The Early Career Ecologist Section is now accepting nominations mentors to potentially work 1-on-1 with early career mentees in the Early Career Mentoring Program to take place during the ESA 2016 Annual Meeting. If you are interested and excited about mentoring, please consider volunteering! Mentors wanted representing diverse career paths: academic, government, non-profit, industry, and others. More information below and on our website: http://esa.org/earlycareer/early-career-mentoring/
Time and Place: 7-12 August 2016, Ecological Society of America (ESA) Annual Meeting, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, USA Description: Conferences provide unique opportunities for biologists to interact with others in their field; however, these opportunities are rarely structured to promote meaningful interactions between the next generation of integrative ecologists and more senior scientists. Access to strong mentors both within and outside of their main institution is critical for early career ecologist support and for gaining the necessary skills to become a good mentor and to move towards the next career stages. Our semi-formal mentoring program pairs early career ecologists – advanced graduate students (within 1 year of graduating) and recent post-graduates (within 3 years of obtaining their degree) – with established ecologists (across career pathways) for the week of the 2016 ESA Annual Meeting. Specifically, 10 early career ecologists who apply for the program will receive funding to partially cover the cost of registration and will receive one-on-one mentoring during the ESA Annual Meeting. Selected participants will choose a mentor from our “Mentor Pool”: a diverse group of established ecologists, across career paths, who will be attending ESA, have reputations as strong mentors, and have volunteered for the opportunity to meet with early career ecologists. Mentors Needed: Volunteer mentors across career pathways (e.g., research, teaching, government, nonprofit) will be asked to interact with early career ecologists seeking mentorship in professional development and work-life challenges. Mentors will be placed in a “Mentor Pool” for the potential to mentor one of the 10 early career participants. If paired with a specific mentee, mentors will be asked to: 1) attend a mentee’s ESA talk and to provide positive, but critical, evaluation and advice on presentation and communication, 2) designate quality time (at least one hour) for one-on-one interactions with the mentee, 3) be open-minded towards discussing broader work-life issues, if the mentee wishes, and to 4) be open towards continuing to provide the mentee with opportunities to expand their mentoring or collaboration networks after the meeting has ended. All mentors must commit to attending at least 3 full days of the ESA meeting and are strongly encouraged to participate in one or more events aimed at the broader early career ecologist group (e.g., informal mixers, workshops or discussions on professional development; specific events TBA). How to become a Mentor! If you are interested in becoming a potential ESA Mentor and will be attending the 2016 meeting, or would like to nominate a colleague, please contact the Early Career Ecologist Section at earlycar...@esa.org, stating your interest and motivations, no later than 8 pm PST on April 22, 2016. Please include “2016 Early Career Mentor” in the email subject line. For more information: Email: Early Career Ecologist Section (earlycar...@esa.org) Twitter: @ESA_EarlyCareer Website: http://esa.org/earlycareer/
