Calling all mentors for ESA 2016! We are seeking established ecologists (loosely defined) who will be attending ESA 2016 in Ft. Lauderdale and are interested in interacting one-on-one with an early career mentee, to give guidance on career paths, research, teaching, work-life, and/or networking, etc. Mentors may be from any career area (e.g. academic research or teaching, government, non-profit, policy, etc.). Signing up to be a mentor does not guarantee a commitment, but rather enters you into a "Mentor Pool" from which the mentee applicants will choose a mentor that best fits their specific needs (there will be more mentors than mentees). Potential mentors will be notified in May or June if they were selected and what the next steps are to participate.
Mentors will be asked to make initial contact with their mentee prior to ESA 2016 (we will host a webinar to help facilitate), meet one-on-one with their mentee at ESA for at least 1 hour, attend their mentee's oral presentation, and be open to discussing career and research challenges (broadly), including advice for their mentee's individual development plan. A broader goal is to establish new, longer-term connections or collaborations among mentor-mentee networks and to engage in broader discussions within ESA on the need for improved early career mentoring during transitional career stages. About the Program: Conferences provide unique opportunities for participants to interact with others in their field and expand their networks outside their primary institution. However, opportunities for mentoring early career ecologists are rarely structured to promote meaningful interactions between them and more senior scientists. We leverage the annual ESA conference and its large diverse network of ecologists to foster one-on-one mentoring experiences at both formal and informal levels for early career ecologists. Our program facilitates short-term targeted mentoring opportunities, but our goal is that these interactions foster longer-term relationships and networking among participants, as well as enhancing the visibility, participation, and impact of the Early Career Section within ESA. http://esa.org/earlycareer/early-career-mentoring/ Become a Potential Early Career Mentor, or Nominate Someone: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1sSbkrvJj8ZFHXJbqseqzVhJKQZ4my_oIZAt8LX-iM3o/viewform?edit_requested=true You can also join the Mentor Pool by emailing [email protected] with your contact information, to nominate someone, or with any questions.
