Investigations of Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) over the last 40 years have examined almost every aspect of the biology of these ecologically important animals. Various elements of krill biology have been brought together to provide concepts of how this species interacts with its environment, but there have been few recent attempts to generate a generalized conceptual model of its life history. In this article I present such a model, based on previous descriptions, observations, and recent data from the scientific literature. This model takes into account a range of findings on krill biology and on the relationships between Antarctic krill and its biotic and abiotic environment. Krill life history is thus viewed as an evolved product of interactions between the species and its environment. The model places particular emphasis on the different forces that act on the larval and adult stages, and on the interaction between krill behavior, systems of ocean currents, and sea ice.

This article outlines an approach, based on ecosystem services, for assessing the trade-offs inherent in managing humans embedded in ecological systems. Evaluating these trade-offs requires an understanding of the biophysical magnitudes of the changes in ecosystem services that result from human actions, and of the impact of these changes on human welfare. We summarize the state of the art of ecosystem services–based management and the information needs for applying it. Three case studies of Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) sites—coastal, urban, and agricultural—illustrate the usefulness, information needs, quantification possibilities, and methods for this approach. One example of the application of this approach, with rigorously established service changes and valuations taken from the literature, is used to illustrate the potential for full economic valuation of several agricultural landscape management options, including managing for water quality, biodiversity, and crop productivity.

The National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997 includes the nation's broadest statutory commitment to ecosystem protection: to “ensure that the biological integrity, diversity, and environmental health of the system are maintained.” The act also directs the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to expand the scope of conservation monitoring, assessment, and management beyond refuge boundaries to encompass surrounding landscapes. The act thus gives the FWS a leadership role in developing research and management partnerships with other agencies, organizations, and neighboring landowners. Increasing research capacity and scientific expertise, and strengthening institutional resolve to limit activities that impede the attainment of this directive, are challenges for the FWS. Success requires reexamination of existing priorities, refocused training, the acquisition of new funding and technical expertise, and creative application of those new skills to meet the law's broad mandate.

This article contrasts the instrumental-value approach, extensionist approach, and biocentric approach to environmental ethics with the Buddhist approach of Daisaku Ikeda in terms of their meaning for wildlife conservation. I argue that both anthropocentric and biocentric approaches create a false dichotomy between humans and nature and are not helpful to modern wildlife conservation, which aims to balance the needs of people with the conservation of nature. The views of Daisaku Ikeda, in particular the principle of dependent origination and the theory of the oneness of life and its environment, constitute one alternative approach that does not separate humans from the natural world but places people within the web of all living things.

The journal Science has documented the evolutionist–creationist controversy since it began publication in 1880. The annual number of references suggests the intensity of the public debate. Peaks occurred in response to the Scopes trial (1925) and trials in California (1979–1981), Arkansas (1981), and Louisiana (1982–1987). Although evolutionists won the last three outright, and public opinion largely supported science in the Scopes trial, dissenting opinions in the Supreme Court in the most recent case seem to have given impetus to new creationist activity—the intelligent design movement. Arguments have changed only slightly in the last century and a quarter. Fundamentalist opposition to teaching evolution remains strong. Scientists have consistently suggested better education as the solution to the dispute; however, to date, evidence does not support that position. Differences between science and fundamentalism appear irreconcilable, and no obvious end to the acrimonious debate is in sight.

New models of graduate education are emerging in response to the need to prepare students for careers involving not only research but also teaching, outreach, service, and interdisciplinary work. One such model is provided by the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Graduate Teaching Fellows in K–12 Education (GK–12) program, which challenges universities to build educational outreach into graduate education. Thirty-three percent of the GK–12 faculty advisors at Cornell University credited the fellowship with improving their advisees' research or perspectives on science, and 89 percent reported that it enhanced their advisees' teaching skills. Because Cornell fellows create and use curriculum materials related to their own specialized field of science, they gain experience integrating education with research. By implementing and evaluating student-centered teaching strategies, they also engage in the scholarship of teaching in ways that many fellows have said will carry over into their careers.