American Society of Naturalists

American Society of Naturalists
Name	American Society of Naturalists
Founded	1883
Founder	Alpheus S. Packard, Jr.; Edward S. Morse
Headquarters	United States
Type	Scientific society
Fields	Evolutionary biology; Ecology; Natural history
Key people	Elected presidents; Editors of American Naturalist; Council members

Contents

American Society of Naturalists is a learned society founded in 1883 that brings together researchers working on evolution, ecology, and natural history to promote the conceptual unification of the biological sciences. The society serves as a forum linking historical figures such as Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace in intellectual lineage to modern investigators like Stephen Jay Gould, E. O. Wilson, and Richard Dawkins. Over its history the organization has intersected with institutions including Harvard University, Yale University, Smithsonian Institution, University of California, Berkeley, and University of Chicago.

History

The society emerged during a period of institutional expansion that included the founding of American Association for the Advancement of Science and the growth of museums like the American Museum of Natural History, reflecting influences from naturalists such as Asa Gray, Louis Agassiz, and John Muir. Early meetings featured presentations by figures connected to the XIX Century Natural History movement, and the society’s formation paralleled the careers of scholars from Brown University and Cornell University. During the Progressive Era the organization interacted with scholars at Columbia University and policymakers influenced by debates in the Spanish–American War era about science and conservation. In the twentieth century the society adapted to syntheses led by the Modern Evolutionary Synthesis with contributions traced to researchers affiliated with Princeton University, Stanford University, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The society’s archives document exchanges with editors at journals like Nature and Science and collaborations with professional associations such as the Ecological Society of America. Twentieth- and twenty-first-century presidents included scholars trained at University of California, Davis, University of Michigan, Duke University, and University of Wisconsin–Madison.

The society’s stated mission emphasizes conceptual integration across fields exemplified by connections among work from Charles Darwin, Gregor Mendel, Sewall Wright, Theodosius Dobzhansky, and Ernst Mayr. Activities include fostering synthesis among investigators based at institutions such as King's College London, Max Planck Society, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, and University of Toronto. The society supports pedagogy initiatives that have intersected with programs at National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health-funded training networks, and it has promoted dialogues with curators at the Field Museum and researchers at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. Historically the society has advocated for integrative research spanning topics addressed by scholars like Rachel Carson, G. Evelyn Hutchinson, Peter and Rosemary Grant, and David Sloan Wilson.

A central activity is publishing peer-reviewed material exemplified by the long-running journal edited by society members and contributors from Harvard University Press-affiliated scholars, colleagues at University of Chicago Press, and authors associated with Oxford University Press. The society’s flagship journal has carried influential papers by figures linked to James Watson, Francis Crick, Motoo Kimura, and Kimura’s Neutral Theory debates, as well as methodological advances connected to Ronald Fisher and J. B. S. Haldane. The society’s outlets have published work referencing datasets maintained by Smithsonian Institution Archives and statistical approaches influenced by groups at Carnegie Institution for Science and Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Collaborative special issues have included contributions from scholars affiliated with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.

Annual meetings convene researchers from universities and institutes such as University of California, Irvine, University of Pennsylvania, University of Texas at Austin, University of Washington, and Rutgers University. Programs often feature plenaries by invited speakers whose careers intersect with awards from the National Academy of Sciences, Royal Society, MacArthur Foundation, Guggenheim Foundation, and Fulbright Program. The society organizes symposia touching on themes explored in conferences like the International Congress of Zoology and workshops linked to the Society for the Study of Evolution and the Ecology Across Borders initiatives. Meetings frequently host poster sessions that bring together early-career investigators from laboratories led by PIs at University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign, Pennsylvania State University, and Iowa State University.

The organization administers prizes and recognitions that have been conferred on researchers later honored by the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, the MacArthur Fellowship, and election to the National Academy of Sciences. Awards celebrate achievements in areas associated with the work of Charles Darwin, Alfred Russel Wallace, Theodosius Dobzhansky, and Ernst Mayr, and have been received by scholars from Columbia University, Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, Dartmouth College, and the University of Minnesota. Honorific lectures and medals often parallel recognitions given by the Royal Society and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and have spotlighted contributions in evolutionary ecology, phylogenetics, and life-history theory championed by researchers at University of California, Santa Barbara and Michigan State University.

Membership comprises faculty, postdoctoral researchers, and graduate students from institutions including Princeton University, Brown University, Vanderbilt University, Northwestern University, and Emory University. Governance rests with an elected council and officers drawn from departments at University of California system campuses, Johns Hopkins University, and Cornell University, with editorial boards that have included scholars from Yale University and Harvard University. The society maintains bylaws and committees that coordinate outreach with organizations such as the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology and the American Institute of Biological Sciences to support inclusion and professional development across academic departments and research centers.

Category:Scientific societies based in the United States