Upcoming Opportunities & Deadlines

SEEDS Chapter Deadlines

A reminder to all Campus Ecology Chapters that May 1 is the annual report deadline. Also, if your Chapter is in good standing, May 5 is the deadline for Special Project Grants. For more information and forms, visit http://www.esa.org/seeds/activities/CampusEcologyChapters.php.

 

SEEDS Highlights

Lewis Reed, SEEDS Undergraduate

My name is Lewis Reed. I am currently an undergraduate senior in Environmental Studies at San Jose State University in California. My interests within this broad subject have ranged from sustainable agriculture systems to conservation biology, but I have become increasingly focused on grassland ecology. To read more go to: Lewis.

 

University of Hawai'i at Manoa Campus Ecology Chapter
The University of Hawai'i at Manoa Ecology Chapter (UHMEC) was recently established in the fall of 2005 to increase education and environmental awareness through experiences that the textbook, lecture, and laboratories cannot match. UHMEC students are actively involved with the community through outreach activities, ecological field trips, and educational programs in the Hawaiian Islands. To read more, go to: Hawai'i.

 

SEEDS Updates

Introducing the 2006-2007 SEEDS Fellows

The SEEDS Undergraduate Research Fellowship is an opportunity for students to conduct an independent ecological research project with the help of a mentor scientist. The 2006-2007 fellowship cohort consists of four students. Fellows are excited about this opportunity and have shared their thoughts at Fellows.

 

 

Marla Collins, SEEDS Fellow, Awarded Ms. AIHEC

SEEDS 2006-2007 Undergraduate Research Fellow, Marla Collins, of United Tribes Technical College in Bismarck, North Dakota, was awarded Ms. AIHEC for 2006/2007! The Mr./Ms. AIHEC (American Indian Higher Education Consortium) competition recognizes outstanding tribal college students who will serve as ambassadors for 2006-2007. In 1982, enrollment at the tribal colleges stood at approximately 2,000 (O’Brien 1992). By 1996-97, however, enrollment over the 12-month academic period reached 24,363 undergraduates and 260 graduate students. Through the coming year Marla will share her tribal college story and her personal experiences at meetings, conferences, pow-wows, and other community gatherings. This prestigious honor awards a trip to one national gathering during the year of her term. To prepare herself for this competition, Marla had to understand and have knowledge of AIHEC and the entire tribal college movement, history, and future developments. The judging panel had criteria of a grade point average of 3.0, a candidate’s cultural experiences and involvement in their college and community, personal vision and future goals, intellectual development, pursuit of research, advanced studies, speaking ability, and overall personal presentation, as well as academic scholarships.

 

ESA Annual Meeting

SEEDS is gearing up for the 2006 ESA Annual Meeting to be held in Memphis, Tennessee, August 6-11. Thank you to all who applied for travel awards. Through these awards, approximately 35 students, 20 Chapter faculty, and 5 alumni will be attending the meeting. SEEDS is also pleased with the enthusiastic response from ESA members to the call for meeting mentors for SEEDS students at the Meeting. The SEEDS program in Memphis is quite full this year with orientations, mixers, and a Sunday workshop on what educators can learn from minority students.

 

Konza Prairie Field Trip

SEEDS is also gearing up for it spring field trip, which will be held in Kansas, June 5-9. Many exciting and enriching activities are planned. In Lawrence KS, we will receive a behind-the-scenes tour of the Natural History Museum at the University of Kansas, one of the best in the nation. We will also tour the wetlands near Haskell Indian Nations University and learn comprehensive ecological, cultural, artistic, and historical perspectives on this unique area. We will then travel to Manhattan, KS, to learn more about the research being conducted at the Konza Prairie Long Term Ecological Research site. There we will meet many ecologists, participate in their research, and learn more about their career paths through a career panel discussion. SEEDS field trips are aimed at providing students with a well rounded experience with ecology – scientific, personal, cultural – and this Kansas trip is sure to measure up. A summary of the field trip and photos will be found in the July newsletter.

 

Staff Activities

SEEDS Assessment

The SEEDS program is undergoing an important program assessment. Over the last six months, SEEDS staff have participated in several assessment meetings with representatives from the Institute for Learning Innovation. The results of these exciting efforts will be seen in upcoming activity evaluations, student surveys, and a comprehensive database to help us understand how well the SEEDS program is meeting its mission, and where there is room for improvement.

 

SEEDS at Livingstone College

SEEDS Student Coordinator Jeramie Strickland visited with Livingstone College April 7.  Jeramie’s presentation to Freshman Biology for non-majors and Biology for majors focused on career options in the ecology field; the importance and need for minorities in the field; and why it is important to get involved with ESA and SEEDS. He also distributed information about internships, scholarships, and other opportunities that are available for students that wish to pursue ecology degrees. In addition, he was given a tour of the campus by Chapter Advisor Dr. Sashi Sabaratnam and Chapter students who discussed their planning for the Butterfly Garden and Green House Special Projects. Thirteen students joined Jeramie for lunch at a restaurant near campus for further discussion about Jeramie’s career pathway into the ecology profession and other insights about career development including how to apply to graduate school and create a winning curriculum vitae. For more information about Livingstone College and other SEEDS Chapters please visit http://www.esa.org/seeds/activities/CampusEcologyChapters.php.

 

Ecology Marketplace

SEEDS Coordinator
Location: Silver Spring, MD         Participation Dates: Full employment begins in late July.
Background: Founded in 1915, the Ecological Society of America (ESA) is a is a nonpartisan, nonprofit membership organization of scientists to promote ecological science by improving communication among ecologists; raise the public's level of awareness of the importance of ecological science; increase the resources available for the conduct of ecological science; and ensure the appropriate use of ecological science in environmental decision making by enhancing communication between the ecological community and policy-makers. Education and diversity are central to ESA’s overall mission and ESA’s SEEDS program is the cornerstone of this effort. SEEDS (Strategies for Ecology Education, Development, and Sustainability), a core ESA education program, promotes ecology opportunities to underrepresented undergraduate students. Position Description: The Education Coordinator reports to the Director of Education, however, in this role the incumbent works directly with several staff to track SEEDS program participants and coordinate program activities. Specific responsibilities include: maintaining contact with SEEDS participants and documenting student career paths both formally (maintaining database, sending surveys, contacting graduates) and informally (remembering and/or developing relationships with students met); organizing and attending two field trips per year, including recruitment, logistics and arrangements, and facilitating the event; helping with the SEEDS portion of the ESA Annual Meeting, including organizing and presenting workshops to promote the program; helping maintain SEEDS Chapters through, in part, visiting schools in the Chapter network and presenting about the SEEDS program, and checking on the status of any SEEDS funded Special Projects; attending up to four minority serving conferences per year, exhibiting and promoting the program; tracking 300+ participants that have directly participated in SEEDS in the past. Requirements: articulate in written and oral communications, a natural communicator; capable of working independently as needed while communicating status of various tasks and projects underway; willingness to travel frequently; ability to work well with students from a wide variety of cultural and geographic backgrounds; ability to work within a multifaceted program that involves organizing the many details of program events, to assessing the big picture of SEEDS participant career paths; ability to cooperate within a team environment to work toward department goals and to support colleagues as needed; detail-oriented and organized in order to stay on planning timelines and follow through on action items; complete comfort in Word and other MS Office applications (PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook); resourceful, taking initiative to make improvements to processes; college degree (BA/BS, Masters) or equivalent experience desired; positive can-do attitude, ability to work efficiently under pressure to manage multiple priorities, strong work ethic.
Application & Deadline: Send cover letter and resume to education@esa.org - June 10, 2006
Contact: education@esa.org

 

ESA Education Intern
Location: Silver Spring, MD         Participation Dates: Mid-May to mid-August
The office of Education and Diversity Initiatives of the Ecological Society of America (ESA), North America's leading professional society of ecologists, is seeking an Education Intern. Position Descriptions and Responsibilities: The Education Intern will work to convey ecological science to a variety of audiences. Responsibilities may include assisting in developing and disseminating education and outreach materials, responding to science and career inquiries, and helping prepare for the 2006 ESA Annual Meeting. Duties also include assisting with special projects, including briefings and career fairs, ESA's Digital Library Project, http://www.ecoed.net, and aspects of the Strategies for Ecology Education, Development and Sustainability (SEEDS) program, http://www.esa.org/seeds. Schedule and Commitment: For a three month commitment, ESA will offer a $2,000 stipend. Starting and ending dates are flexible. Please indicate your availability when applying. Qualifications: College undergraduates and recent college graduates are welcome to apply. Interests and background may include: ecology, biology, education, and minority programs. The internships require a high degree of motivation, initiative, maturity, and responsibility. Candidates must be articulate in written and oral communication; capable of working independently as needed while communicating status of various tasks and projects underway; detail-oriented and organized in order to stay on planning timelines and follow through on action items; and, have comfort in Word and other MS Office applications (PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook) Experience in web design and the ability to conceptually organize information, text and graphics a plus. College Credit: The Ecological Society of America will cooperate with universities/colleges that offer credit for intern programs. However, it is the student's responsibility to make all the arrangements for receiving academic credit.
Application & Deadline: Please send a cover letter, resume, and three professional/academic references by Friday May 12, 2006 to Internship Coordinator, Education Office, Ecological Society of America, 1400 Spring Street, Suite 330, Silver Spring, MD, 20910, fax 301-588-4693, email education@esa.org. Only candidates selected for an interview will be contacted. Finalists will be interviewed in person or by phone. If sending via email, please write " Education Internship Application" in the subject box of the message.
Contact: education@esa.org

 

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Center for Tropical Forest Service (CTFS) Research Grants Program
Location: Varies, 18 sites in 15 countries         Participation Dates: Varies, 3 months to 3 years in length
The Research Grants Program of the Center for Tropical Forest Science (CTFS) of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute supports research associated with the CTFS network of Forest Dynamics Plots. This grants program is intended to provide opportunities for senior researchers, post-doctoral fellows, and graduate students to utilize existing Forest Dynamics Plots and to conduct research with scientists associated with these plots. The CTFS network of FDPs includes 18 sites in 15 countries. Anyone working directly in a Forest Dynamics Plot (FDP), analyzing data from a plot, or generating complementary data that strengthens FDP research programs is eligible to apply. Projects can be field-oriented, laboratory-based, or analytical, and scientifically, basic or applied in nature. The CTFS Research Grants Program will make awards for projects three months to three years in length.
Benefits: Grants will range from $3,000-$30,000.
Eligibility: This opportunity is open to all researchers from graduate students to senior scientists. Applicants are welcome from all nationalities.
Application & Deadline: http://www.ctfs.si.edu - July 28, 2006
Contact: Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute CTFS Grants Program, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancón, Panamá, República de Panamá; 507-212-8144

 

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