SEEDS: Newsletter > Volume 5, Issue 2 - March 2007

Event Recap: 2007 Leadership Meeting

A joint SEEDS Advisory Board meeting and second annual SEEDS Leadership Meeting was held in San Jose California on Feb. 23 and 24. The SEEDS leadership meeting consisted of almost all SEEDS fellowship students since the program was initiated in 2003. It was the first time that all the Advisory Board members had a chance to interact with SEEDS students. In addition, leaders of the Ecological Society of America (ESA) - governing board members Meg Lowman and Rich Pouyat - attended the meeting to give students a glimpse inside the ESA governing board.

The meeting theme was “Education and outreach in ecology: recognizing our responsibility, funding our ideas.” The meeting theme and location were selected to coincide with a student outreach planned for the upcoming ESA Annual Meeting in San Jose. Several SEEDS fellows took the initiative to plan the first-ever outreach field trip for San Jose high school students and teachers, as well as ESA members and their families, to be offered during the Annual Meeting in August. Participants will visit the Don Edwards wetlands in San Jose. SEEDS Fellows are following up on the field trip with a special session during the meeting on how to more effectively reach out to the communities that host ESA meetings. The February meeting gave students an opportunity to see the Don Edwards wetlands and prepare for the August field trip, and to introduce the field trip to other SEEDS fellowship students, the SEEDS Advisory Board, and governing board members.

In addition to preparing for the this field trip, students participated in a workshop series given by ESA members Jeff Herrick, Sonia Ortega, Cindy Wilber, Meg Lowman, and Rodolfo Dirzo on a variety of subjects, all with the intention of encouraging students to be leaders. A full description of the joint Advisory Board and SEEDS leadership meeting, along with photos, will be available in the April newsletter.