ESA 2025: Ecology is Everywhere

The Ecological Society of America (ESA) Annual Meeting will be held in Baltimore, Maryland from Aug 10-15, 2025. This year's meeting theme is "Ecology is Everywhere". 

At the annual meeting, NEON is launching the inaugural Best NEON Presentation Award, hosting a field trip to the Domain 02 SERC field site, leading workshops and short courses focused on NEON data, hosting a session on improving the NEON user experience, and giving technical presentations. NEON staff will also be available to answer questions and provide information at the NEON booth in the Exhibit Hall.

Check the ESA 2025 program for more details about events.

NEON at ESA 2025

All times Eastern Daylight Time

Visit the NEON booth (#613) in the Exhibit Hall

NEW! Award for Best NEON Presentation 

You could be the first awardee of the inaugural Best NEON Presentation Award at ESA 2025! The award recognizes an outstanding oral presentation featuring research that incorporates NEON data, samples, specimens, or NEON Research Support Services. NEON is currently offering the Best NEON Presentation Award to oral presentations only, which will be judged during the annual meeting and announced by NEON shortly after the meeting concludes. If the research in the presenter's accepted talk uses NEON data, samples, and/or infrastructure and they completed the interest form before July 31, they will be considered for this award of up to $1,000. 

Field Trips

Field Trip to the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) Field Site at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) - Aug 10, 9 am - 4 pm, Field trips require advance registration. Choose Field Trip 5 during registration. 

• Join us for a tour of one of NEON's 81 field sites and learn about long term ecological data collection at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC). The trip involves demonstrations of sampling techniques, a visit to NEON's 204' tall flux tower at the site, and the opportunity to learn more about NEON resources and the history of data collection and research at SERC. The trip also includes a visit the SERC Global Change Research Wetland, a 70-hectare brackish marsh that scientists use to answer pressing questions. 

Workshops

Introduction to the NEON Ecological Forecasting Challenge: A hands-on example using ground beetle abundance and richness NEON Organizer: Eric Sokol, Time: Aug 12, 11:45 am - 1:15 pm.

Ecological analysis with NEON remote sensing data in Google Earth Engine NEON Organizer: Bridget Hass, Time: Aug 13, 11:45 am - 1:15 pm. 

Enhancing NEON: Interactive workshop to guide the future of the user experience NEON Organizer: Christine Laney, Time: Aug 14, 8 am - 9:30 am. 

Short Courses

Ecological Data Synthesis: A Primer on Essential Methods and Team Science NEON Co-Organizer: Eric Sokol, Time: Aug 10, 9 am - 4 pm. Short Courses require advance registration. Choose Short Course 3 during registration. 

Explore and work with continental-scale biodiversity data using the ecodomDP R package: An introduction to analysis-ready data from NEON and the US LTER NEON Organizer: Eric Sokol, Time: Aug 15, 8 am - 11 am. Short Courses require advance registration. Choose Short Course 12 during registration. 

Plot to Plane: Working with NASA and NEON Airborne and Field Datasets NEON Organizer: Bridget Hass, Time: Aug 15, 8 am - 11 am. Short Courses require advance registration. Choose Short Course 16 during registration. 

Special Sessions

Supporting the Ecological Community: Leveraging NEON Research Support Services for Your Own Science NEON Organizer: Rommel Zulueta, Time: Aug 12, 11:45 am - 1:15 pm.

Toward a professional development framework for ecology: Identifying key skills and training needs NEON Co-Organizer: Tanya Maslak, Time: Aug 13, 11:45 am - 1:15 pm.

Symposia

Exploring the "endless frontier" for ecology NEON Co-Organizer: Paula Mabee, Time: Aug 13, 1:30 pm - 3 pm. 

Career Building & Recruiting

Visit NEON at the Career Fair, Aug 11, 9:30 am - 6:30 pm to connect with NEON and Battelle career opportunities. Come through the Career Fair 12 pm - 1 pm to hear NEON Engagement Coordinator, Callie Puntenney, on the panel "I Got My Bachelor's Degree - Now What?" 

A day in the life of a NEON scientist: Highlighting career paths with the National Ecological Observatory Network NEON Organizer: Tanya Maslak, Time: Aug 12, 10:30 am - 11:30 am.

Contributed Posters & Talks

Predicting meter-scale throughfall in U.S. forests based on remotely sensed and modeled ecosystem and meterological data - Forests: Temperate Contributed Poster Session - NEON Presenter: Ed Ayres, Time: Aug 12, 5 pm - 6:30 pm.

Spatio-temporal variation in small mammal abundance data from the National Ecological Observatory Network -  Population Dynamics and Regulation Contributed Oral Session - NEON Presenter: Sara Paull, Time: Aug 13, 10 am - 11:30 am.

Learn more about ESA 2025 at https://esa.org/baltimore2025/