Track 1: Sustainability, Ecosystems, and Environment:

Ecosystems, whether at the scale of a planet, forest, or urban garden, involve tightly-coupled interactions between social and biophysical processes. Understanding the nature and properties of the resulting feedbacks has its roots in ecosystem science and environmental studies. Sustainable development has two components: “sustainability” and “development.” The basic meaning of the word sustainability is the capacity for continuance indefinitely into the future. Sustainable development has been viewed as an interaction between three systems: biological, economic, and social. Sustainability does not simply mean retaining the material standards of living and environmental preservation. It is a matter of active participation of humankind in the improvement of natural systems and the redesign of global systems that leads to the conservation of our planet for future generations. Inefficient use of land, soils, water, energy, and inappropriate growing of crops and domestic animals are among the major obstacles to sustainable development in improving living standards and the environment.

• Nutrient cycling
• Decomposition
• Ecosystem management
• Oceans
• Cultivated land

Track  2 :Ecology and Natural Resource Management

Ecology is the scientific study of the interactions that determine the distribution and abundance of organisms. Predicting and maintaining or altering the distribution and abundance of various organisms are the primary goals of natural resource management hence, the effective management of natural ecosystems depends on ecological knowledge. Paradoxically, management of ecosystems often ignores relevant ecological theory and many ecological investigations are pursued without appropriate consideration of management implications. The fundamental thesis of this book is that ecological principles can, and should, serve as the primary basis for the management of natural ecosystems, including their plant and animal populations. Rangeland Ecology and Management focuses on the biological and physical processes of ecosystems and application of this knowledge to sustainable use of range lands. Selection of courses in wildlife or fisheries science, watershed management and Eco hydrology, soil and water science, animal and plant science, or agricultural and resource economics can enhance employment opportunities. 

• Adaptive management
• Integrated natural resource management
• Anthropocentrism
• Eco centrism
• Renewable resources

Track  3: Biodiversity:

Biodiversity, a compression of "organic differing qualities," for the most part alludes to the assortment and changeability of life on Earth. A standout amongst the most broadly utilized definitions characterizes it as a part of terms of the changeability inside species, amongst species and between biological communities. It is a measure of the assortment of creatures present in various biological systems. This can allude to hereditary variety, biological system variety, or species variety (number of species) inside a range, biome, or planet. Biodiversity has a tendency to be more prominent close to the equator, which is by all accounts the consequence of the warm atmosphere and high essential profitability. Biodiversity is not conveyed equally on Earth. It is wealthiest in the tropics. Marine biodiversity has a tendency to be most elevated along coasts in the Western Pacific, where ocean surface temperature is most astounding and in the mid-latitudinal band in all seas. There are latitudinal slopes in species differing qualities. Biodiversity for the most part tends to bunch in hotspots, and has been expanding through time, yet will be probably going to moderate later on.

• Genetic Diversity
• Species Diversity
• Ecological Diversity
• Genetic resources
• Invasive species

Track  4: Community and ecosystem dynamics:

A community is the set of all populations that inhabit a certain area. Communities can have different sizes and boundaries. These are often identified with some difficulty. An ecosystem is a higher levels of organization the community plus its physical environment. Ecosystems include both the biological and physical components affecting the community/ecosystem. We can study ecosystems from a structural view of population distribution or from a functional view of energy flow and other processes. Ecosystem dynamics is the study of how ecosystems change over time. Ecosystems are dynamic in nature, subject to regular micro and macro disturbances, both internal and external. Ecosystem dynamics identifies positive and negative feedback loops as the basic mechanism through which biological creatures and whole ecosystems regulate themselves and change over time. The processes through which organisms regulate themselves and their environment in order to maintain a stable state is recognized as one of the defining characteristics of life. It is understood today that all organisms survive by transforming energy and by regulating their internal environment in order to maintain a stable condition conducive to that functionality and this regulation process is central to the dynamics of the organism or ecosystem as it goes through both stable linear and rapid nonlinear processes of change.

• Ecotones
• Terrestrial Biomes
• shrub land
• Taiga
• The Fresh water Biome

Track  5 :Conservation and Management:

Conservation management system (CMS) a procedure for maintaining a species or habitat in a particular state. A protection administration framework (CMS) is a system for keeping up an animal groups or natural surroundings in a specific state. It is a method whereby mankind secures untamed life in an ideal condition for examination, instruction or research, in unendingness. It is a critical theme in social environment, where preservation administration offsets unchecked exploitative administration of common assets. Preservation administration frameworks are imperative for transforming practical advancement techniques into fruitful operations. In New Zealand the Department of Conservation develops conservation management strategies in conjunction with the community as a means of prioritizing conservation issues.

• Conservation Law
• Land designated for Conservation
• Physical law of Conservation
• Economics and Law
• Conservation of Environment

Track 6: Watershed Ecology:

A Watershed is the area of land where all of the water that is under it or drains off of it goes into the same place. Watershed Ecology is the study of watersheds as ecosystems, primarily the analysis of interacting biotic and abiotic components within a watershed’s boundaries. Defining an ecosystem as a functioning natural unit with interacting biotic and abiotic components in a system whose boundaries are determined by the cycles and flux of energy, materials and organisms. Then a watershed is just one of many types of ecosystems. An area of land that drains water, sediment and dissolved materials to a common receiving body or outlet. The term is not restricted to surface water runoff and includes interactions with subsurface water. Watersheds vary from the largest river basins to just acres or less in size. The study of watersheds as ecosystems, primarily the analysis of interacting biotic and abiotic components within a watershed’s boundaries. Watershed ecology is essential knowledge for watershed managers because it teaches us that watersheds have structural and functional characteristics that can influence how human and natural communities coexist within them. The gross structure of a watershed -- its headwaters area, side slopes, valley floor, and water body, as well as its soils, minerals, native plants and animals are, in one sense, raw material for all the human activities that may potentially occur there. The watershed’s natural processes rainfall runoff, groundwater recharge, sediment transport, plant succession, and many others provide beneficial services when functioning properly, but may cause disasters when misunderstood and disrupted. It is crucial for people to understand watersheds and how they work before they make decisions or take actions that may affect important watershed structural or functional characteristics.

• Arenal Lake watershed
• Precipitation
• Dams
• Surface runoff
• Infiltration

Track 7: Climate and Carbon Exchange:

Climate is the average weather in a place over many years. While the weather can change in just a few hours, climate takes hundreds, thousands, even millions of years to change. The composite or generally prevailing weather conditions of a region, as temperature, air pressure, humidity, precipitation, sunshine, cloudiness, and winds, throughout the year, averaged over a series of years. A region of the earth having specified climatic conditions his physician advised moving to a warmer climate. The average course or condition of the weather at a place usually over a period of years as exhibited by temperature, wind velocity, and precipitation a healthful climate a warm, humid climate. Carbon trading is a market-based system aimed at reducing greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming, particularly carbon dioxide emitted by burning fossil fuels. Cap and trade schemes have been very effective in tackling environmental problems in the past, with trading in sulphur dioxide permits helping to limit acid rain in the US. The big attraction for governments concerned with stemming CO2 is that carbon trading is much easier to implement than expensive direct regulations and unpopular carbon taxes.

  

• Water Cycle
• Weather and Climate
• Hydrologic Cycle
• Regulatory
• Profitability

Track  8: Hazardous Waste:

Hazardous waste is waste that has substantial or potential threats to public health or the environment. Hazardous wastes may be found in different physical states such as gaseous, liquids, or solids. A hazardous waste is a special type of waste because it cannot be disposed of by common means like other by-products of our everyday lives. Depending on the physical state of the waste, treatment and solidification processes might be required. Hazardous-waste management, the collection, treatment, and disposal of waste material that, when improperly handled, can cause substantial harm to human health and safety or to the environment. Hazardous wastes can take the form of solids, liquids, sludge, or contained gases, and they are generated primarily by chemical production, manufacturing, and other industrial activities. They may cause damage during inadequate storage, transportation, treatment, or disposal operations. Improper hazardous-waste storage or disposal frequently contaminates surface and groundwater supplies. People living in homes built near old and abandoned waste disposal sites may be in a particularly vulnerable position. In an effort to remedy existing problems and to prevent future harm from hazardous wastes, governments closely regulate the practice of hazardous-waste management. Toxic wastes are poisons, even in very small or trace amounts. They may have acute effects, causing death or violent illness, or they may have chronic effects, slowly causing irreparable harm. Some are carcinogenic, causing cancer after many years of exposure. Others are mutagenic, causing major biological changes in the offspring of exposed humans and wildlife.

• Carbon Tax
• Landfills
• Food waste and Recovery
• Recyclable Waste
• Latex Paint

Track  9:Carbon foot Print:

The total amount of greenhouse gases produced to directly and indirectly support human activities, usually expressed in equivalent tons of carbon dioxide (CO2). Carbon dioxide is a so called greenhouse gas causing global warming. Other greenhouse gases which might be emitted as a result of your activities are methane and ozone. These greenhouse gases are normally also taken into account for the carbon footprint. They are converted into the amount of CO2 that would cause the same effects on global warming. The carbon footprint is a very powerful tool to understand the impact of personal behaviour on global warming. Today, the term “carbon footprint” is often used as shorthand for the amount of carbon being emitted by an activity or organization. The carbon component of the Ecological Footprint, which we call the carbon Footprint, takes a slightly differing approach. Our carbon Footprint measurement translates the amount of carbon dioxide emissions into the amount of productive land and sea area required to sequester those carbon dioxide emissions. The carbon Footprint is currently 60 percent of humanity’s overall Ecological Footprint and its most rapidly growing component. Humanity’s carbon Footprint has increased 11-fold since 1961. Reducing humanity’s carbon Footprint is the most essential step we can take to end overshoot and live within the means of our planet.

• Greenhouse gas
• Consumption
• Nature Conservancy
• Yard Waste
• Paper Consumption

Track 10:Consumerism:

Consumerism is a social and economic order and ideology that encourages the acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing amounts. The theory that an increasing consumption of goods is economically desirable also a preoccupation with and an inclination toward the buying of consumer goods. Consumerism describes the shift in American culture from a producer-oriented society in the nineteenth century to a "consumerist" society in the twentieth century. Changes in domestic demographics and advances in industrialization, manufacturing, transportation, and communication all contributed to the change. Consumerism also contributed greatly to the liberal thrust of the Progressive Era and spawned a long-running trend of consumer advocacy and consumer protection legislation. Consumerism can be defined as an economic and social ideology and order that encourages consumption or acquisition of goods/services in a never-ending cycle. Consumerism encourages purchasing and consumption of goods and services in excess of a person’s basic needs. Consumerism can be traced back to the onset of capitalism in the 16th century in Europe. Consumerism intensified in the eighteen century because of a growing middle class that embraced luxury consumption. The eighteen century also saw an increasing interest in fashion rather than necessity as a determinant for purchasing. The growth of consumerism can also be attributed to politics and economics. For countries to thrive politically and economically, capitalist competition for profits and markets had to be at the core of every country’s agenda. Colonialism has also been attributed as one of the major drivers of consumerism.

• Ethical consumerism
• Consumption
• Mass Production
• Consumer exploitation
• Campaign

Track 11:Genes & Microbes

A rapidly developing research area focuses on understanding how genetic variation influences organisms, populations, communities and ecosystems and specifically the connections between genetics, gene regulation, species diversity, and ecological and biogeochemical processes. Changes in the genetic composition of foundation species and in gene-environment interactions are becoming more prevalent as a result of biological invasions, anthropogenic pollution, climate warming, and other manifestations of environmental change. These genetic changes have the potential to cascade through interacting systems to affect population viability, community organization, and the flow of nutrients and energy through ecosystems.

Track 12:Environmental Chemistry & Toxicology

Environmental chemistry seeks to understand the chemical processes that impact the composition of the environment.  Crossing traditional boundaries of geology, chemistry and biology, environmental chemists seek to identify and quantify sources, processes and fates of chemicals on land, in water and in the air.  Environmental toxicology is a related interdisciplinary field that uses knowledge from environmental chemistry, toxicology and ecology to understand the ultimate fate and effects of man-made pollutants, the mechanisms by which pollutants impact the health of organisms and entire ecosystems, and how those effects may be mitigated or reversed.

Track 13:Marine Ecology

"Marine Ecology is the scientific study of marine-life habitat, populations, and interactions among organisms and the surrounding environment including their abiotic and biotic factors. Marine ecology is a subset of the study of marine biology and includes observations at the biochemical, cellular, individual, and community levels as well as the study of marine ecosystems and the biosphere.

The study of marine ecology also includes the influence of geology, geography, meteorology, pedology, chemistry, and physics on marine environments. The impact of human activity such as medical research, development, agriculture, fisheries, and forestry is also studied under marine ecology. In some ways, marine ecology is more complex than the relatively straightforward study of a particular organism or environment because of the numerous interconnections, symbiotic relationships, and influence of many factors on a particular environment."

Track 14:Ecological Economics

Ecological economics is both a transdisciplinary and an interdisciplinary field of academic research addressing the interdependence and coevolution of human economies and natural ecosystems, both intertemporally and spatially. By treating the economy as a subsystem of Earth's larger ecosystem, and by emphasizing the preservation of natural capital, the field of ecological economics is differentiated from environmental economics, which is the mainstream economic analysis of the environment. One survey of German economists found that ecological and environmental economics are different schools of economic thought, with ecological economists emphasizing strong sustainability and rejecting the proposition that natural capital can be substituted by human-made capital.

1. Methodology
2. Allocation of resources
3. Weak versus strong sustainability
4. Energy economics
5. Energy accounting and balance
6. Ecosystem services and their valuation
7. Not 'externalities', but cost shifting
8. Ecological-economic modeling

Track 15:Social Ecology

Social ecology is an approach to society that embraces a ecological, reconstructive, and communitarian view on society. This ideology looks to reconstruct and transform current outlooks on both social issues and environmental factors while promoting direct democracy. It looks to do away with scarcity and hierarchy in the economy in favor of a world in which human communities work together in harmony with nature to accept and promote diversity as well as creativity and freedom. Socio-ecological models were developed to further the understanding of the dynamic interrelations among various personal and environmental factors. Socio-ecological models were introduced to urban studies by sociologists associated with the Chicago School after the First World War as a reaction to the narrow scope of most research conducted by developmental psychologists. These models bridge the gap between behavioral theories that focus on small settings and anthropological theories.

1. Hierarchies and Environmental Crises
2. Fundamental Principles
3. Other Theories and Viewpoints
4. Humans and Nature and Society

 

Track 16:Human Ecology and Environmental Psychology

Human ecology is an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary study of the relationship between humans and their natural, social, and built environments. Environmental psychology is an interdisciplinary field that focuses on the interplay between individuals and their surroundings. It examines the way in which the natural environment and our built environments shape us as individuals. The field defines the term environment broadly, encompassing natural environments, social settings, built environments, learning environments, and informational environments.

1. Characteristics of Environmental Psychology
2. Influence of Environment on Behavior
3. Applied Environmental Psychology
4. The Nature and Scope of Environmental Psychology.

Track 17: Ecological Anthropology

Ecological anthropology is a sub-field of anthropology and is defined as the "study of cultural adaptations to environments". The sub-field is also defined as, "the study of relationships between a population of humans and their biophysical environment". The focus of its research concerns "how cultural beliefs and practices helped human populations adapt to their environments, and how people used elements of their culture to maintain their ecosystems". Ecological anthropology developed from the approach of cultural ecology, and it provided a conceptual framework more suitable for scientific inquiry than the cultural ecology approach. Research pursued under this approach aims to study a wide range of human responses to environmental problems.

Track 18:Ecological Design and Ecological Engineering

Ecological engineering combines ecological understanding of the functioning of human-natural coupled systems with engineering - using science, mathematics and experience for solving problems within constraints - to design management practices that are environmentally, socially and economically viable and sustainable.

1. Environmental Engineering       
2. Ecological Modeling       
3. Quantitative Ecology

Over the past five years the ecology and landscape service area has shot up like a Japanese knotweed, with the five-year compound annual growth rate of 10.3% recorded between 2010-2015, according toEnvironment Analyst’s 2016 UK  Final Market Assessment during a period when the overall environmental consulting sector grew by a CAGR of just 2.8%.

The ecology sub-sector has scaled the ranks from being the fifth largest work area in 2010 to the third largest - behind contaminated land and EIA & sustainable development - with total segmental revenues estimated at £204 million by the end of this period . It also comprised the single fastest growing EC discipline of the twelve assessed in our market assessment for 2015, with growth at 16.7%.

In terms of the competitive playing field, the ecology work area is also somewhat unique in the strong presence of both small specialist outfits and the usual suspect big-name multidisciplinary consultancies that feature side-by-side in the top 15