Skip to main content

This website will experience intermittent outages from Saturday Dec 19 - 29. Editors may not edit. Get a Restoration Notice

Mentoring program

ESA Invasion Ecology Section Mentorship Program

GOAL: The purpose of the Invasion Ecology Section mentorship program is to help members further their career prospects in the field through a guided professional relationship with an experienced invasion ecologist.

Mentor Pairing: Members expressing interest in the program would complete a questionnaire which includes questions on education, research interests, dissertation/thesis topic, specific things they would like to work on etc.  This information would then be made available to a list of mentors to see who would be interested in pairing with the member – in this way, it reinforces the voluntary element of the program.

Although the level of commitment is ultimately up to each group/pair, we suggest trying to meet at least every 4-6 weeks. If you have interest in either serving as a mentor, mentee, or BOTH, please fill out this Google form here.
https://forms.gle/nddKeTRTconN4Ymy9

Expectations and Minimum Level of Commitment for Mentors and Mentees

Mentees

  • Are encouraged to meet with mentors at least once per month leading up to the annual meeting:
    •  As part of this meeting, mentees should prepare a list of deliverables (if applicable) from the previous meeting’s discussion or a list of items for discussion (esp. first meeting).
    • This list should be provided to the mentor at least a week before the scheduled meeting. Relevant list items include help with CV preparation, work-life balance questions, graduate school or post-doc application questions, grant proposals, etc. Mentee may also request research mentorship in the form of advice on ongoing research, manuscript comments, etc. 

Mentors

  • Should be the first party to reach out to schedule the initial meeting
    • First meeting should be getting to know each other; introductions, journey to where they are, etc. This should also be where both parties can begin setting goals for the next 3 or 4 months.
  • Meet with mentees as needed (e.g. once per month) 
  • Provide timely feedback to mentee’s inquiries
  • Work with mentees to prepare a list of tasks and deliverables for review at the next meeting. This can be anything from an updated CV or cover letter to a general abstract for a small-grant application. This can also include topics of interest such as “how to get a postdoc position”, “work-life balance”, “how to initiate a collaboration”, etc. 
  • Hold Mentees accountable for any deliverables or tasks that have to be completed.