The Unifying Ecology Across Scales GRS provides a unique forum for young doctoral and post-doctoral researchers to present their work, discuss new methods, cutting edge ideas, and pre-published data, as well as to build collaborative relationships with their peers. Experienced mentors and trainee moderators will facilitate active participation in scientific discussion to allow all attendees to be engaged participants rather than spectators.
Ecological and evolutionary processes unfold across complex spatial and temporal landscapes. Organisms may have additive, synergistic, or antagonistic responses to multiple fluctuating environmental factors, and evolutionary dynamics cause feedbacks between rapid trait adaptation and species interactions. Understanding how these dynamics scale from individuals to ecosystems requires a blend of first-principles thinking, empirical insight, and computational tools. Often, these various modes of scientific inquiry place different emphases on space and time; high-throughput data collection efforts can capture patterns across vast spatial extents, whereas modelling frameworks tend to focus on dynamics over time. Conversations about synergies and differences between these two fundamental scales of change will facilitate a more complete understanding of ecological dynamics under multiple stressors and rapid change.
This session invites contributions that explore ecological and/or evolutionary dynamics over space or time through empirical, theoretical, or modeling approaches. Sessions and discussions are aimed at identifying synergies and differences in insights that arise from focusing on space versus time, with an emphasis on applications to global change questions.
Application Instructions
The seminar will feature approximately 10 talks and 2 poster sessions. All attendees are expected to actively participate in the GRS, either by giving an oral presentation or presenting a poster. Therefore, all applications must include an abstract.
The seminar chair will select speakers from abstracts submitted by April 5, 2026. Those applicants who are not chosen for talks and those who apply after the deadline to be considered for an oral presentation will be expected to present a poster. In order to participate, you must submit an application by the date indicated in the Application Information section above.
Program Format
Gordon Research Seminars are 2-day meetings which take place on the Saturday and Sunday just prior to the start of the associated GRC. The GRS opens with a 1-hour introductory session on Saturday afternoon, followed by a poster session, dinner and a 2-hour session in the evening. Sunday morning begins with breakfast and is followed by another 2-hour session, a second poster session, and lunch. A final 1-hour session takes place just after lunch, and the associated GRC begins later that evening.
