The Rachel Carson Prize is awarded by the British Ecological Society each year for the best paper in People and Nature written by an early career author at the start of their research career. Today we are pleased to present the shortlisted papers for this year’s award, based on the previous (2nd) volume of the journal.

The winner will be selected in the coming weeks so watch this space for future announcements.

This year’s shortlisted candidates are:

Jenn Burt – Enabling coexistence: Navigating predator‐induced regime shifts in human‐ocean systems

Alejandra Echeverri – Can avian functional traits predict cultural ecosystem services?

Lotta Clara Kluger – Studying human–nature relationships through a network lens: A systematic review

Tristan Derham – Elephants as refugees

Stefano Mammola – Media framing of spiders may exacerbate arachnophobic sentiments

Juliano Morimoto – Perspective: Addressing global challenges with unconventional insect ecosystem services: Why should humanity care about insect larvae?

Laura Thomas-Walters – Challenges in the impact evaluation of behaviour change interventions: The case of sea turtle meat and eggs in São Tomé

Jan-Claas Dajka – Perspective: Red and green loops help uncover missing feedbacks in a coral reef social–ecological system