Our Editors
Editors in Chief
Patricia (Patty) Balvanera is a professor at the Institute for Ecosystems and Sustainability Research at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. She was trained in biology, ethnobotany and ecology. Within large inter- and trans-disciplinary teams and research networks, she explores the role of biodiversity in contributing to human well-being and analyzes the dynamics of social ecological systems, with emphasis on the values that underpin the drivers of such dynamics. At the local scale, she monitors the dynamics of managed diverse tropical systems, and co-develops more sustainable food systems through transdisciplinary processes designed by creatives around the kitchen. At the global scale, she develops conceptual frameworks and monitoring strategies, performs cross-site syntheses, and delivers assessments at the science-policy interface. She has co-led several inter- and trans-disciplinary initiatives such as the Scientific Committee of the Programme for Ecosystem Change and Society (one of the core Projects of Future Earth), the Ecosystem Services group of the Global Earth Observation Biodiversity Observation Network (GEOBON), the Mexican Network on Social Ecological Systems and Sustainability, and the Values Assessment of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.
Katrina (Kate) Brown is Professor Emerita of Social Sciences at the University of Exeter in UK. Her pioneering interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary work focuses on individual and society capacities for adaptation and transformation, emphasising resilience as co-produced and co-constructed though social relations. Her PhD examined women’s collective action in drought-prone Kenya, and she has worked with communities and collaborators around the world on environmental change and social justice. She was granted an inaugural ‘Axa Outlook’ award for her project ‘You, Me and Our Resilience’ to work with creative practitioners and communities to develop actions to build resilience to climate change. Her book, Resilience, Development and Global Change presents a re-visioning of resilience for development. She holds an honorary doctorate from Wageningen University, Netherlands, for ‘outstanding contributions to environmental social science, in the fields of political ecology, conservation and resilience’. She is Fellow of the UK Academy of Social Sciences and was identified as one of the most influential cross-disciplinary and social scientists in the 2020 and 2021 Highly Cited Researchers lists. As Professor Emerita, she describes herself as a ‘feral social scientist’ and currently works on environmental change, inequality and resilience, and as an advisor to international scientific organisations and programs.
Craig R. Allen is the Director of the Center for Resilience in Agricultural Working Landscapes and Professor in the School of Natural Resources, at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He retired as Leader of the USGS Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit in 2018. He is a member of the Board of the Resilience Alliance, and is an elected lifetime Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), for contributions to resilience theory and practice. His work focuses on the development of both theory and practice, and has focused on quantifying resilience, developing resilience based concepts such as panarchy, discontinuities, spatial regimes, and more. His work often addresses the role of invasions, extinctions and landscape change on social-ecological resilience. More recently, Dr. Allen has begun to address questions of resilience in working landscapes. He has published >250 articles and 5 books, with Applied Panarchy (with L. Gunderson and A. Garmestani) published in 2022. He has served as a science advisor for the James S. McDonnell Foundation, the USGS Powell Center and NSF Science and Technology centers. His interest in resilience began during his Ph.D. work at the University of Florida, under the guidance of CS Holling. Dr. Allen also completed a post-doc with Holling in Zoology at the University of Florida.
Former Editors in Chief
Lance Gunderson
Emory University, USA
Marco Janssen
Arizona State University, USA
Carl Folke
Stockholm University, Sweden
C.S. ‘Buzz’ Holling
University of Florida, USA

C.S. ‘Buzz’ Holling
Founding Editor-in-Chief
Ecology and Society would not exist if it were not for C.S. ‘Buzz’ Holling, the founding Editor-in-Chief who guided the journal from its inaugural issue in 1997 through the first 6 years of publication. Buzz saw the potential of open-access, online publishing as an opportunity to transform not only how research was reviewed and distributed but also as a way of disrupting some of the rigidities associated with traditional research publishing that he perceived as limiting the development of conservation science and the field of ecology itself. He embraced the twin goals of novelty and experimentation as the guiding principles for a new journal that sought to go beyond traditional research by publishing interdisciplinary papers that combined theory and practice, using a new medium – the internet, at a time when most academics were just opening their first email accounts. Now more than 25 years on, Ecology and Society has continued to flourish under his successors and Buzz remains an inspiration. His passion for rigorous scholarship, innovation and embracing change, is reflected in every issue and special feature and continues to boldly guide the journal’s development. Buzz Holling passed away on August 16 2019. The editorial “Remembering Buzz Holling” (https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol24/iss4/art39/) reminds us, he lived a remarkable life of creativity, discovery, scholarship and service to humanity.

Editor block – please see right sidebar for options.
Editorial Board
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Lance Gunderson
Department of Environmental Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA -
Sechindra Vallury
University of Georgia -
Ingrid E. van Putten
CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere, Castray Esplanade, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia; Centre for Marine Socioecology, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS 7001, Australia -
Frances R. Westley
Waterloo Institute for Social Innovation and Resiliencen and School for Environment, Enterprise and Development, University of Waterloo, Kitchener, ON, Canada -
Irene Perez-Ibarra
Agrifood Institute of Aragon, University Zaragoza -
Tobias Plieninger
University of Göttingen, Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, Göttingen, Germany; University of Kassel, Faculty of Organic Agricultural Sciences, Witzenhausen, Germany -
Maja Schlüter
Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden -
Michael Schoon
School of Sustainability, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, United States of America. -
Murray Scown
Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies (LUCSUS) -
Marja Spierenburg
Leiden University, Stellenbosch University (South Africa) -
Maria Tengö
Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University -
Diego Pérez-Salicrup
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Garry D. Peterson
Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Sweden -
Andrea Rawluk
School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, University of Melbourne -
Samantha S. Stone-Jovicich
Land and Water, CSIRO, Australia -
Suneetha M. Subramanian
United Nations University Institute of Advanced Studies -
Shana Sundstrom
University of Nebraska–Lincoln -
Linda Theron
University of Pretoria -
Mario Torralba
University of Göttingen, Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, Göttingen, Germany; University of Kassel, Faculty of Organic Agricultural Sciences, Witzenhausen, Germany -
Ronald L. Trosper
University of Arizona -
Vivian Valencia
Bishop’s University -
David Manuel-Navarrete
School of Sustainability, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ -
Berta Martín-López
Institute of Ethics and Transdisciplinary Sustainability Research, Faculty of Sustainability, Leuphana University Lüneburg, Lüneburg, Germany -
Patrick Meyfroidt
Georges Lemaître Centre for Earth and Climate Research, Earth and Life Institute, UCLouvain, Belgium; Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique (F.R.S.-FNRS), Belgium -
Manjana Milkoreit
University of Oslo -
Michele-Lee Moore
Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Sweden; Centre for Global Studies, University of Victoria, Canada -
Donald Nelson
University of Georgia, USA -
Jon Norberg
Stockholm University, Sweden -
Per Olsson
Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Sweden -
Lennart Olsson
Lund University Center for Sustainability Studies, LUCSUS -
Claudia Pahl-Wostl
Institute of Geography, Research Centre Institute of Environmental Systems Research, Osnabrück University, Germany -
Maria Jose Martinez Harms
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Vanessa Masterson
Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University -
Matias E. Mastrangelo
CONICET Argentina -
Chanda Meek
Department of Political Science, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Alaska, United States of America. -
Hien T. Ngo
FAO -
Albert V. Norström
Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Sweden -
Juan Luis Peña-Mondragón
Instituto de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas y Sustentabilidad, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. -
Carl Folke
Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences; Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University -
Bruce C. Forbes
Arctic Centre, University of Lapland -
Beth Fulton
CSIRO -
Jorge H. Garcia
School of Management, Universidad de Los Andes (UASM) -
Marina Garcia Llorente
Social-Ecological Systems Lab. Ecology Department, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain. -
Ahjond Garmestani
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development; Utrecht Centre for Water, Oceans and Sustainability Law, Utrecht University -
Stefan Gelcich
Departamento de Ecología, Center of Applied Ecology and Sustainability (CAPES), Center for the Study of Multiple-Drivers on Marine Socio-Ecological Systems, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile. -
Dagmar Haase
Department of Geography, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany; Department of Computational Landscape Ecology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Leipzig, Germany -
Jennifer Hodbod
Sustainability Research Institute, University of Leeds -
Dave Huitema
Wageningen University & Research -
Kasper Kok
Environmental Systems Analysis Group, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, the Netherlands -
Steven Lade
Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden; Fenner School of Environment and Society, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia -
Steve Lansing
Complexity Institute, Nanyang Technological University -
Chinwe Ifejika Speranza
Institute of Geography, University of Bern, Switzerland. -
Diego Galafassi
Lund University -
Anne D. Guerry
Natural Capital Project, Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA; School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA. -
Natalie Marie Gulsrud
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Gary P. Kofinas
Resilience and Adaptation Program, University of Alaska Fairbanks, AK, USA;Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA -
Marianne E. Krasny
Cornell University -
Eric Lonsdorf
Department of Environmental Sciences, Emory University -
Juan Camilo Cardenas
Universidad de Los Andes, Facultad de Economia, Calle 19A No. 1-37 Este, Bogota, Colombia, 111711 -
Joshua Eli Cinner
Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia -
Esteve Corbera
Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Barcelona, Spain; Institute of Environmental Science and Technology & Department of Geography, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain. -
Robert Costanza
Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University -
Alta de Vos
Centre for Sustainability Transitions, Stellenbosch University -
Tarsha Eason
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, National Risk Management Research Laboratory, Durham, North Carolina 27711, USA -
Alexandra Paige Fischer
School of Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan -
Joern Fischer
Social-Ecological Systems Institute, Faculty of Sustainability, Leuphana University Lüneburg, Lüneburg, Germany -
Antonio J. J. Castro
Laboratory of Sustainability, Resilience and Governance of Socio-Ecological Systems (SociECOS Lab), University of Almeria (Spain) -
Brian C. Chaffin
W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation, University of Montana -
Barbara A. Cosens
University of Idaho College of Law, Moscow, ID, USA -
Robin K. Craig
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Yaella Depietri
Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology and Natural Resources and Environmental Research Center, University of Haifa (Haifa, Israel) -
Victoria M. Donovan
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Bruno J. Ens
SOVON Vogelonderzoek Nederland -
William Neil Adger
College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter -
Arun Agrawal
School for Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan, USA -
Marina Apgar
IDS -
Julia Baird
Environmental Sustainability Research Centre, Brock University, Canada; Department of Geography and Tourism Studies, Brock University, Canada -
Michele L. Barnes
Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia -
Xavier Basurto
Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University Marine Lab, Beaufort, North Carolina, USA -
Andrew Reid Bell
Department of Earth & Environment, Boston University -
Abigail Bennett
Michigan State University -
Marta Berbes-Blazquez
University of Waterloo, School of Planning; Arizona State University, School for the Future of Innovation in Society -
Reinette Biggs
Centre for Sustainability Transitions, Stellenbosch University, South Africa; Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Sweden -
Deborah Bossio
The Nature Conservancy -
Francois Bousquet
CIRAD, UMR SENS, F-34398 Montpellier, France.SENS, CIRAD, IRD, Université de Paul Valéry Montpellier 3, Montpellier, France. -
Simone Athayde
Florida International University -
Rafael Calderon-Contreras
Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana. Unidad Cuajimalpa -
John M. Anderies
School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, United States -
Jacopo A. Baggio
School of Politics, Security and International Affairs, University of Central Florida; National Center for Integrated Coastal Research, University of Central Florida -
Erin L. Bohensky
CSIRO Land and Water -
Samantha S Stone-Jovicich
Land and Water, CSIRO, Australia -
Ronald L Trosper
University of Arizona -
Ingrid E van Putten
CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere, Castray Esplanade, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia; Centre for Marine Socioecology, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS 7001, Australia -
Brian Walker
Fenner School of Environment and Society, The Australian National University, Canberra, AustraliaCSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, Australia -
Frances R Westley
Waterloo Institute for Social Innovation and Resiliencen and School for Environment, Enterprise and Development, University of Waterloo, Kitchener, ON, Canada -
Tracy Yandle
New Zealand Ministry of Transport -
Marco A Janssen
School of Sustainability, Arizona State University -
Gary P Kofinas
Resilience and Adaptation Program, University of Alaska Fairbanks, AK, USA;Institute of Arctic Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA -
Marianne E Krasny
Cornell University -
Louis Lebel
Chiang Mai University, Thailand -
Jianguo Liu
Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48823, USA -
Bonnie McCay
Rutgers University. New Brunwick, NJ 08901, USA -
P. Timon McPhearson
Urban Systems Lab, The New School, New York, NY, USA; Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, USA; Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden -
Hien T Ngo
FAO -
Garry D Peterson
Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Sweden -
Ryan Plummer
Environmental Sustainability Research Centre, Brock University, Canada -
Christopher M Raymond
Ecosystems and Environment Research Program, Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 65 00014 Helsinki, Finland;Department of Economics and Management, Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences University -
Victoria Reyes-García
Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA);Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA) – Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona -
John Robinson
University of Toronto, Canada -
Ian Scoones
University of Sussex, UK -
Will Steffen
Australian National University, Australia -
Matias E Mastrangelo
CONICET Argentina -
Stephan Barthel
Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Sweden; Department of Building, Energy and Environmental Engineering, University of Gävle, Kungsbäcksgatan 47, 802 67 Gävle, Sweden. -
Kamaljit Bawa
University of Massachusetts, USA -
Örjan Bodin
Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden -
Erin L Bohensky
CSIRO Land and Water -
Brian C Chaffin
W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation, University of Montana -
Barbara A Cosens
University of Idaho College of Law, Moscow, ID, USA -
Victoria M Donovan
University of Nebraska, Department of Agronomy & Horticulture, Lincoln, Nebraska 66583-0915 -
Bruno J Ens
SOVON Vogelonderzoek Nederland -
Ken Frank
Michigan State University -
Anne D Guerry
Natural Capital Project, Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA; School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA. -
Antonio J Castro
Andalusian Center for the Assessment and Monitoring of Global Change (CAESCG), Department of Biology and Geology, Universidad de Almería, 04120 Almería, Spain;Department of Biological Sciences, Idaho State University, 921 South 8th Avenue, Pocatello, ID, -
John M Anderies
School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, United States -
Jacopo A Baggio
School of Politics, Security and International Affairs, University of Central Florida; National Center for Integrated Coastal Research, University of Central Florida -
Albert V Norström
Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Sweden
Our History
Ecology and Society began with a bold idea and a desire to innovate. When an ecology lab was asked to reduce their journal subscriptions in the university library because of the high cost, a small group of students and professors responded in an unexpected way. They decided that since they were the ones who developed the research proposals, did the research, reviewed and wrote the papers to publish, and then paid to read the journals, that they would try something different. Their idea was to start their own journal on the internet and to make everything they published freely accessible.
It was the early 1990s. Most academics at the time were signing up for their first email accounts, and few had even glimpsed the world wide web. The team reached out to colleagues at the ESA and their vision caught the attention of an experienced managing editor, Lee Miller, who broke down the submission and peer-review process into all of the steps and charts necessary to automate the manuscript and publishing process. It took time and teamwork. A critical piece was convincing Buzz Holling, who embraced the ambitious idea with an equal measure of experience and adventure. In June of 1997, Ecology & Society became one of the first fully automated and online peer-reviewed science publications, and to our knowledge, the first ecological journal online. The bold experiment continues with E&S enthusiastically charting a course towards the future.
1995
An idea: Publish on the internet & make it free
1997
Inaugural issue of Conservation Ecology
2000
Resilience Alliance founded & becomes publisher
2001
Founding EIC Buzz Holling steps down
2004
Name change to Ecology & Society
2008
500 papers published!
2019 & 2021
End of an era: Carl Folke & Lance Gunderson step down
2022