally underrepresented groups, including women and minorities. In preparing a nomination, feel free to consult with the Awards Committee Chair, Alan Hastings (E-mail: amhastings@ucdavis.edu) or the chair of the Fellows Selection Committee, Alison G. Power (E-mail: agp4@cornell.edu). More information about the process is available on ESA's web site. ESA designates as Fellows of the Society certain members who have made outstanding contributions to a wide range of fields served by ESA. Such contributions include, but are not restricted to, those that advance or apply ecological knowledge in academics, government, nonprofit organizations, and the private sector. Any current regular member of ESA who has been a regular member of ESA for at least five years (not necessarily consecutive) is eligible to be nominated to be an ESA Fellow. For these purposes, a regular member is defined as a nonstudent, dues-paying member. A nominee is expected to have been a member of the profession for at least 15 years. In most cases, this will be interpreted to mean 15 years from Ph.D. Demonstrated excellence of contributions to one or several of the following areas: (1) research and discovery, (2) communication and outreach, education, and pedagogy, (3) application of ecology to management and policy. The nomination of an individual to be an ESA Fellow can be made by any three members of ESA except members of the Fellows Selection Committee. A curriculum vitae of at most four pages. It is suggested that the vita include evidence of outstanding contributions as outlined under the eligibility criteria. One to three letters of recommendation, which may come from anyone, including nominators and nonmembers. A citation of at most 50 words proposed for use if the nominee is selected to be a Fellow. No ESA member can nominate more than two individuals in a given year. ESA designates as Early Career Fellows of the Society certain early career members (typically chosen within 8 years of receiving the Ph.D.) who have begun making and show promise of continuing to make outstanding contributions to a wide range of fields served by ESA. Such contributions include, but are not restricted to, those that advance or apply ecological knowledge in academics, government, nonprofit organizations, and the private sector. Any current nonstudent member of ESA who has been a member of ESA for at least two years (not necessarily consecutive and including student membership) is eligible to be nominated to be an ESA Early Career Fellow. A nominee is expected to be early in their career. In most cases, this will be interpreted to mean eight years or less from Ph.D. (or other terminal degree) at the time of selection. Demonstrated excellence and potential for future excellence of contributions to one or several of the following areas: (1) research and discovery, (2) communication and outreach, education, and pedagogy, (3) application of ecology to management and policy. The nomination of an individual to be an ESA Early Career Fellow can be made by any two members of ESA except members of the Fellows Selection Committee. A curriculum vitae of at most four pages. It is suggested that the vita include evidence of excellent contributions and promise of future contributions as outlined under the eligibility criteria. One to three letters of recommendation, which may come from anyone, including nominators and nonmembers. A citation of at most 50 words proposed for use if the nominee is selected to be a Fellow. No ESA member can nominate more than two individuals as Early Career Fellows in a given year. Murray F. Buell had a long and distinguished record of service and accomplishment in the Ecological Society of America. Among other things, he ascribed great importance to the participation of students in meetings and to excellence in the presentation of papers. To honor his selfless dedication to the younger generation of ecologists, the Murray F. Buell Award for Excellence in Ecology is given to a student for the outstanding oral paper presented at the ESA Annual Meeting. E. Lucy Braun, an eminent plant ecologist and one of the charter members of the Society, studied and mapped the deciduous forest regions of eastern North America and described them in her classic book, The Deciduous Forests of Eastern North America. To honor her, the E. Lucy Braun Award for Excellence in Ecology is given to a student for the outstanding poster presentation at the ESA Annual Meeting. A candidate for these awards must be an undergraduate, a graduate student, or a recent doctorate not more than 9 months past graduation at the time of the meeting. The paper or poster must be presented as part of the program sponsored by the Ecological Society of America, but the student need not be an ESA member. To be eligible for these awards the student must be the sole or senior author of the oral paper (Note: symposium talks are ineligible) or poster. Papers and posters will be judged on the significance of ideas, creativity, quality of methodology, validity of conclusions drawn from results, and clarity of presentation. While all students are encouraged to participate, winning papers and posters typically describe fully completed projects. The students selected for these awards will be announced in the ESA Bulletin following the Annual Meeting. A certificate, a check for $500, and up to $700 to be used for travel and/or lodging for the Annual Meeting will be presented to each recipient at the next ESA Annual Meeting. If you wish to be considered for either of these awards at the 2015 Annual Meeting, you must send the following to the Chair of the Student Awards Subcommittee: (1) the application form on the back of this page, (2) a copy of your abstract, and (3) a 250-word or less description of why/how the research presented will advance the field of ecology. Because of the large number of applications for the Buell and Braun awards in recent years, applicants may be pre-screened prior to the meeting, based on the quality of the abstract and this description of the significance of their research. The application form, abstract, and research justification must be sent by e-mail (greatly preferred: buellbraun@esa.org) or mail to The Ecological Society of America, Attn: Buell/Braun Awards, 1990 M St, NW, Suite 700, Washington, DC 20036. The deadline for submission of form and abstract is 1 March 2015; applications sent after 1 March 2015 will not be considered. This submission is in addition to the regular abstract submission. Buell/ Braun participants who fail to notify the B/B Chair by 1 May of withdrawal from the meeting will be ineligible, barring exceptional circumstances, for consideration in the future. Electronic versions of the Application Form are available on the ESA web site, or you can send an e-mail to buellbraun@esa.org and request that an electronic version be sent to you as an attachment. Murray F. Buell Award and E. Lucy Braun Award Judges are needed to evaluate candidates for the Murray F. Buell Award for the outstanding oral presentation by a student and the E. Lucy Braun Award for the outstanding poster presentation by a student at the Annual ESA Meeting at Baltimore, Maryland, in 2015. We need to provide each candidate with at least four judges competent in the specific subject of the presentation. Each judge is asked to evaluate 3–5 papers and/or posters. Current graduate students are not eligible to judge. This is a great way to become involved in an important ESA activity. We desperately need your help! Please complete and send this form by mail or e-mail to the Ecological Society of America, Attn: Buell/Braun Awards, 1990 M Street, NW, Suite 700, Washington, DC 20036, e-mail: buellbraun@esa.org. If you have judged in the past several years, this information is on file. If you do not have to update your information, simply send an e-mail message, “Yes, I can judge this year.” Please refer to the PDF of this article for the application form. The abstracts from the 2014 ESA Annual Meeting in Sacramento, California, are available as a Supplement to this issue of the Bulletin. Go to: http://esameetings.allenpress.com/2014/webprogram The abstracts from the Annual Meetings are published annually as a Supplement to the October issue of the Bulletin. Links to the abstracts from all recent Annual Meetings (2000–2014) are now available at http://esameetings.allenpress.com The abstracts from Annual Meetings prior to 1998 were published as print Supplements to the Bulletin, and are available in digital form with the Bulletins from that year, in JSTOR. The 2014 Annual Reports to Council from ESA officers, committees, sections, and chapters can be accessed at http://www.esajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1890/2014.councilreport