Many of the policy/ecology programs that have been posted are for Masters-level degrees. It seems one problem folks have highlighted is that the professors that teach ecology don't have policy-related issues on their radar. In addition to promoting interdisciplinary programs in policy, management, wildlife, conservation, etc., it seems like steps should be taken to educate the next generation of professors who are currently in Phd programs to be exposed ot policy, management and regulation. I'm in a Phd ecology program that focuses on basic ecology and testing ecological theory. While most students are very concerned about conservation and environmental issues, we are not in an environment that fosters opportunities to delve into these issues in a rigorous way.
Perhaps one way of getting phd students in ecology to develop interdisciplinary skills would be to encourage them to take classes in other fields that could provide both theoretical insights and exposure to economics, policy, etc. Ecologists have often pilfered economic theory for models, especially in plant ecology. Path models and structural equation modeling are hot methods in ecology and evolutionary biology and were developed by social scientists; fuzzy set theory is big in decision science and to some extent environmental management and could perhaps be a useful tool for defining "fuzzy" concepts like a niche or traits. Courses or seminars on topics like these could provide modeling, statistical, analytical, or conceptual tools that could be directly useful to basic ecology research while also exposing us to the tools used in the social sciences and management.
