Blogging Sustainability: Brian McGill Spreads the Word About Policy Relevant Science

brian_mcgill_iconBrian McGill felt something was missing from life inside the academic “castle in the sky”. The year was 2009 and his discontent was not due to lack of scholarly success. Quite the opposite: McGill’s basic ecology research at Arizona University ranged from the effects of climate change on beavers to variations in leaf traits across ecological scales. Publications were numerous. But McGill wondered if his scientific findings were having maximum impact. Today, his research and, increasingly, his blogging on the site Dynamic Ecology reflect his passion for policy-relevant science, the kind that partners directly with local government and people directly affected by the topics at hand. McGill leads SSI’s Effect of Climate Change on Organisms (ECCO) team. Along with colleagues, he works with foresters, park officials and tourism representatives to identify their primary concerns about our changing climate. And he’s sharing his ideas about these partnerships with ecology faculty and graduate students at universities across the globe. Read the full story