Frank Golley’s Perspectives on Environmental Ethics and Literacy: How to Avoid Irreversible Impacts of Hydro-Power and Inter-Oceanic Canal Development on Mesoamerican Tropical Ecosystems

Abstract

Having recently celebrated the Centennial of the Ecological Society of America (ESA), it is timely to look back into history as well as to the future regarding how ecologists can effectively inform other scientists, decision-makers, and their own communities about the need for objective ecological information. ESA’s focus on Earth Stewardship extends ecological thinking to further define environmental sustainability (Chapin et al., 2015) and facilitates ecologists’ continuing contribution to clarifying the fundamental ecological principles underpinning environmental literacy (e.g., Berkowitz et al., 2005; Golley, 1991, 1998). These principles developed over the last 100 years, with the many contributors emphasizing the importance of people being part of natural ecosystems. As the impact of humanity on the functions of our complex adaptive ecosystems is an ongoing and increasing problem today, both the early and current ideas of ecology remain important. Ecologists also continue to create new approaches for resolving these complex problems to avoid unexpected and unwanted consequences (Levin, 1999; Taylor, 2005).