Jason Taylor, ESA’s Director of Education and Diversity Initiatives, met with the University of Michigan SEEDS Chapter in January. While he was there, faculty advisor Dr. Ivette Perfecto and student members reported to Jason their activities since the chapter began in the fall of 2006. Bi-weekly meetings, field trips, planning collaborations with local communities, and a “sciencepalooza” were some of the activities mentioned. In the future, they plan to invite local ecologists to participate in an environmental careers information session, and promote the science of ecology and its importance to non-ecology majors.
They are an extremely motivated young chapter with a future that promises to be very active. They would like to have better means of communication among chapter members and potential members, possibly with a website. They also feel that it is sometimes a challenge to start relationships with local schools for outreach activities. They suggested that ESA create a “how to” guide on contacting schools, and have grants specifically for working with local schools.
They also mentioned their interest in mitigating communication and interaction with other SEEDS chapters and brought up the idea of a regional SEEDS chapter meeting.