We are pleased to announce this year's Early Career Scientist Symposium, to be held on Saturday, March 16, 2019, in the Biological Sciences Building on the campus of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. This location is the new building that houses the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; the Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology; the Museum of Paleontology; as well as the Natural History Museum.

This year’s theme is Stable Isotopes in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation. Stable isotopes of common and trace elements have a wide range of applications in modern and ancient ecosystems. They offer important tools for investigating plant and animal physiology, dietary ecology, life history, food-web analysis, nutrient cycling, migration, and paleoecology, with new isotope systems, new approaches, and new kinds of questions emerging in every decade. Our speakers in the 2019 symposium have expertise in terrestrial and marine systems, modern and ancient ecosystems, and animals, plants, and microbes. The symposium will feature topics for a broad range of interests in ecology, evolution, earth history, and conservation.

We are pleased to announce our lineup of speakers, including our keynote speakers: Jim Ehleringer (plant physiology and ecology), University of Utah, and Tamsin O’Connell (diet and climate in humans and animals), Cambridge University. You can read more about all of the speakers under the speaker tab on the ECSS website.

Graduate and undergraduate students and postdocs from all universities and disciplines are invited to present their work during a lunchtime poster session, and can indicate so when they register. University of Michigan students from EEB and Paleo are particularly encouraged to show their own work and seek feedback from the scholars in attendance. Read about poster specifications on the website.

Registration is open for ECSS 2019 on website linked below.
https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/ecss/home/register/ (copy and paste into your browser if needed)

ECSS 2019 Committee
Jake Allgeier, EEB
Giorgia Auteri, EEB
Catherine Badgley, EEB and Museum of Paleontology, Chair, ECSS Committee
Dan Fisher, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Museum of Paleontology, and EEB
Katie Loughney, EEB and Museum of Paleontology
Knute Nadelhoffer, EEB and UM Biological Station
Ben Passey, Earth and Environmental Sciences
Bian Wang, Earth and Environmental Sciences and Museum of Paleontology

Illustration: Gradient of deuterium, the heavy isotope of hydrogen, across the U.S. by John Megahan