Ecological stoichiometry has provided new insights into the functioning of ecosystems as well as biological systems at lower levels of organization. WoodStoich III will be held during August, 2014 and will follow the formula of two previous WoodStoich workshops. Open applications from students and Postdocs will be taken in advance, and an international group will be chosen and then divided into 4-5 working groups, each led by a Postdoctoral-level scientist. Each of these groups will work to identify crosscutting concepts as well as potential contradictions between ecological stoichiometry and one other quickly developing speciality in ecology (e.g. Metabolic Ecology, Spatial Ecology, Landscape Ecology, Nutritional Geometry, or others). Each group will prepare a review/concept paper on their topic. The first two days of the workshop will be used to finalize the manuscripts. These will then be submitted to an accelerated review process, with reviews returned to the authors within 24 hours. The rest of the workshop will be spent revising the papers for resubmission. The intellectual merit will come mainly from the set of papers to emerge, which will advance stoichiometric theory as well as other theories in ecology.
WoodStoich III will provide unusual training and career advancement opportunities. Participants will receive experience working in diverse groups and receive mentoring from senior investigators, including the two workshop organizers (R. Sterner, USA and D. Raubenheimer, Australia) as well as at least two other senior scientists, who will participate and provide some of the needed reviews of the papers. WoodStoich III will provide opportunities for young scientists to gain experience with all phases of peer review. A senior Postdoctoral scientist will receive support and will gain leadership experience in helping to choose and mentor teams as well as organize the conference.
