Certification Requirements

Certification now follows a rolling model for applications and approvals. If you have questions after reviewing this website, please contact cert@nullesa.org or 202-833-8773.

The period of certification lasts for 5 years, retroactive to the first day of the month the application was approved and expiring on the final day of the same month 5 years hence. ESA staff will communicate with you about your status beginning at least 60 days prior to expiration, and will additionally remind you to submit your CEU data on a regular basis.

If you currently hold a certification from pre-2021 and will expire the next June from now, you should recertify in the spring of the year your certification expires; if your certification expired in the previous June, you may still recertify or upgrade.

We allow 2 years’ grace periods to recertify or upgrade, but you will be required to pay a penalty fee if your certification has lapsed beyond that grace period. All recertifications at all levels (except Emeritus) cost $25 for ESA Members and $50 for non-members.

Starting in 2022, the penalty fee is the cost of recertification for each year of lapse, with the first 2 years waived if you recertify within 2 years. In other words:  

0 yr lapsed: $25 for recertify 

1 yr lapsed: $25 for recertify (1 yr of back recertification fees waived)  

2 yr lapsed: $25 for recertify (2 yr of back recertification fees waived)  

3 yr lapsed: $75 for recertify  

4 yr lapsed: $100 for recertify 

Candidates for certification must have completed at least a bachelor’s degree or a higher degree in ecology or a related science. Completed undergraduate or graduate coursework must include the following, totaling 42 semester credit hours. Full requirements include areas of coursework and should include some core topics.

Please use this table for a general overview of requirements; specifics for each category follow below. Following approval of the minimum CEU type requirements by the Board of Professional Certification, this table will list requirements to upgrade as well.

Certified Ecologist and Senior Ecologist certification holders who hold that status for at least 10 consecutive years and are no longer working full-time may upgrade to each level’s respective Emeritus/ta designation. Contact cert@nullesa.org to learn more.

Please note that beginning 2021, all newly certified ecologists are required to complete 44 continuing education units over 5 years to be eligible for recertification or upgrade. Currently certified ecologists will be permitted to recertify or upgrade per their original requirements up to 2025; beginning with 2026, all recertifications and upgrades will require having met the CEU requirements. The ESA Board of Professional Certification approved this framework in January 2021.

Certified ecologists should report their CEU as they are earned, or at least on an annual basis. You can see how to do so here.

Interpretive leeway will be given to participants to identify suitable professional development opportunities per the requirements. ESA is partnering with other scientific organizations and training bodies to recommend opportunities for CEU in addition to the content that ESA provides — see the directory. Participants are encouraged to share ideas with staff as well.

All ecologists certified by ESA shall conduct their activities in accordance with the ESA Code of Ethics and with the highest standards of professional conduct and personal honor.

You can review the full application requirements here.

Here are additional details about the requirements for each certification level.

This category is for graduating students who have met the education requirements for ESA certification but do not have the required professional experience for the current certification categories. The basic requirement is:

A holder of the Ecologist in Training designation is encouraged to use the full term, “Ecologist in Training,” on business cards or in official signatures, but may use the initialism “EiT” if space limits require.

This category is for ecologists in the early stages of their career. Course requirements may be met with post-baccalaureate courses from an accredited college or university, but professional experience may not be counted until all coursework requirements for certification are met. The basic requirements are:

A holder of the Association Ecologist designation is encouraged to use the full term, “Certified Associate Ecologist,” on business cards or in official signatures, but may use the initialism “CAE” if space limits require.

This category is for established professional ecologists.

A holder of the Ecologist designation is encouraged to use the full term, “Certified Ecologist,” on business cards or in official signatures, but may use the initialism “CE” if space limits require.

This category is for previously Certified Ecologists who are no longer working full-time. The requirements are:

If the Certified Ecologist Emeritus/ta desires to depict certification on any official document, they are encouraged to use the term “Certified Ecologist Emeritus/ta.” This is meant as an honorary lifetime recognition and does not imply continued professional status. The initialism “CEE” is acceptable if space limits require.

This category is for professional leaders in ecology who have established a track record of excellent contributions to the field in applied and analytical environments.

A holder of the Senior Ecologist designation is encouraged to use the full term, “Certified Senior Ecologist,” on business cards or in official signatures, but may use the initialism “CSE” if space limits require.

Recertification applications at the senior ecologist level require only a cover letter and up-to-date CV if the applicant is, at the time of application, currently certified as a Senior Ecologist by ESA and a member of the Society in good standing.

This category is for previously certified Senior Ecologists who are no longer working full-time. The requirements are:

If the Senior Ecologist Emeritus/ta desires to depict certification on any official document, they are encouraged to use the term “Senior Ecologist Emeritus/ta.” This is meant as an honorary lifetime recognition and does not imply continued professional status. The initialism “SEE” is acceptable if space limits require.

School of Media Studies

Immerse yourself in documentary filmmaking—production and theory—in New York City, the world's documentary capital. The Graduate Certificate in Documentary Media Studies is an intensive professional education program for prospective documentarians. In the course of one year, you develop, shoot, direct, and edit an original short documentary film on a New York City–related subject. Applicants must have a bachelor's degree from an accredited institution and submit a portfolio; previous study of filmmaking is not required.

Central to the intensive one-year curriculum is Doc Talks, a monthly screening series. Doc Talks invites guest artists and professionals in the field of documentary cinema to share insights into their work and the media industry with Documentary Studies students. Additionally, every spring, as part of the Dorothy H. Hirshon Residency, a distinguished filmmaker leads master classes to which certificate students are invited.

Read more about the curriculum

The Documentary Media Studies program culminates in a student documentary festival, Truth Be Told, at the end of each school year. At the festival, certificate students' films are publicly screened and discussed by the filmmakers and faculty. The films are the products of students' yearlong study of documentary production, history, and theory.

Visit the Truth Be Told website

Certificate holders are qualified to become documentary editors, field producers, cinematographers, directors, and researchers and take up related positions in media distribution, museum programming, festival organization, and broadcast productions. All 2018 graduates were employed or pursuing further education within 12 months of graduating.

Some students continue their graduate studies in pursuit of a master's or PhD. Students who complete this certificate are invited to apply for the MA in Media Studies or MS in Media Management programs. If admitted, students who complete this certificate can transfer all credits from the certificate, provided that grades of B or better were received in the courses.

Conversely, MA in Media Studies or MS in Media Management students may apply to pursue the Documentary Media Studies certificate in their second year of study. If they are admitted, all credits will apply to their respective degrees, provided that grades of B or better were received in the courses.

Read alumni news on the program blog

I Lost My Share Certificate. Do I Still Own the Stock?

An investor is issued a share certificate, also known as a stock certificate, when they buy shares of a publicly-traded company. The share certificate serves as a receipt for the stock purchase. The certificate includes important details about the investor’s stock ownership such as the number of shares purchased.

But exactly how important is it to hold a stock certificate and does the investor still own the stock if it is lost?

In most cases, investors never receive a physical share certificate as the process is managed electronically. Electronic share transactions and processes enable automated proxy voting, dividend distributions, and other pertinent notifications for the shareholder.

Even without a physical share certificate, a stock owner is still the owner of the stock and party to all the rights to being a shareholder. The owners will receive dividend payments and other notices.

In some cases, however, an investor may choose to hold a physical share certificate, which details their share ownership. A share certificate can be replaced if it is lost, stolen, or damaged. In order to replace the physical certificate, the shareholder will need to contact the company's stock transfer agent.

The corporation's investor relations department should be able to provide a shareholder with information on how to contact the transfer agent. A transfer agent records the shareholders of a company and how many shares an investor owns, the stock certificate numbers, and the contact information for the stock owner.

If you find an old stock certificate, perhaps in a deceased relative's belongings, and even though the company may no longer exist, it is still worth looking into as the company may have been bought by an existing company and worth a certain amount.

Once the transfer agent is notified of the loss, the agent will place a "stop transfer" on the certificate to prevent others from cashing the certificate in if it is found. The stop-transfer is much like the stop payment that an individual might place on a check at their bank. The transfer agent will also notify appropriate parties to alert them that the certificate has been lost.

Each company’s procedures may vary. However, there are some steps that the shareholder must follow. First, the shareholder must describe the loss and any facts surrounding the loss in an affidavit. Second, the shareholder may be required to purchase an indemnity bond. The purpose of the bond is to protect the corporation and the agent in case the lost certificate is somehow redeemed by another party at a later date. (Think of it simply as additional insurance.)

When the necessary information has been provided and the necessary steps are taken, a new certificate will be issued.

Losing a share certificate can be remedied by contacting the company's investor relations department. This department will inform the shareholder how to contact the transfer agent who can place a stop payment on the shares and reissue a new certificate. The shareholder may have to complete an affidavit and purchase an indemnity bond.

However, stock certificates are no longer needed in today's world of electronic communication, and even if an investor loses their certificate, they still own the shares.