Mentoring at ESA Annual Meeting
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What is a SEEDS Meeting Mentor?
- If you are matched with a student, your primary role as a meeting mentor will be to help guide your student through the meeting and to share your personal experiences in the field of ecology.
- You will share your advice, help them select sessions, introduce them to others, explain research being presented, be a familiar face among the thousands.
- You are also encouraged to attend your mentee’s presentations at the meeting.
- A meeting mentor should be active and engaged in ecology bringing with them a positive view of ecology and research while at the same time sensitive to the non-traditional views of science that some students may bring to the meeting.
Pre-Meeting
Signing up does not guarantee that you will be selected by a SEEDS student. Each student picks their own mentor from the list. If you are matched, your role will begin in late summer when you receive your student’s contact information and they receive yours. SEEDS staff will ask for communication with your student before the meeting. During this time, you and your student will get to know each other via email and/or phone exchanges. You will also help answer any of their questions or concerns before the meeting.
At the Meeting
Once at the meeting starts, we ask that mentors meet with their students at least once a day. Mentoring is a lot of responsibility, and we want our students to feel welcome, encouraged and treated with respect. Anticipated commitment is about 15-30 minutes per day. Here is a list of the required events for mentors to attend:
- SEEDS Mentor Orientation (Required for all new mentors) – Sunday, August 4
- SEEDS Welcome Dinner (Required for all mentors) – Sunday, August 4
- SEEDS Mentor/Mentee Breakfast (Required for all mentors) – Monday, August 5
ESA Meetings Code of Conduct
All Meeting Mentors are expected to be familiar with and adhere to the ESA Meetings Code of Conduct.
Post-Meeting
We will ask you to complete a brief evaluation via email. If you and your student both wish, we encourage you to continue communication with each other.
Eligibility/Selection
- Mentors need to be an upper-level graduate student or a professional in the field and have previously attended at least one ESA Annual Meeting.
- Must attend in-person the 2024 ESA Annual Meeting in Long Beach, CA from August 3-9.
- Attendance required at the listed SEEDS events.
- Guide your mentee to network and meet colleagues and friends.
- Share your personal experiences in Ecology with your mentee.
- We strongly encourage you to attend your mentee’s presentation.
- Please note that we try to match ESA mentor volunteers with students based on common ecology interests. If we are unable to make a match or have more volunteers than student awardees, you may not be selected. Signing up does not guarantee that you will be a meeting mentor.
What do I get as a mentor?
We think Terry Chapin, past ESA President and SEEDS Meeting Mentor, says it best:
“One of ESA’s activities that I value most is the SEEDS Program. I really like working with SEEDS students at the ESA meeting. They are some of the most motivated students I see at the meeting and are really likely to make a difference in the world. I enjoy learning about their plans for school and career and working together to figure out how to navigate the meeting in a way that is fun and useful.“
Register by July 3, 2024.