Author
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Bestelmeyer, Brandon |
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Submitted to: Book Chapter
Publication Type: Book / Chapter Publication Acceptance Date: 1/8/2015 Publication Date: 8/12/2016 Citation: Bestelmeyer, B.T. 2016. A dryland ecologist’s mid-career retrospective on Long-Term ecological Research and the science-management interface. In: Willig, M.R. and Walker, L.R., editors. Long-Term Ecological Research: Changing the Nature of Scientists. New York, NY: Oxford Academic. p. 197-204. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780199380213.003.0032. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780199380213.003.0032 Interpretive Summary: My association with the LTER Program has encouraged a multidisciplinary scientific approach emphasizing broad spatial scales and site-based knowledge. It also provides a solid basis from which to link science and management. In my position as a federal research scientist, I do not teach university classes. When I teach in other venues and advise graduate students, my LTER experiences facilitate my ability to draw connections among disciplines that bear on particular ecological problems. Multidisciplinary breadth alongside site-specific depth afforded by the LTER Program is especially useful for communicating to the public. It is important to know a lot about somewhere (place-based knowledge), in addition to something. Collaboration is especially important for scientists working together at an LTER site and is also important for cross-site LTER efforts addressing regional to global problems. Within-group collaboration comes rather easily when there are healthy interpersonal relationships. Cross-site collaboration requires greater effort and network-level leadership. Technical Abstract: My association with the LTER Program has encouraged a multidisciplinary scientific approach emphasizing broad spatial scales and site-based knowledge. It also provides a solid basis from which to link science and management. In my position as a federal research scientist, I do not teach university classes. When I teach in other venues and advise graduate students, my LTER experiences facilitate my ability to draw connections among disciplines that bear on particular ecological problems. Multidisciplinary breadth alongside site-specific depth afforded by the LTER Program is especially useful for communicating to the public. It is important to know a lot about somewhere (place-based knowledge), in addition to something. Collaboration is especially important for scientists working together at an LTER site and is also important for cross-site LTER efforts addressing regional to global problems. Within-group collaboration comes rather easily when there are healthy interpersonal relationships. Cross-site collaboration requires greater effort and network-level leadership. |