Carmen Cid is a Latin American urban wetland

ecologist Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere levels. Ecology overlaps with the closely re ...

and faculty member at

Eastern Connecticut State University Eastern Connecticut State University (Eastern, Eastern Connecticut, Eastern Connecticut State, or ECSU) is a public university in Willimantic, Connecticut. Founded in 1889, it is the second-oldest campus in the Connecticut State University Syste ...

. She focuses on ecology education and diversity in science. Cid is a fellow of the

Ecological Society of America The Ecological Society of America (ESA) is a professional organization of ecological scientists. Based in the United States and founded in 1915, ESA publications include peer-reviewed journals, newsletters, fact sheets, and teaching resources. I ...

(ESA)

Early life and education

Her father shared his interest in biology with her when she was young by taking her to

Natural History Museums A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more ...

Havana, Cuba Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. She became more interested in biology in high school, but did not realize her interest in wetland ecology until she was on a field trip in a

Plant Ecology Plant ecology is a subdiscipline of ecology that studies the distribution and abundance (ecology), abundance of plants, the effects of environmental factors upon the abundance of plants, and the interactions among plants and between plants and ...

course her junior year of college. Cid graduated cum laude with a degree in Biology from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

. She then went to a master’s program at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...

where she graduated with a degree in

Botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

. In 1984, she got her PhD in Botany and

Plant Pathology Plant pathology or phytopathology is the scientific study of plant diseases caused by pathogens (infectious organisms) and environmental conditions (physiological factors). Plant pathology involves the study of pathogen identification, disease ...

from

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

Career and Research

Carmen Cid began her ecology career by teaching biology at

Truman State University Truman State University (TSU or Truman) is a Public university, public Liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Kirksville, Missouri, United States. It had 3,664 enrolled students in the fall of 2024 pursuing degrees in 55 undergraduate ...

in 1985. In 1987, Cid left that position to teach at Eastern Connecticut State University, where in 2005, she was appointed dean of the School of Arts and Sciences. She still holds these positions. Cid was elected a fellow of the ESA in 2017, and in 2020, she was announced as a board member serving from 2021 to 2024. Cid is involved in a number initiatives for advancing urban ecology curriculum and implementing leadership programs for recruiting and retaining undergraduate women and minorities in ecology. She helped establish Strategies for Ecology Education, Diversity and Sustainability (SEEDS), an award-winning mentorship program for minority undergraduate students. She was also one of the founding members of Gender and Minority Affairs Committee and the chair from 1991 to 1994. She helped to write the first report on Women and Under-represented Groups in Ecology (WAMIE) which encouraged the widespread implementation of programs and curriculum to increase recruitment and retention of women and minorities in ecology.

Awards and honors

In 2009, Cid was given funding by the

National Science Foundation The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...

for her research with Organizational Change for Gender Equity in STEM Academic Professions (ADVANCE). In 2012, she won the ESA Diversity Award (now called Commitment to Human Diversity Award). That year she was also awarded Connecticut ACE Women’s Network Distinguished Leadership in Higher Education Award and Connecticut’s Latina Citizen of the Year. Most recently, Carmen Cid was awarded the 2020 Connecticut Science Center’s STEM Achievement Award.

Publications

* 2020. Cid, C. R. and M. Brunson. Engaging faculty in preparing students for non-academic environmental careers. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 18: 52-53. * 2019. Klemow, K., A. Berkowitz, C. Cid and G. Middendorf. Improving ecological education through a four-dimensional framework. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 15: 1. * 2017. Klemow, K., G. Bowser, C. Cid, G. Middendorf, T. Mourad and J. Herrick. Exploring ecological careers - a new Frontiers series. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 15: 336-337. * 2015. Cid, C. and G. Bowser. Breaking down the barriers to diversity in ecology. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 13:1. * 2013. Cid, C. R. and R. Pouyat. Making ecology relevant to decision making: the human-centered place-based approach. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 11:447-448.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cid, Carmen Year of birth missing (living people) Living people