Below is the Distinguished Service Citation provided by the Ecological Society of America:

Jill S. Baron, Director of John Wesley Powell Center for Analysis and Synthesis and Research Ecologist at Fort Collins Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey



The ESA Distinguished Service Citation recognizes long and distinguished volunteer service to ESA, the scientific community and the larger purpose of ecology in the public welfare.

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Dr. Jill S. Baron receives the Distinguished Service Citation for her extensive and valuable service to ESA over several decades and for her significant contributions to ecosystem science, her leadership in founding a center to address the synthesis of Earth system science and her activities bringing ecological science to policymakers.

Dr. Baron has served in many roles at ESA. In addition to serving as President in 2014, she served as Secretary, Governing Board Member-at Large and Annual Meeting Program Chair. Baron has also actively supported ESA journals in her roles as Associate Editor and Assigning Editor for Ecological Applications, and as Editor-in-Chief for Issues in Ecology. Among her other ESA contributions are service on ESA’s Committee on Women and Minorities in Ecology, on ESA’s Nominating Committee and as a SEEDS mentor. Recently, Dr. Baron worked with Dr. David Schimel to organize a special feature on diversity, equity and inclusion issues in ecology that was published in Ecological Applications in June 2021. These many contributions demonstrate Baron’s career spanning dedication to building a strong ESA.



As a researcher, Dr. Baron has had a long and distinguished career as an ecosystem ecologist with the Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory at Colorado State University and the U.S. Geological Survey. She has published prolifically in excellent journals; her research has been cited over 20,000 times and she has played an important role in mentoring students and postdoctoral researchers. Baron was the 2014-2015 Resident Distinguished Ecologist at Colorado State University and is an ESA and AAAS Fellow. Dr. Baron is also the founding director of the USGS John Wesley Powell Center for Earth Systems Science and Synthesis at Colorado State University. The Center is highly successful in bringing together diverse groups of scientists to address important global issues.



In addition to her excellence in research and leadership in synthesis, Dr. Baron is skilled in science policy and regularly communicates science to government agencies and Congress. Of note is her participation in various congressional briefings. Additionally, she has led congressional field trips on climate change and atmospheric deposition impacts to western ecosystems. . The U.S. Department of the Interior has recognized her contributions by giving her the Meritorious Service (2002) and Superior Service (2016) Award (2002); Rocky Mountain National Park honored her with the Stewardship Award in 2012. She and others were acknowledged by the USGS with the 2011 Shoemaker Award for Excellence in Communication for their work reorganizing the USGS science programs around major environmental challenges. These commendations demonstrate Dr. Baron’s effectiveness in carrying out research in service to the larger purpose of ecology in the public welfare.