Message from the President

“How to internationalize our annual meetings”

I have just six months left in my term as the president of the Ecological Society of Japan (ESJ). Today, I would like to deliver a very important message, just in time as we gear up for the annual meeting in Kyoto this coming March. Thanks to the volunteer spirit of our members, ESJ has held annual meetings at affordable registration rates and promoted the career development of the next generation of researchers. Over the last five years, driven by the need to hold meetings amid the COVID-19 pandemic, online and hybrid initiatives have rapidly advanced; for example, we now have convenient features such as online review of poster presentations. However, in-person symposia and sessions remain essential for person-to-person encounters, which promote networking among researchers and the exchange of new research ideas. The last annual meeting in Sapporo was held primarily in person, which was a great success. An opportunity to interact with overseas experts is an important aspect of the ESJ annual meetings, which helps ecologists in Japan gain global recognition.

To promote internationalization of ESJ annual meetings, the English Oral Presentation Award was introduced to motivate young researchers to disseminate information internationally. It is encouraging to see an increase in the number of English presentations by young researchers over the years. However, the heavy burden of judging for the English Oral Presentation Award (EPA) has become a concern. Over the past two years, the ESJ’s Future Planning Committee, Board of Directors, President, and Vice President, along with the Conference Planning Committee, have carefully discussed whether to continue EPA. The result of this discussion is the decision to suspend EPA for the annual meeting in Kyoto in March 2026. Instead, we have decided to present an official certificate and a small commemorative gift to every young researcher who gives an English oral presentation. We understand that this may be disappointing for some young members, but we ask for your understanding that a great deal of hard work was necessary to organize EPAs. Finding mid-career members willing to serve as judges takes time and effort. When we ask them to do so, they often decline because they don’t feel confident enough to judge beyond their research expertise. Additionally, since multiple sessions are held in parallel, the judges' freedom during the competition is significantly restricted.

Even without EPA, ESJ will continue to make various efforts to promote internationalization. Furthermore, I believe that writing a good title and a high-quality abstract is even more important than oral presentations when it comes to improving one’s English proficiency. I urge all young researchers to continue making positive efforts with awareness of the idiosyncrasies of their native language to write concise and well-structured abstracts. I also hope that you will find the challenge of presentation in English itself rewarding. Let me share a personal anecdote. I built my career in the United States, a world where presentation awards didn’t exist. I used to write out everything I was going to say, and tape-recorded practice presentations to polish. I still vividly recall the nervousness of holding a microphone and how my voice trembled as I began the first sentence that I had practiced dozens of times. However, I was thrilled after giving such a hard-working presentation when the session chair commented, "That was an interesting presentation." Later that evening, I heard rumors that my presentation was creating a buzz among the audience. The key message of my presentation—that differences in functional traits related to resource allocation tradeoffs explain the general tradeoff between survival and growth in tropical forest trees—is now a widely accepted concept, but in 1993, it represented a new perspective. What I want to say here is not an old lady boasting about her past, but to say that the goal of a conference presentation is not to win an award. The greatest award is given when we can make the audience think, "Wow, that's interesting. I'll remember this person in the future." Therefore, I hope that aspiring young Japanese ecologists will take advantage of the English sessions at the ESJ annual meetings, which are much more affordable than going overseas. It would be wonderful if such an experience serves as a stepping stone to eventually enter international conferences. Of course, I wish to see established researchers take advantage of the English sessions as well.

It is also important to understand that internationalizing our annual meetings cannot be achieved solely by promoting English sessions. Those of us who are native speakers of Japanese, even when we are accustomed to using English, don’t feel it is inconvenient when some information is available only in Japanese. However, for those who cannot read or write Japanese, it is extremely frustrating when the conference information and session content are partially only in Japanese. Therefore, we will completely eliminate bilingual sessions, such as those in which English slides are used and speakers speak in Japanese, or those in which Japanese slides are used and speakers speak in English. Hence, the [B] mark will be removed from the conference abstract program of the Kyoto meeting. All authors, titles, and abstracts for Japanese presentations will be listed in Japanese, and all for English presentations will be listed in English. Meanwhile, we will strive to ensure that name tags and venue signs are fully written in both Japanese and English. At annual meetings of the Ecological Society of America, attendees can wear badges stating, "I speak XX language (e.g. , "I speak Chinese"). It might be worthwhile to introduce a similar initiative. We also set up desks at ecological societies in the United States and the United Kingdom to promote the three English-language journals published by ESJ. At such occasions, it is sad to hear “Oh, there's an ecological society in Japan!?", but it is gratifying when young researchers express their enthusiasm for attending our annual meetings. The Conference Planning Committee, Future Planning Committee, and Board of Directors will continue to work together to internationalize our meetings so that overseas researchers who attend can enjoy the conference without being frustrated, feeling "I'm glad I have attended," "I'd like to come again," and "I'll recommend it to my friends." The Ecological Society of Japan exists thanks to the participation of our members in its operations. We appreciate your ongoing support and participation in helping us achieve the Society's missions.

September 12th, 2025
Kaoru Kitajima
President of the Ecological Society of Japan