Dear Ecologgers, With all do respect, I disagree with Andy's view that there is no separation between environmental and ecological science. I'm frustrated cause, unfortunately in my country, Turkey, Environmental science = environmental engineering-agricultural engineering-forest engineering = Ecology! And they seem liked to be so called "ecologist" and even believed they are. The danger is they give lectures about ecology even they do not perform any ecological research in their life. So, "When they are talking about environmental science, generally they are not talking about aspects of ecology" as he mentioned. With this defective situation you figure out the students' perception of ecology as a science, not mentioning basic principles of ecology. So here both sciences are misrepresented somehow. Of course, we have rare 'silent' ecologists and emerging ones that they grown. Still, ecology is minor science and few eminent universities hesitate to give us a graduate degree on "the" ecology.
Nowadays, as being attempting to teach current ecological issues and their interconnectedness with the social sciences for non-biology majors, I start with the definition and separation of these sciences as emphasizing interactions with each others and the others sciences as well. Here two different definitions for "environmental science": The <http://www.wordwebonline.com/en/BRANCH> branch of <http://www.wordwebonline.com/en/BIOLOGY> biology <http://www.wordwebonline.com/en/CONCERNED> concerned with the <http://www.wordwebonline.com/en/RELATIONS> relations between <http://www.wordwebonline.com/en/ORGANISM> organisms and their <http://www.wordwebonline.com/en/ENVIRONMENT> environment - syn: <http://www.wordwebonline.com/en/ECOLOGY> ecology, <http://www.wordwebonline.com/en/BIONOMICS> bionomics The science which studies the interaction between man and the environment, emphasizing the links between different subjects related to this issue, including ecology <http://www.allwords.com/?SearchType=3&Keyword=ecology> , economics <http://www.allwords.com/?SearchType=3&Keyword=economics> , geography <http://www.allwords.com/?SearchType=3&Keyword=geography> , geology <http://www.allwords.com/?SearchType=3&Keyword=geology> , meteorology <http://www.allwords.com/?SearchType=3&Keyword=meteorology> , politics <http://www.allwords.com/?SearchType=3&Keyword=politics> and sociology <http://www.allwords.com/?SearchType=3&Keyword=sociology> . After I saw the first definition, I found myself asking what the definition Ecology then was!!! Second one seems quite fair to me. I know that the definition of environmental sciences is broad, overlapping the natural sciences, the social sciences, and engineering. But I really do separate out environmental and ecological science: Environmental science and Ecology are different fields of study, although there is some overlap due to the multidisciplinary nature of environmental science. Ecology is the study of the interrelations of living organisms and their environment, whether at the population, community, or ecosystem level. In contrast, environmental science is a broad area of study including diverse areas such as atmospheric sciences, soil chemistry, pollution-toxicology (water/air/soil quality), environmental law/economics/politics and biological responses of systems to anthropogenic influence. I sum up this subject with the comment of few scientists from The American Institute of Biological Sciences, (AIBS) ' Comments on Draft Taxonomy of Life Sciences, 2003: "Another issue we request the Committee reconsider is the association of Ecology and Environmental Science. There is a common public misconception that all ecological research is also environmental research. While there is certainly a strong link between the two disciplines, they are unique. Environmental science has historically been a discipline that includes non-biological sciences and is focused on solving environmental problems. In short, environmental science is largely an interdisciplinary applied science. While ecology has also grown and benefited from increased interdisciplinary collaboration, it is largely a basic science. While what is learned from ecological research can and should inform environmental science and policy, ecology is not by definition an environmental science as environmental science is generally defined. We request the Committee reconsider its linkage of Ecology with Environmental Science. Each discipline is robust enough to warrant consideration as an independent discipline with subfields." I'll appreciate your thoughts. Respectfully, Yasemin Erguner Baytok, PhD candidate
