Upcoming Opportunities & Deadlines

January 27, 2006: Campus Ecology Chapter Special Project Grant Proposal
If you're a member of a SEEDS Campus Ecology Chapter in good standing, the next Special Project Grant proposal deadline is January 27, 2006. For more information and applications, please visit www.esa.org/seeds/activities/CampusEcologyChapters/SpecialProjectGrants.php.
If you're interested in starting a Chapter, please visit www.esa.org/seeds/activities/CampusEcologyChapters.php
 

SEEDS Highlights

“A SEEDS Success” by SEEDS Alumnus, Felixcia Mendoza-Jones

I am from the Maryland/DC area and my exposure to ecology started from the first grade before I even knew it. I attended an elementary school in Washington, D.C. that required each class, K-8, to take part in camping trips in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia. It was in these beautiful mountains that I began to fall in love with being outside and observing nature. To read more go to: Felixcia.

2005-06 Undergraduate Research Fellow Profile: Noemi Baquera mentored by Jeff Herrick (Jornada Basin LTER)

My name is Noemi Baquera. I am from the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), where I am majoring in Environmental Science. Even as a child I was interested in ecology, but back then it was known to me as playing in the dirt, not as a multifaceted and intricate concept. However, the versatility and freedom in ecology is what attracted me to this field, making it the focus of my education. My main interest in ecology is in the restoration of damaged ecosystems, where I can develop methods to monitor and return ecosystems to their natural state. To read more go to: Noemi.

 

Campus Ecology Chapter Highlight: Haskell Indian Nations University

The Haskell Ecology Club SEEDS Chapter hosted a conference: “Native American Pathways: Research and Careers in Ecology, Environmental Issues and Conservation” on their campus, November 11-12, 2005. The goal of the conference was to introduce students and local communities to the diverse careers and research experiences attained through the sciences. To learn more about the conference and this Chapter go to: Haskell.

 

SEEDS Updates

Campus Ecology Chapters

SEEDS welcomed nine new chapters in 2005: American Samoa Community College, Johnson C. Smith University, LeMoyne-Owen College, San Diego City College, Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute, United Tribes Technical College, University of Hawai'i at Manoa, University of New Mexico, and Yale University. Our Chapter network has grown to 28! For more information or to start your own chapter, visit www.esa.org/seeds/activities/CampusEcologyChapters.php

 

Undergraduate Research Fellowship

The 2004-05 cohort presented their research at ESA's Annual Meeting in Montreal. The 2005-06 cohort is well underway with their research proposals. And, due to a new timeline, three new fellows have already been selected for the 2006-07 cohort. To learn more about the fellows go to: Fellows.

 

SEEDS Event Recaps

Sevilleta LTER Field Trip, November 2005

SEEDS sponsored a Student Field Trip from November 10-13, 2005 to the Sevilleta Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Project. “I think this trip was the epitome of a soldier trained for years, who finally goes to war and finds out that the front line is nothing like conventional training. The exposure to field work is tremendously valuable. You can see it in a book but nothing beats hands-on connections. Thanks SEEDS for bringing me to the front line.” (Fabian Faulknor, Johnson C. Smith University). To learn more about the field trip go to: Sevilleta.

 

ESA Annual Meeting, August 2005

This year's ESA Annual Meeting took place in Montreal, Canada from August 7-12, 2005 and drew more than 4,000 professionals from around the world to participate in scientific presentations, symposia, field trips, and mixers. The meeting provided an excellent venue to engage students and faculty in one of the most important facets of science - communicating ideas and new knowledge with the scientific community. To learn more about the Meeting go to: Montreal.

 

Staff Activities

Jeramie Strickland, SEEDS Student Coordinator, and Jason Taylor, Education Director, both exhibited in Ann Arbor, Michigan at the Minority Environmental Leadership Development Initiative (MELDI) National Summit on Diversity in the Environmental Field in August and at the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) in September in Denver, Colorado. SEEDS Fellow, Chris McLaughlin of Minot State University, and Jeramie attended the America Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) Annual Conference in November. Katherine Hoffman, Education Program Manager, attended a conference on Native American Pathways at Haskell Indian Nations University in November (see story). In early December, Jeramie and Melissa Armstrong, SEEDS Coordinator, conducted three visits to SEEDS Chapter schools in North Dakota – Fort Berthold Community College, Sitting Bull College, and United Tribes Technical College.

Ecology Marketplace

These opportunities are shared with the mission of promoting ecology. Inclusion of announcements does not indicate endorsement by SEEDS. Please direct questions to each individual program.

• Arizona State University IGERT
  Arizona State University offers an Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training (IGERT) fellowship program in the pioneering field of Urban Ecology. This IGERT program, which the National Science Foundation recently renewed for another five years, is educating a new kind of research scientist—one who is more collaborative and adept at linking issues in the life, earth, and social sciences, as well as engineering, planning, policy, and economics. (Visit www.igert.org for more information on IGERT programs nationwide.) This prestigious interdisciplinary fellowship program is housed within ASU’s Global Institute of Sustainability (http://sustainability.asu.edu), which brings together faculty and students from multiple disciplines to focus on issues of international importance. For more information, visit http://sustainability.asu.edu/igert/

• University of Michigan Biological Station "Biosphere-Atmosphere Studies in a Changing Global Environment" REU
  This National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program provides a summer of mentored research in either ecology or atmospheric science.  The program, designed to provide a truly interdisciplinary experience in scientific research in biosphere-atmosphere studies in a changing global environment, provides "hands-on" experience and training in field biology and atmospheric science with all phases of research, from hypothesis formulation, through data gathering, to analysis, interpretation and communication of scientific studies.  All expenses (travel, meals & housing) are paid and students for 2006 will receive a stipend of $3,750. This is a competitive program, so interested students should apply early. For more information, visit www.lsa.umich.edu/umbs/umbs_detail/0,2529,11186%255Farticle%255F20657,00.html

• University of Michigan Biological Station Summer Courses
  The summer term, June 17 to August 12, 2006, offers a variety of course opportunities including Rivers, Lakes, & Wetlands; Forest Ecosytems; Field Mammology; and, Behavior Ecology. Spring courses are also available. In a world that is undergoing unprecedented changes in land use, climate, resource extraction and species distributions, a major goal of the University's Biological Station must be to produce biologically knowledgeable graduates who are prepared to understand, deal with and solve environmental problems. For more information, visit www.lsa.umich.edu/umbs/courses/summer/

• University of Michigan Biological Station Biosphere-Atmosphere Research & Training (BART)
  BART is a National Science Foundation-funded PhD training program developed to provide doctoral students with enhanced interdisciplinary training in the skills required for conducting research in biological and atmospheric sciences.  It provides graduate fellowships for interdisciplinary biosphere-atmosphere research for students admitted to PhD programs. Students (citizens and US residents) from any PhD-granting university in the US may apply. Students who are accepted into the BART program receive up to two years of support including an annual stipend of $30,000, plus equipment and supply monies, support for travel to national conferences and two summer sessions at the University of Michigan Biological Station.  For more information, visit www.lsa.umich.edu/umbs/umbs_detail/0,2529,11186%255Farticle%255F15564,00.html

Help Support SEEDS

We invite you to contribute to ESA's SEEDS Program to help support and encourage greater diversity in the ecology profession. Contributions to the SEEDS program are tax deductible and are used to support special initiatives for underrepresented students. To contribute, visit www.esa.org/seeds/supportSEEDS.php