Welcome to the Experts Database for the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units (CESU) network!

The CESU network is a national consortium of federal agencies, tribes, academic institutions, state and local governments, nongovernmental conservation organizations, and other partners. Working together to steward natural and cultural heritage resources of the public trust, the CESU spans the sciences, Anthropology to Zoology, and engages scientists, students, and resource managers in collaborative interdisciplinary research.

The Experts Database facilitates connection between federal agencies and non-federal research partners, providing a tool for federal agencies to rapidly identify expertise for funding opportunities in a variety of disciplines. Searchable by areas of expertise, CV keywords, and geographically, the Experts Database identifies experts, bolsters the experience of young professionals seeking to expand their work, and supports project generation and bidirectional communication between non-federal partners and federal scientists and staff.

Climate change is amplifying the frequency of environmental emergencies in the form of drought, fires, storms, and flooding; human-caused environmental disasters like chemical spills are also expected to continue. Building on the success of the Scientific Support for Environmental Emergency Response (SSEER) program in Rhode Island, the Experts Database allows members to provide information to assist with environmental emergency response, creating a valuable cadre of experts available for urgent research needs. This network encourages a scientific approach to environmental incident response, and supports activities such as: estimation of ecosystem damages; mitigation implementation; solutions for remediation; and establishment of recovery monitoring.