Forging the future of ecological stoichiometry: the fourth Woodstoich workshop; August, 2019, Montana

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New scientific advances often require synthesis of information from many perspectives. This is particularly true in the environmental sciences. New ideas that build on what we know are needed for a deeper understanding of human impact on ecosystems. Training young scientists to think broadly and synthetically is important to achieve this deeper understanding. This workshop will provide an opportunity for twenty-four young scientists to interact with each other and their more senior colleagues. The goal is to improve and expand ideas in ecology and evolution by building on previous work and bringing many perspectives together to explore new frontiers. These new ideas will be shared broadly with the science community and the public. The outcome of the workshop will be several high impact publications presenting some of the most exciting new ideas in ecology and evolution. It will also set a cohort of young scientists, many from underrepresented groups, on a pathway to success in the environmental sciences.The ecological and biological stoichiometry theoretical frameworks apply mass balance of energy and multiple chemical elements to fluxes at multiple scales of biological organization and integrate them into an evolutionary framework. The vision of the proposed product-focused event, The Woodstoich 4 Workshop, is to empower early career scientists to invigorate ecology by improving and expanding the use of stoichiometric theory. The proposed workshop will stimulate innovation by encouraging open dialogue and rigorous exchange of ideas and methods amongst diverse, early career scientists whose ways of working are not locked into place by tradition, long-standing habits, or professional obligation. Key concepts in the product-focused workshop framework include selection of a few, early-career post-doctoral researchers or first-year assistant professors with an innovative stoichiometric vision that lead working groups composed of other early career researchers to clarify that vision in the form of a manuscript that is rapidly but rigorously peer-reviewed for publication. Participants will apply and be selected based not only on their disciplinary focus and accomplishments but also to incorporate diversity that is essential to the creative effectiveness of groups.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.