Ryan has just returned from the Ecological Society of America’s 110th annual meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. In addition to partaking of the stimulating smorgasbord of seminars, Ryan attended the awards ceremony to receive the George Mercer Award on behalf of himself and Lynette Loke, and he launched his new textbook. The textbook is titled Theoretical Ecology: Concepts and Models with R and is available from Princeton University Press in paperback and hardback.