Today’s ecosystems face unprecedented change and ecologists are grappling with complex, difficult problems such as climate change, invasive species, and land use change. Ecologists need new tools and approaches respond creatively to these challenges. At the same time, mathematicians, computer scientists, and engineers are eager to contribute to understanding and solving environmental problems. Ecosystem Informatics (EI) is an emerging approach to research and education that combines ecology, math, computer science, and engineering to address profound challenges in environmental science and ecology. Oregon State University, with support from the National Science Foundation, has created a unique interdisciplinary research and education program in Ecosystem Informatics, with education and training opportunities at the undergraduate and graduate levels, and a wide range of research projects. 

Ecologists have been exhorted to address “grand challenges”, variously identified as biodiversity and ecosystem functions, altered biogeochemical cycles, ecological responses to climate change, and coupled human-natural ecosystems (http://www.lternet.edu/planning/) or as biological diversity and ecosystem function, hydrologic forecasting, infectious disease and the environment, and land-use dynamics (NAS 2001). Many commonalities of these challenges lead ecologists to seek help from other disciplines. These attributes include (1) very large data streams from burgeoning sensor networks, (2) multiple alternative conceptualizations and models of ecological and ecosystem processes, and (3) pressing policy concerns, unexpected, surprising ecosystem responses to a variety of forcing factors, and great uncertainty about future environments.   Ecosystem Informatics (EI) collaborations among ecologists, mathematical scientists and engineers has emerged to address major challenges facing society.