The end of the Leadership Conference and the beginning of a great batch of SEEDS

Posted by Public Affairs on February 25, 2007

I sit here in the Wild Palms Hotel sipping coffee and thinking about the great information we gathered this weekend, the ideas that were generated and the amazing insight that the invited speakers gave all of us. I think of whats ahead in my life and in the life of each of the fellows and I know that we will all become great scientists. We have also realized to a greater extent that with becoming a great scientist comes great responsibility to all life.

In addition, I have learned that becoming a great scientist is not inclusive of becoming a great educator. Not all great scientists become great educators and vice versa, so do we have to choose?, do we have to be either or? Or can we become both a great scientist and a great educator? The answer I have come up with is yes, we can become both a great scientist and a great educator. This weekend has enhanced my understanding of what it takes to become great in both. Our invited speakers are all great scientists with publications, international research and university or institution affiliation but most of all they have become exceptional educators. The have really taken the knowledge they have gained in their life and transformed it into words that all walks of life can understand. And that to me is a great educator, so I say THANK YOU, thank you for showing us the SEEDS of the new millennium the wonderful world of educational outreach.

Educational Outreach has been a very important component of this SEEDS Leadership Conference. The invited speakers showed us what they do to enhance their educational outreach component in their careers. We are very excited because they have given us a lot of information, ideas and advice for the educational outreach field trip we are doing at the ESA Annual Meeting. The passion they have for their own work and the excitement they feel for the projects we are about to embark in have shown me that we the SEEDS fellows are on the right road to becoming great scientists and great educators. We will soon be posting some more information about the exciting field trip that will be available for ESA members at the next Annual Meeting here in San Jose, CA. I would like to finish with letting you think about what you as an ESA member can do to enhance the educational outreach component in your community. We hope to hear your ideas in the near future.

Contributed- [ColibrÃ Sanfiorenzo-Barnhard]-[University of Puerto Ric-Rio Piedras]

READ THE FIRST TWO ENTRIES IN THIS SERIES OF THREE —

https://ecologicalsocietyofamerica.org/esablog/?p=35, https://ecologicalsocietyofamerica.org/esablog/?p=37

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