The Ecological Society of America (ESA) has announced the appointment of Dr. Adrienne Sponberg as its new Executive Director, following a national search. Dr. Sponberg will assume the role on March 2, 2026.
The Governing Board unanimously selected Sponberg from an outstanding field of candidates because of her deep experience within the ecological community. She is being promoted from the ESA director of publications into the leadership position. Sponberg brings more than 25 years of executive-level association experience, with a proven record of partnering with governing boards, securing funding, and delivering measurable outcomes across publishing, public policy, and member engagement.
Before joining ESA in 2021, she served as director of communications and science and Editor in Chief for the Limnology and Oceanography Bulletin of the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO). Her tenure with ASLO began as a joint position with the American Institute of Biological Sciences, where she served as director of public policy.
Throughout her career, Sponberg has received several prestigious fellowships, including an ORISE NOAA fellowship and a Sea Grant Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship. Sponberg holds a Ph.D. in Ecology, Evolution & Environmental Biology from the University of Notre Dame and a B.S. in Biological Sciences from the University of Alabama, Huntsville.
Sterling Martin was pleased to support the Ecological Society of America in this executive search and congratulates Dr. Sponberg on her appointment.
About the Ecological Society of America
The Ecological Society of America 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.
As a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization of scientists founded in 1915, ESA aims to:
- promote ecological science by improving communication among ecologists;
- raise the public’s level of awareness of the importance of ecological science;
- increase the resources available for the conduct of ecological science; and
- ensure the appropriate use of ecological science in environmental decision making by enhancing communication between the ecological community and policy-makers.