University News

Viadero Appointed to ESA Certification Board

January 18, 2024

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MACOMB/MOLINE, IL - - Western Illinois University Environmental Science Director Roger Viadero has been elected by the 9,000-member Ecological Society of America (ESA) to the Board of Professional Certification. Viadero is one of three new members of the seven-person Board that provides ESA with guidance and oversight of professional ecological scientists, establishes criteria for the peer review of certified ecologists and evaluates providers of continuing professional education units.

"I appreciate the opportunity to contribute to the professional development and continuing education of ESA members. As an aquatic environmental engineer, I am especially interested in working to enhance the exchange of information between professional ecologists and practitioners in allied fields," Viadeo said.

As Director of the Institute for Environmental Studies and Chair of the University's interdisciplinary Ph.D. program in Environmental Science, Viadero specializes in the remediation of natural aquatic systems impacted by human activities.

As an aquatic environmental engineer, he combines traditional engineering analysis with ecological principles to develop resilient remediation approaches aligned with natural processes. Viadero, a certified Senior Ecologist by the Ecological Society of America (ESA) and a Board Certified Environmental Engineering Member of the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists, has an extensive background in site remediation and has served as an expert witness in state and federal jurisdictions.

The ESA, established in 1915, is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization of scientists and aims to promote ecological science by enhancing communication among ecologists, raising public awareness about the importance of ecological science, increasing resources for ecological science and facilitating the appropriate use of ecological science in environmental decision-making by communicating between the ecological community and policymakers. Ecology, the scientific discipline concerned with the relationships between organisms and their environments, encompasses physiological responses of individuals, population dynamics, species interactions, biological community organization and energy and matter processing in ecosystems.

For more information on WIU's Environmental Science program, visit wiu.edu/envirosci.

Posted By: Lexi Dittmar (aj-dittmar@wiu.edu)
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