International Society for Ecological Modelling

International Society for Ecological Modelling
Name	International Society for Ecological Modelling
Abbreviation	ISEM
Formation	1990s
Type	Learned society
Headquarters	Lausanne
Region served	International
Leader title	President

International Society for Ecological Modelling is a learned society dedicated to advancing ecological modelling through research, education, and applied practice. It connects researchers, practitioners, and institutions across continents to develop predictive models for ecosystems, biodiversity, and environmental change. The society fosters interdisciplinary exchange among computational modellers, field ecologists, and policy advisers, linking model development with conservation and resource-management applications.

History

The society emerged in the late 20th century amid growing interest in simulation and quantitative analysis driven by pioneers associated with United Nations Environment Programme, World Wide Fund for Nature, International Union for Conservation of Nature, European Commission, and leading universities such as University of Oxford, Harvard University, University of California, Berkeley, Imperial College London, and ETH Zurich. Early impetus came from collaborations among researchers at International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Natural Environment Research Council, Smithsonian Institution, Max Planck Society, and networks convened at conferences hosted by Royal Society and National Academy of Sciences. Over subsequent decades the society expanded through partnerships with regional bodies like Australian National University, University of Cape Town, Peking University, Indian Institute of Science, and organizations such as Food and Agriculture Organization and World Bank that needed ecosystem modelling expertise. Its trajectory mirrors developments in computational ecology exemplified by groups at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

Mission and Objectives

The society’s mission aligns with goals advanced by institutions including United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Convention on Biological Diversity, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services to translate modelling into actionable insight. Objectives include promoting rigorous model development in collaboration with European Space Agency, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, CERN, and university centres; supporting best practices championed by International Council for Science and Committee on Data for Science and Technology; encouraging open data and reproducibility in line with standards from Wellcome Trust and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; and training early-career researchers through partnerships with Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Carnegie Institution for Science, and academic training programs at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Governance and Membership

Governance structures reflect models used by Royal Society, National Academy of Sciences, Academia Europaea, and American Association for the Advancement of Science: an elected executive council, advisory panels, and standing committees for ethics, standards, and outreach. Membership comprises individual researchers from institutions such as CERN, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, California Institute of Technology, and Columbia University, plus institutional members including research centres at French National Centre for Scientific Research, Centre for Ecological Sciences (India), and regional networks like African Academy of Sciences. Affiliated professional societies include Ecological Society of America, British Ecological Society, Society for Conservation Biology, and European Ecological Federation.

Conferences and Events

The society organizes biennial and regional conferences modeled after events hosted by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, International Union for Conservation of Nature World Conservation Congress, Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, European Geosciences Union, and American Geophysical Union. These meetings alternate between venues such as Geneva, Paris, Cape Town, New Delhi, Tokyo, São Paulo, and Vancouver, and feature keynote speakers drawn from Royal Society, National Academy of Sciences, Max Planck Society, and leaders in modelling at Princeton University and University of Toronto. Workshops and training schools are run in partnership with Global Environment Facility, International Science Council, and university consortia.

Publications and Journals

The society supports peer-reviewed outlets and technical reports in collaboration with publishers and journals affiliated with Nature Publishing Group, Science, PLOS, Elsevier, Springer Nature, and academic presses at Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press. It endorses special issues and monographs drawing on work from authors at Stanford University, Yale University, Purdue University, and University of Washington and promotes open-access data policies in concert with Directory of Open Access Journals and repositories such as Zenodo and Dryad. Collaborative editorial boards include editors from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Ecology Letters, Global Change Biology, and field-specific outlets.

Awards and Recognition

The society confers awards patterned after honors from Royal Society, MacArthur Foundation, Gordon Bell Prize, and Blue Planet Prize to recognize excellence in model innovation, reproducibility, and policy impact. Recipients often include researchers with affiliations to Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, Stockholm Resilience Centre, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Center for International Forestry Research, and universities that have contributed landmark models used by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessments. Special recognitions honor contributions to capacity building in regions served by African Union, ASEAN, and Mercosur.

Collaborations and Impact on Policy and Practice

The society’s collaborations span multilateral agencies and research institutes such as United Nations Development Programme, World Health Organization, International Monetary Fund, European Environment Agency, United States Geological Survey, and Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology. Its modelling work has informed conservation plans used by Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, restoration projects advised by Ramsar Convention, and climate impact assessments informing Paris Agreement negotiations. Practical applications have shaped ecosystem-based management adopted by FAO fisheries programs, urban planning initiatives linked to C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, and landscape restoration financed by Global Environment Facility and Green Climate Fund.

Category:Scientific societies