Emerging towards a more diverse community of freshwater scientists, using the 4DEE framework

J. Checo Colon-Gaud, Department of Biology, Georgia Southern University, Amy D. Rosemond and Amanda Rugenski, Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, Patina Mendez, Environmental Science, Policy, & Management, University of California, Berkeley, CA, Daniel J. McGarvey, Center for Environmental Studies, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA

Given the current tenuous condition of environmental resources, and increasing demands and threats from societal needs and global change, approaches to ecological education need to be transformed. Such transformation requires a previously unimagined diversity of perspectives and tools to address global challenges, led through collaborative and equitable engagement. The Society for Freshwater Science embraces the integration of new leaders in our discipline to be the catalysts of such change. The SFS Emerge Program facilitates connections across career and educational stages to provide opportunities for skills development in a cohesive community and the 4DEE model can be used as the framework.