Jerry M. Melillo,^* Ellis B. Cowling<sup>**


*</sup>Jerry Melillo is an ecologist specializing in element cycling and climate change issues. He is Co-director of The Ecosystems Center at the Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, USA. He has had a long-standing interest in the connections between science and policy. In 1996 and 1997 he served as Associate Director for the Environment in the US Office of Science and Technology Policy. His address: The Ecosystems Center, Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA. jmelillo@mbl.edu
^**Ellis Cowling is University Distinguished Professor At-Large at North Carolina State University. His interests in nitrogen began with his doctoral dissertation research on Nitrogen in Forest Trees and its role in Wood Deterioration at the University of Uppsala, Sweden, and has continued in his leadership roles in the US National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program and the Southern Oxidants Study. His address: North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27605, USA. ellis–cowling@nesu.edu