John Moore, the Lead Principal Investigator at the Shortgrass Steppe (SGS) LTER and Professor of Forest, Rangeland and Watershed Stewardship and Director of the Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory at Colorado State University, is the 2011 winner of the Eugene P. Odum Award. Moore is amongst seven distinguished ecologists to be recognized by the Ecological Society of America (ESA) at its 96th Annual Meeting scheduled for August 7-12, 2011 in Austin, Texas.
Recipients of the Odum Award typically have demonstrated through teaching, outreach and mentoring activities their ability to relate basic ecological principles to human affairs, and ESA observed that
"Moore has been a national leader in developing ecology education programs based on innovative active learning exercises since the 1990s. These educational lessons are located in all types of easily accessible habitats, are available to K-12 teachers and students and undergraduate and graduate students, and emphasize outreach to minority and low-income populations. Moore's integration of research and education encompasses soil foodweb dynamics, impact of climate change on ecosystem processes and the ways in which humans interact with ecosystem function through invasive species distribution, engages audiences of varied interests and helps them to become active environmental stewards."
The ESA Annual Meeting, whose 2011 theme is "Earth Stewardship: Preserving and enhancing the earth's life-support systems," draws a critical combination of more than 3,500 scientists, policymakers and concerned citizens to discuss research on Earth's complex interactions and to explore strategies for enhancing a community-based approach to global responsibility.