A number of blog posts about various conference sessions were written in The Dirt, an online blog that covers the latest news on built and natural environments.

• Restoration: Another Layer of History
• Place-Making for Bees
• Teaching Ecological Restoration (Not Restoration Ecology)
• Working with the Changing Shore
• Lovefest: Landscape Architects and Restoration Ecologists
• How Can We Ethically Design with Nature?
• Novel Ecosystems: Not So Novel Anymore

SER2015 6^th World Conference on Ecological Restoration
 We are pleased to announce that SER2015 will be held in Manchester, England, in August 2015. We hope that you will all be able to join us there. More information to come

2014 Conference on Ecological and Ecosystem Restoration (CEER)
Find out more about our July 2014 Conference on Ecosystem and Ecological Restoration (CEER) in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. The Call for Abstracts is now open. Abstract submissions are due by Friday January 10, 2014.

2013 Society for Ecological Restoration Award Winners

John Reiger Award: Dave Polster
The Society recognized Dave Polster at SER2013 for his continuous and ongoing contributions to ecological restoration and the Society.

Theodore M. Sperry Award: Bill Kleiman
SER recognized Bill Kleiman, the project director for the Nature Conservancy's Nachusa Grasslands in north-central Illinois, with the Theodore M Sperry Award for his significant contribution to the advancement of science and technique in restoration practices using volunteers at the 3000 acre Nachusa grassland site.

Full Circle Award: Michael Keefer and Robert Williams
Michael Keefer and Robert Williams were presented with the Full Circle Award at SER2013 for their work with the Tipi Mountain Native Plant Nursery.

Communications Award: John Liu and the Environmental Education Media Project
John Liu and the Environmental Education Media Project were presented with the award at SER2013 for their thought-provoking, beautifully photographed and timely video productions that highlight both functional and damaged ecosystems

SER Special Recognition Award: Richard Hobbs
SER presented the Special Recognition Award to Richard Hobbs at the conference for his achievements as Editor-in-Chief of the Society's flagship journal, Restoration Ecology.

2013 William Niering Student Oral Presentation Award: Monica Pearson
 Monica Pearson, a graduate student with the School of Landscape Architecture at the University of British Columbia, was awarded for the best oral student presentation. Monica's oral presentation was entitled: 'Spotties versus bullies: Assessing differential habitat selection by endangered and invasive amphibians to inform wetland restoration targets.'

2013 William Niering Student Poster Presentation Award: Keefe Keeley
Keefe Keeley, Agroecology MSc Candidate at the University of Wisconsin, was awarded for the best student poster presentation. Keefe presented a poster entitled: 'Are farmers at loggerheads with restoration? Ecologies of contexts drawn from in-depth interviews in the Driftless Region, Wisconsin, USA.'

To learn more about each of our awards: please click here. Further information about our 2013 award winners will be posted to our website shorty.

USDA Releases First-Ever Report on Expanding Agroforestry for Farms, Ranches & Woodlands
 Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today released the first-ever report on USDA's role advancing agroforestry. "Agroforestry: USDA Reports to America" details how agroforestry practices are helping farmers, ranchers and woodland owners enhance agricultural productivity, protect the environment and increase profits.

Local Communities Produce High-Quality Forest Monitoring Data, Rivaling Professional Foresters
 As global forest and climate experts gather at the Oslo REDD Exchange 2013 to ramp up international efforts to protect carbon-storing forests in the developing world, a recent study by researchers at the Nairobi-based World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) and European and Southeast Asian institutions finds that local communities - using simple tools like ropes and sticks - can produce forest carbon data on par with results by professional foresters using high-tech devices.

Microbiomes at the Roots: A New Look at Forest Ecology
With advances in genetic sequencing technology, scientists are now able to readily identify the microbes living in and around the roots of trees. This information is proving to have important implications for everything from tropical forest restoration to climate change planning.

Washington: The Ambitious Restoration of An Undammed Western River
 With the dismantling of two dams on Washington state's Elwha River, the world's largest dam removal project is almost complete. Now, in one of the most extensive U.S. ecological restorations ever attempted, efforts are underway to revive one of the Pacific Northwest's great salmon rivers.

India: Adani Port Asked to Restore Creeks, Reclaimed Land in Mundra
 The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has directed Adani Port and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) to restore all the creeks, water bodies and reclaimed land at the North Port area of the Mundra block in Kutch district to the pre-2005 status within six months.The Adani waterfront and power plant project had run into a controversy, with activists warning of an ecological impact that would see the destruction of fisherfolk's livelihood. An expert panel was asked to look at complaints of environmental degradation and non-compliance with green regulations.

The Delaware Is an Economic and Ecological Treasure
 The Delaware is the longest undammed river east of the Mississippi, extending 300 miles from Cape May to the Catskills. An analysis by the University of Delaware concludes the Delaware Basin is an economic engine that (1) contributes more than $20 billion in annual economic activity from recreation, water quality, water supply, hunting and fishing, ecotourism, forest, agriculture, open space, and port benefits; (2) provides ecosystem goods and services (natural capital such as the water-treatment and fishery benefits of forests and wetlands) of $21 billion per year; and (3) is directly or indirectly responsible for 600,000 jobs in the shipping, manufacturing, agriculture, tourism, and other industries, with $10 billion in annual wages.

Montana: Vision of Prairie Paradise Troubles Some Montana Ranchers
 On fields where cattle graze and wheat grows, a group of conservationists and millionaire donors are stitching together their dreams of an American Serengeti. Acre by acre, they are trying to build a new kind of national park, buying up old ranches to create a grassland reserve where 10,000 bison roam and fences are few. Many local ranching families, however, say it is not a project for them.

Better Management of Degraded Lands May Be Worth US $1.4 Trillion A Year
 Better management of degraded lands could deliver up to US $1.4 trillion a year in increased crop production, says a report presented at the UN Convention to Combat Desertification September conference in Windhoek, Namibia. The UNCCD adds that much of the work on the economic valuation of such land in countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America has been done by the international scientific community without adequate involvement or capacity building within the studied countries.

Nature Vs. Nature: Is "Green Infrastructure" The Best Defense Against Climate Disasters?
 A year after hurricane Sandy pummeled the East Coast, some scientists argue that restoring reefs and marshes can protect us next time. Some engineers disagree.

Europe Gone Wild: Back to Nature on the Continent
Conservationists want to turn parts of Europe back into wilderness, teeming with wild horses, lynxes and native bison. But there are varying interpretations of what "wilderness" means and conflict over how much it should be managed.A group of scientists led by Dutch conservation expert Frans Schepers has launched a unique experiment centered on the return of the large grazing animals that populated the Continent long ago: wild horses, European bison's (wisents) and red deer, to be kept in check by lynxes, bears and wolves.

Mongolia's Wild Asses Cornered From All Sides
Decades of international and local collaboration have brought the Tahki or Asian Wild Horse back from the brink of extinction and reintroduced herds to Mongolia's Gobi desert and grasslands. However, the country's other wild equine - the Mongolian Wild Ass or Khulan - is fast disappearing.

Land Reclamation International Graduate School - Now Recruiting Post Doctorate Fellows

SER-Texas Annual Conference- November 1-3
SER Texas will hold its annual chapter meeting November 1-3, 2013 in Junction, Texas.

North Carolina: The 2014 Global American South Conference - February 21-22, 2014

SER-Mid Atlantic 2014 Regional Conference - Call for Posters & Papers - Due January 10, 2014
SER Mid Atlantic will hold their 2014 Regional Conference in Ambler, PA at Temple University from March 20-22, 2014.

SER-Midwest-Great Lakes Chapter Conference - March 28-30, 2014
The SER MWGL Chapter meeting will be held at the University of Minnesota in St. Paul, Minnesota. The theme of the meeting will be "Building on the Midwest Legacy of Restoration: Linking Theory and Practice".

New Orleans: Conference on Ecological and Ecosystem Restoration (CEER) - July 28- Aug 1, 2014
CEER is a Collaborative Effort between the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER) and the National Conference on Ecosystem Restoration (NCER). It will bring together ecological and ecosystem restoration scientists and practitioners to address challenges and share information about restoration projects, programs, and research from across North America.

SER-Australasia 2014 Conference- New Caledonia - November 2014

SER-Europe: European Conference on Ecological Restoration - August 3-8, 2014
9th European Conference on Ecological Restoration, Oulu (Finland). The conference aims at creating a close link between restoration and land use policies. Ecological, economic and socio-cultural values of restoration will be discussed.

SER 2013 Conference Listing on the Global Restoration Network (GRN)

For more listings, visit SER's Calendar of Events. Posting to the Calendar is a member benefit.

US: FireScience.Gov Funding Announcements
FireScience.Gov is a funding website where funding opportunities which are tailored to wildland fire research in response to the emerging needs of policymakers and fire managers. An annual cycle of proposal solicitation, review, and funding ensures timely response to evolving conditions. Research projects complement and build on other federal research programs, such as those in the Forest Service Forest and Rangeland Research Stations, U.S. Geological Survey, and National Fire Plan. Synthesis of research findings and targeted delivery to managers are essential components of the Program.

US: Sustain Our Great Lakes Offers Funding for On-the-Ground Habitat Restoration & Enhancement
Sustain Our Great Lakes is a public-private partnership that works to sustain, restore, and protect fish, wildlife, and habitat in the Great Lakes basin by leveraging funding, building conservation capacity, and directing partners and resources toward key ecological issues. Administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the program is accepting applications for competitive funding to be awarded through the 2013 funding cycle. In 2013, grant funding will be awarded in three categories - habitat restoration, delisting of beneficial use impairments within Great Lakes areas of concern, and private landowner technical assistance. Approximately $5 million to $9 million is expected to be available in grants ranging from $25,000 to $1.5 million.

USDA Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)
 USDA's CRP has a 25-year legacy of successfully protecting the nation's natural resources through voluntary participation, while providing significant economic and environmental benefits to rural communities across the United States. Rather than wait for a general sign-up (the process under which most CRP acres are enrolled), producers whose land meet eligibility criteria can enroll directly in this "continuous" category at any time.

Earth Island Institute: Supporting Community-Based Wetland Restoration Initiatives
Through the Small Grants Program, Earth Island Institute has been able to support locally based restoration efforts to do just that. Small grassroots efforts to restore the coastal habitats of Southern California, which have been depleted by an astounding 98%, have been slowly working to bring our wetlands back from the brink of extinction. By supporting and empowering the new restoration leaders, we are ensuring the collective success of restoring some of the earth's most fragile ecosystems.

The Gulf of Mexico Foundation's Community-based Restoration Partnership                                    
Funding for the 2012 cycle of the Gulf of Mexico Foundation's Community-based Restoration Partnership (CRP) is now available. The CRP has reached a milestone by providing grants for more than 75 different projects in coastal areas throughout the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. By restoring a total of about 15,000 acres over the past decade, these CRP projects have improved a wide variety of habitat types, including coastal dunes, coral reefs, oyster reefs, marshes, seagrass beds, mangrove forests and artificial reefs.

Terra Viva Grants Directory develops and manages information about grants for agriculture, energy, environment, and natural resources in the world's developing countries. 

California: Ecosystem Restoration on Agricultural Lands (ERAL)
 Grant funding applications are accepted on a year-round basis. The WCB meets four times each year, normally in February, May, August, and November to consider approval of funding for projects.

Tamarisk Related Grant Opportunities
Tamarisk Coalition, a non-profit advancing the restoration of riparian lands throughout the American west, posts current funding and training opportunities applicable to riparian restoration on the Riparian Restoration Connection.