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COVER PHOTO: “The Diversity Challenge Confronts Ecology” Forum published in this issue of Ecological Applications presents perspectives on structural and cultural problems within institutions, mentorship practices, professional development programs, and research experiences which have caused and perpetuated low representation of African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans, and Pacific Islanders in the environmental workforce and in academia. The papers in the collection emphasize the need for building cultural competency and implementing interventions to better support a sense of belonging among minority ecologists. Pictured is Cristal Dominguez Vasquez, a recent graduate of Colorado State University’s Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Program and a student from the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation, looking out at Phelps Lake in Grand Teton National Park, USA in summer 2020. Dominguez Vasquez participated in the Pollinator Hotshot Program, a field ecology project sponsored by the National Science Foundation looking at pollinator diversity in U.S. National Parks. Photo credit: Gillian Bowser.