David, we in the non-profit world also thank you for an invaluable list. A question: do you think the recent growth in the list reflects growth in the field, i.e. are there that many more ecologists than formerly? Or has it just been a matter of growth in awareness of the list? One suspects the pace of early list growth reflected the spread of the internet and time needed for many to become comfortable with lists.
I do not know if there are any others tracking growth in the field, I suspect membership in ESA would be the most reasonable proxy. I do not think growth in membership in environmental organzations has a curve anything like the growth of this list. My experience with several traditional non profits (National Audubon, Sierra, NRDC and others) is that they lost membership in the 90s and have been rather flat since. I welcome any corrrections to this understanding. And I dare say recent statements by republican presidential candidtates would seem to indicate a higher level of public acceptance of bashing of enviroonmental advocates...and perhaps ecologists. David Burg President, WildMetro On Wed, Aug 31, 2011 at 6:34 PM, Judith S. Weis <[email protected] > wrote: > And many many thanks to David for tending to this list for almost 20 years! > > > > A few days ago the number of ECOLOG-L subscribers reached 13,000. I > > started the list in 1992. It reached 6,000 in September 2006, 7,000 > > in November 2007, 8,000 in October 2008, 9,000 in March 2009, 10,000 > > in April 2010, 11,000 in September 2010, and 12,000 in February of > > this year (that's almost enough data points to plot a significant > > growth curve!). Many subscribers are members of the Ecological > > Society of America, but those of you who aren't can get information > > about membership (including student memberships) at the ESA Web site, > > www.esa.org. > > > > The character of the list has changed some as it has grown over the > > years. It has become a major resource for those advertising or > > seeking positions ranging from research assistantships, graduate > > student opportunities, postdocs, and faculty positions, as well as > > jobs in government and industry. But it has also become a little less > > conversational as I've had to strike a balance between overwhelming > > people's mailboxes (and the server) and continuing its original > > function as a venue for queries and discussions about ecological > > topics. I hope all subscribers will continue to use it for such > > topics. Note that there is also another list (ESA-STUDENTS) > > available for use by students; you can subscribe to that by sending the > > message > > sub ESA--STUDENTS [add your name here] > > to > > [email protected] > > It is currently moderated by [email protected] (Liz Harp) > > > > There is only one other non-campus listserv list hosted by the > > University of Maryland that has more subscribers than ECOLOG-L, and I > > now have to be careful about not overloading the listserv server by > > sending too many messages in a short period of time. Thanks to the > > University for providing this service for ecologists from around the > > world (over 60 countries), and to the three or four people (mostly my > > postdocs) who have helped moderate the list when I'm out of the > > country or in the bottom of the Grand Canyon. > > > > David Inouye, list owner and moderator > > > > Dept. of Biology > > University of Maryland > > [email protected] > > >
