First steps to establish the CIEE were taken in 2007 at the inaugural meeting of the Canadian Society for Ecology and Evolution, the national learned society. In May 2008, after a nationwide competition that received entries from some of Canada's most prestigious universities, the Society's Governing Council selected the proposal from the University of Toronto to house and operate the CIEE at the Koffler Scientific Reserve under the direction of Professor Arthur E. Weis. In 2012 Dr. Peter Leavitt was appointed Director and administration of the CIEE moved to the University of Regina, while programming continued to be distributed around the country.[3] As of 2014[update] the CIEE was housed at the Institute of Environmental Change and Society (IECS) at the University of Regina.[4]