ESA continued its support for the award-winning SEEDS program in 2018 as well. Now up to 107 chapters with hundreds of students involved, SEEDS was able to support two separate field trips over the year — to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, California, and the Llano River Field Station in Junction, Texas — involving 40 students from underrepresented backgrounds in hands-on science and academic and personal development. They hosted their yearly Leadership Meeting at the Southwestern Research Station in Portal, Arizona. Twenty-two students from SEEDS chapters and SEEDS Fellows joined Pres. Laura Huenneke for workshops and activities related to Border Ecology for 21st century ecology.
Highlights from the 2018 @ESA_SEEDS Leadership Meeting in Portal, AZ at the @swrsamnh! #Ecology #Leaders #NextGenerationScientist #FutureEcologists @ESA_org @ESAedu @esa_students pic.twitter.com/q7C6DGSrSv
— ESA – SEEDS (@ESA_SEEDS) September 28, 2018
SEEDS also brought 41 undergraduates and seven alumni to the Annual Meeting in partnership with the Doris Duke Conservation Scholars Program led by University of Florida. Of these students, 38 presented their research. The SEEDS program included eight events.
Additionally:
- Seven 2017-2018 SEEDS Partnerships for Undergraduate Research (SPUR) Fellows were recognized during the ESA Diversity Luncheon.
- Eight 2018-2019 SPUR Fellows completed their summer research at five partner field sites.
- Twenty students participated in the SEEDS Leadership Meeting September 18-23, at the Southwestern Research Station in Portal, Arizona, on the theme: “Border Ecology: the interactions between ecology and other fields.” Laura Huenneke, ESA President, and George Middendorf from Howard University were key to the success of the event.
ESA’s Director of Education and Diversity Programs was first author on The Role of a Professional Society in Broadening Participation in Science: A National Model for Increasing Persistence; BioScience, Volume 68, Issue 9, 1 September 2018, Pages 715–721.
Student Mentoring
ESA supports mentoring for students and early career ecologists through its section structure and through its Society-wide programs. EcologyPlus — a collective impact NSF INCLUDES pilot project involving 15 partners in the Greater Washington metropolitan region — was launched in March 2018 to facilitate year-round mentoring of diverse undergraduate, graduate students and recent graduates. EcologyPlus supported 21 participants on their career development plan and offered two skills development workshops.