image: The 2025 cohort of the Ecological Society of America's Excellence in Ecology Scholars consists of (clockwise from top left) Gabriela Garcia, Elvira D’Bastiani, Camille Griffith and Estelí Jiménez-Soto.
Credit: Ecological Society of America; photos courtesy of Elvira D’Bastiani, Javiera Garcia, Adryan Short and Estelí Jiménez Soto
The Ecological Society of America (ESA) announces the 2025 cohort of ESA Excellence in Ecology (EEE) Scholars. This prestigious scholarship program celebrates and supports outstanding early- to mid-career Ph.D. ecologists from groups traditionally underrepresented in the scientific community.
This year’s EEE Scholars are: Elvira D'Bastiani, Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of California, Los Angeles; Gabriela Garcia, Assistant Professor at Northeastern University; Camille Griffith, Assistant Professor at Oglala Lakota College; and Estelí Jiménez-Soto, Assistant Professor at the University of South Florida.
“These exceptional scholars embody the talent and dedication that drive ecology forward,” ESA Executive Director Catherine O’Riordan said of this year’s cohort. “Their work — spanning disease ecology, socio-ecological resilience, Indigenous knowledge and agroecology — expands the boundaries of this field while fostering inclusivity and community engagement. ESA is proud to support their contributions to science and society.”
Each scholar will receive an award of $5,000 over two years. This funding will support their participation in speaking opportunities at ESA annual meetings or events, as well as research endeavors, family/childcare support, hosting webinars and covering publication fees in one of ESA’s Open Access journals.
Meet the 2025 EEE Scholars
Elvira D'Bastiani – Postdoctoral Researcher, University of California, Los Angeles
D’Bastiani is a quantitative ecologist focused on understanding the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of infectious diseases. She earned her M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Ecology and Conservation from Universidade Federal do Paraná, Brazil. Her research integrates ecology, evolutionary history, network science, mathematical modeling, natural history and empirical data to deepen our understanding of host-parasite and host-pathogen relationships. Her current projects explore the ecology and evolution of pathogen movement from one species to another — so-called “spillover events”. Beyond her research, Elvira is dedicated to initiatives like the “Women in Ecology” project that foster a more inclusive science.
Gabriela Garcia – Assistant Professor, Northeastern University
Garcia leads the Socio-ecological Systems Dynamics Lab at Northeastern University. She received her Ph.D. from Tufts University and was a Fulbright-García Robles Postdoctoral Scholar at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Her research examines how humans interact with ecosystems, and how those relationships influence human well-being and the ways in which ecosystems function. With a focus on smallholder agriculture, much of her work jointly addresses the issues of biodiversity loss, food security and climate change. Her research group holds reciprocity and community engagement as core principles of their work. Garcia is an award-winning mentor and community-builder for scholars with underrepresented identities.
Camille Griffith – Assistant Professor, Oglala Lakota College
Griffith is a member of the Oglala Lakota Nation and a wildlife ecologist. She received her M.S. in Integrative Genomics from Black Hills State University and her Ph.D. in Wildlife Science from Purdue University. Her research integrates Lakota knowledge with Western science to address environmental and social challenges, focusing on Native American self-determination and empowering Native communities. At Oglala Lakota College, she manages the Natural History Collections, serves on research review boards and advocates for tribally owned, accessible data storage. She mentors students in ecological modeling for projects including Tinpsila (prairie turnip) conservation, reservation dog population monitoring and mapping culturally significant Reservation sites. Her research initiatives amplify Lakota voices in STEM through elevating community-driven, culturally relevant solutions to environmental challenges.
Estelí Jiménez-Soto – Assistant Professor, University of South Florida
Jiménez-Soto is a Mexican agroecologist with an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of California Santa Cruz’s Environmental Studies program. Her research lies at the intersection of biodiversity conservation, agriculture and food sovereignty, and draws from a variety of disciplines and concepts including community ecology and political ecology. Much of her work takes place in Latin America, particularly in Chiapas, Mexico, where she studies insect communities and nature-human relationships in coffee plantations. She also works with community gardens in Tampa, Florida, to explore similar questions in urban settings. Through her work, she builds alliances among scholars, farmers, students and social movements to foster a more sustainable and just food system. Her goal is to be an inspiration for other women and minorities in ecology through her research, teaching and leadership roles at ESA.
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The Ecological Society of America, founded in 1915, is the world’s largest community of professional ecologists and a trusted source of ecological knowledge, committed to advancing the understanding of life on Earth. The 8,000 member Society publishes six journals and a membership bulletin and broadly shares ecological information through policy, media outreach and education initiatives. The Society’s Annual Meeting attracts 4,000 attendees and features the most recent advances in ecological science. Visit the ESA website at https://www.esa.org
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