Millbrook, NY --- Ecology exists within cities. The air we breathe and the water we drink is shaped by the built landscape surrounding us. As the human population expands, and cities become larger and more concentrated, urban design will play a critical role in creating urban centers that acknowledge and preserve the environment they overlap.

From May 1st to May 3rd, the Institute of Ecosystem Studies will be hosting an international conference focused on building bridges between current ecological thinking and the professionals that are responsible for building the cities of the future. Invited attendees will comprise some of our nations foremost ecologists, urban designers, architects, and landscape architects.

Through oral presentations, design critiques, and active dialogue, conference goers will share expertise in a way that supports sustainable and resilient urban design. The conference will begin with Nan Ellin of Arizona State University speaking on the historic, geographic, and political context of urbanization. Plenary speakers, one each from ecology and design, will be paired under four conceptual themes:

Spatial heterogeneity in ecology and design

• Mary L. Cadenasso, University of California

• D. Grahame Shane, Columbia University

Material fluxes in the urban realm

• Gaboury Benoit, Yale University

• Anne Whiston Spirn, MIT

Adaptation and change in the urban system

• Margaret A. Palmer, University of Maryland

• Dilip da Cunha, Parsons School for Design; University of Pennsylvania

Social interactions as agents of urban organization

• Gary E. Machlis, University of Idaho

• Julie Bargmann, University of Virginia

To prepare for group discussions, two speakers will address the application of the integrating principles:

• Gary Hack, Univers
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