The first ever SEEDS leadership workshop was a huge success! Three generations of SEEDS fellowship students and many of their mentors attended this workshop that was held from March 2 – 5 in Tempe, AZ at the Arizona State University (ASU) campus. The workshop was hosted by Nancy Grimm, ESA President and current SEEDS Fellowship mentor, and the Global Institute of Sustainability at ASU.
The unique and powerful aspect of the SEEDS fellowship workshop was the amount and quality of student input. The workshop began with a roundtable discussion on the complex topic of leadership. All participants contributed because everyone had experience leading and the result was a rich exchange among students and professionals. Students also received an introduction to the applied ecology movement within ESA from Laura Huenneke, Dean of the College of Engineering and Natural Sciences at Northern Arizona University. Students took information from this introduction to develop their ideas for a Student Summit, which is the fellowship students’ voice to the ESA community. The Student Summit will be published in the July ESA Bulletin.
Fellowship mentors gave a workshop series on practical topics to carry out ecological research in many realms - methodologically, socially, financially, and personally. Workshop topics included: “how to start up and conduct ecological research in ways that respect the people that live there, incorporating GIS into ecology research, how to make a difference while going to graduate school, how to fund and publish your research, and the role of LTERs in ecology research”. Students gained a wealth of useful information on a broad array of topics from the workshop series.
The current fellowship group presented their research proposals. These students completed their proposals in November 2005 and will be carrying out their projects in the summer 2006. The current fellowship group has widely diverse research topics ranging from agroecology in Honduras, coral reef ecology in Tahiti (Moorea Coral Reef LTER), urban ecology in Phoenix (Central Arizona Phoenix LTER), and marine mammal ecology in the Isles of Sholes off the coast of Maine.
Finally, because the leadership workshop was held in Tempe, AZ, the home of the Central Arizona Phoenix LTER, participants had the opportunity to get into the field and tour two research sites of current fellowship student Christina Wong. Participants learned much more about Ms. Wong’s research project on soil crusts and their response to urban nutrient deposition.
The success of the leadership workshop was in part because of the enthusiasm of all participants to share their knowledge to educate and encourage students to succeed in ecology research and ecology careers. Another significant element in the workshop’s success was the close bond that fellowship students have created. The chemistry of the group is such that it is a highly supportive and safe environment for all students to share their ideas even though they from many different backgrounds. Such a positive community is a great contribution to ESA.
Leadership Workshop Participants:
2004 – 2005 Fellows
Ricardo Colón Rivera – University of Puerto Rico, Humacao
Bruce Machona – Stephen F of Austin State University, Nacdoches TX
Lucero Radonic – University of Texas, El Paso
Thalia Tooke – University of Kansas
2005 – 2006 Fellows
Noemi Baquera – University of Texas, El Paso
Jorge Ramos – University of Texas, El Paso
Andrea Rivera – University of Hawaii, Manoa
Christina Wong – Occidential College
2006 – 2007 Fellows
Marla Collins – United Tribes Technical College Chris McLaughlin – USDA
Colibrí Sanfiorenzo – University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras
Ku`ulei Vickery – University of Hawaii, Manoa
Mentors
Nancy Grimm - ASU
Jeff Herrick – USDA, Jornada Experimental Range
Carol Johnston – South Dakota State University
Luis Garcia Barrios – El Colegio de la Frontera Sur (ECOSUR)
Professionals
Scott Collins – University of New Mexico
Laura Huenneke – Northern Arizona University
Carlos Castillo-Chavez – ASU
Willard Antone – Gila River Indian Community, Department of Environmental Quality
John Parker – ASU IGERT Program
Staff
Melissa Armstrong - ESA
Jason Taylor - ESA