Welcome from SHE! My name is Michael Kimball and, as the new president of  the Society for Human Ecology, I want to use this brief letter to introduce  myself, welcome SHE’s new members, and provide a brief summary of our  initiatives and plans following the XXV International Conference of the Society  for Human Ecology, which took place at the University of Arizona in Tucson, on  5-8 November, 2023, and for which I served as chair.  

I am a Professor of Anthropology at the University of Northern Colorado and an alumnus of one  of SHE’s founding institutions, College of Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine. Human ecology has  been central to my teaching and scholarship for more than 25 years. It is a great honor for me  to serve as SHE’s latest president and attempt to fill the shoes of our Society’s brilliant outgoing  president, NOVA de Lisboa professor, Iva Pires.  

Last November, the University of Arizona hosted a memorable SHE-XXV conference in its  beautiful and sustainably designed Environment and Natural Resources 2 Building. There,  attendees from more than 20 countries and six continents convened to build community, to  network, to discuss and debate, and to present their human ecological research, scholarship,  and creative works. In addition to our wonderful U. of A. colleagues and friends who made the  venue and conference logistics possible -- and all the individuals who served as enthusiastic  advisors, coordinators, leaders, and facilitators as we planned and implemented the conference -- we wish also to express our deep gratitude to all participants for their exceptional  contributions to SHE XXV’s success. 

Many inspiring ideas arose from the conference and in particular the “Future of SHE” session.  Some of these ideas have already informed some exciting new developments. For example, we  are moving forward on renovating SHE’s website, which will focus on enhancing our members’  communication and participation. We invite anyone who is interested in joining a working  group related to this project or learning more about it to directly contact Lothar Holzke, SHE’s  new Director of Communications via SHE’s info@societyforhumanecology.org

Another initiative has been launched to explore ways to further build connections between and  among human ecology academic programs around the world. Initial coordination for this will be  guided by SHE Past-President, Editor of Human Ecology Review, and Australian National  University Professor Rob Dyball and SHE Vice-President Jennifer Amparo from the University of  the Philippines-Los Baños, along with SHE’s new Director for International Programs, Jay McNally, SHE’s Executive Director Ken Hill, and Kourtney Collum, Chair of College of the  Atlantic’s food systems program. 

Finally, I am especially pleased to announce that planning for our SHE XXVI International  Conference is well under way. Led by conference chair Dr. Mihnea Tănăsescu, and hosted by  University of Mons (Belgium), the conference’s working title is “Ecology, Politics and  Justice: Working Towards the Pluriverse” -- and promises to produce a rich and engaging  program. Please mark 16-19 June on your 2025 summer calendar and stay tuned for updates.  We hope to see you in Europe! 

Michael J. Kimball, Ph.D.  Professor of Anthropology - University of Northern Colorado  President – Society for Human Ecology