This project explores sources and secondary materials to examine the historical participation of ecologists in addressing whether and how the science should produce results of immediate applicability to human problems. It examines the nature and uses of the distinction between basic and applied science in ecology. Taking as its endpoint a pivotal article, `The Sustainable Biosphere Initiative` (SBI), published in the scientific journal Ecology in 1991, the research will examine the theoretical, ideological, methodological and political conditions that underlie the discussions between ecological scientists about the nature of their science, the need for scientific autonomy, and the relationship of the science to social decisions and environmental outcomes. The investigator will study the extensive archives of the Ecological Society of America at the University of Georgia, Athens, which contain the long-term records of ecological debates. Two episodes will be particularly illuminating: the development of systems ecology as 'applied science' and the debate among ecologists over a scheme of certification. Several articles and plans for further research should result from this award.
