{"id":508,"date":"2013-03-04T21:08:10","date_gmt":"2013-03-04T21:08:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/esa.org\/seeds2\/?page_id=508"},"modified":"2026-05-19T19:58:49","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T19:58:49","slug":"mentoring","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/esa.org\/seeds\/meetings\/annual-meeting\/mentoring\/","title":{"rendered":"SEEDS Mentoring at the ESA Annual Meeting"},"content":{"rendered":"<table style=\"width: 100%\" border=\"0\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"33%\"><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-40121 size-medium alignleft img-fluid\" src=\"https:\/\/esa.org\/seeds\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2024\/01\/c2-52-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/esa.org\/seeds\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2024\/01\/c2-52-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/esa.org\/seeds\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2024\/01\/c2-52-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/esa.org\/seeds\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2024\/01\/c2-52-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/esa.org\/seeds\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2024\/01\/c2-52-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/esa.org\/seeds\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2024\/01\/c2-52.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/span><\/td>\n<td width=\"34%\"><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-40122 aligncenter img-fluid\" src=\"https:\/\/esa.org\/seeds\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2024\/01\/c2-89-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/esa.org\/seeds\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2024\/01\/c2-89-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/esa.org\/seeds\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2024\/01\/c2-89-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/esa.org\/seeds\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2024\/01\/c2-89-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/esa.org\/seeds\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2024\/01\/c2-89-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/esa.org\/seeds\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2024\/01\/c2-89.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/span><\/td>\n<td width=\"33%\"><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-40123 aligncenter img-fluid\" src=\"https:\/\/esa.org\/seeds\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2024\/01\/c2-196-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Three women and SEEDS attendees pose for a picture at the Annual Meeting.\" width=\"307\" height=\"204\" srcset=\"https:\/\/esa.org\/seeds\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2024\/01\/c2-196-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/esa.org\/seeds\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2024\/01\/c2-196-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/esa.org\/seeds\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2024\/01\/c2-196-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/esa.org\/seeds\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2024\/01\/c2-196-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/esa.org\/seeds\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2024\/01\/c2-196-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 307px) 100vw, 307px\" \/><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">The <\/span><a style=\"font-size: 12pt\" href=\"https:\/\/esa.org\">Ecological Society of America<\/a><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\"> SEEDS Program is seeking ESA members and Annual Meeting participants to serve as <\/span><strong style=\"font-size: 12pt\">SEEDS\u00a0Meeting Mentors<\/strong><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\"> for undergraduate students for the 2026 ESA Annual Meeting from July 26 \u2013 31 in Salt Lake City, Utah! This year, the SEEDS program will host 20 students from all backgrounds, presenting their research, and with a demonstrated commitment to the program\u2019s mission. The mentoring program is integral in helping SEEDS nurture student interest in ecology and provide them with a rewarding science experience.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div>\n<h3><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif\">What is a SEEDS Meeting Mentor?<\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: georgia, palatino, serif\">If you are matched with a student, your primary role as a meeting mentor will be to help guide your student through the meeting agenda and, if you feel comfortable, share your personal experiences in the field of ecology. <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: georgia, palatino, serif\"><em>You will share your advice, help them select sessions, help them network and introduce them to others, talk about research being presented, but most important \u2013 be a familiar face among the thousands.<\/em> <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: georgia, palatino, serif\">You are also encouraged to attend your mentee\u2019s presentations at the meeting. \u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: georgia, palatino, serif\">A meeting mentor should be active and engaged in ecology bringing with them a positive view of ecology and research, while being sensitive to the non-traditional views of science that some students may bring to the meeting.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif\">Pre-Meeting<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif\"><strong>Signing up does not guarantee that you will be selected by a SEEDS student.<\/strong> Each student picks their own mentor from the list of volunteers.\u00a0 <span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">If you are matched, your role will begin in late summer when you receive your student\u2019s contact information and they receive yours. SEEDS staff will ask for communication with your student before the meeting. During this time, you and your student will get to know each other via email and\/or phone exchanges. You will also help answer any of their questions or concerns before the meeting.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif\">At the Meeting<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: georgia, palatino, serif\">Once at the meeting starts, we ask that mentors meet with their students at least once a day. Mentoring is a lot of responsibility, and we want our students to feel welcome, encouraged and treated with respect. Anticipated commitment is about 15-30 minutes per day. Here is a list of the required events for mentors to attend:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif\">SEEDS Mentor Orientation (Required for all new mentors) \u2013 Sunday, July 26, 2026<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif\">SEEDS Welcome Dinner (Required for all mentors) \u2013 Sunday, July 26, 2026<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif\">SEEDS Mentor\/Mentee Breakfast (Required for all mentors) \u2013 Monday, July 27, 2026<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif\">All Meeting Mentors are expected to be familiar with and adhere to the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/esa.org\/esa\/meetings\/esa-meetings-code-of-conduct\/\">ESA Meetings Code of Conduct.<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif\">Post-Meeting<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: georgia, palatino, serif\">We will ask you to complete a brief evaluation via email. If you and your student both wish, we encourage you to continue communication with each other.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif\">Eligibility\/Selection<\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: georgia, palatino, serif\">Mentors need to be a graduate student or a professional in the field and have previously attended at least one ESA Annual Meeting.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif\">Must already be attending in-person the 2026 ESA Annual Meeting in SLC. <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif\">This is a voluntary position; we do not provide any sort of funding for this opportunity.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: georgia, palatino, serif\">Attendance required at the listed SEEDS events.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif\">Guide your mentee to network and meet colleagues and friends.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif\">Share your personal experiences in Ecology with your mentee.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif\">We strongly encourage you to attend your mentee\u2019s presentation.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: georgia, palatino, serif\"><em>Please note that we try to match ESA mentor volunteers with students based on common ecology interests. If we are unable to make a match or have more volunteers than student awardees, you may not be selected. <strong>Signing up does not guarantee that you will be a meeting mentor.<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif\">What do I get as a mentor?<\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: georgia, palatino, serif\">We think Terry Chapin, past ESA President and SEEDS Meeting Mentor, says it best: <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif;font-size: 12pt\"><i>\u201c<\/i><i>One of ESA\u2019s activities that I value most is the SEEDS Program. I really like working with SEEDS students at the ESA meeting. They are some of the most motivated students I see at the meeting and are really likely to make a difference in the world. I enjoy learning about their plans for school and career and working together to figure out how to navigate the meeting in a way that is fun and useful.<\/i><i>\u201c<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif\"><a href=\"https:\/\/esa.org\/seeds\/esa-annual-meeting-seeds-mentor-sign-up\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-3542 size-medium img-fluid\" src=\"https:\/\/esa.org\/seeds\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2015\/09\/Register-now-300x108.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"108\" srcset=\"https:\/\/esa.org\/seeds\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2015\/09\/Register-now-300x108.png 300w, https:\/\/esa.org\/seeds\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2015\/09\/Register-now.png 469w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif\"><strong>Register by June 29, 2026<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<hr>\n<h3><span style=\"font-family: georgia, palatino, serif\">Staff contact<\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;font-family: georgia, palatino, serif\">\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:seeds@esa.org\">seeds@esa.org<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Ecological Society of America SEEDS Program is seeking ESA members and Annual Meeting participants to serve as SEEDS\u00a0Meeting Mentors for undergraduate students for the 2026 ESA Annual Meeting from July 26 \u2013 31 in Salt Lake City, Utah! This year, the SEEDS program will host 20 students from all backgrounds, presenting their research, and with a demonstrated commitment to&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":0,"parent":6192,"menu_order":14,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-508","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/seeds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/508","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/seeds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/seeds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/seeds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/seeds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=508"}],"version-history":[{"count":28,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/seeds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/508\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42114,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/seeds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/508\/revisions\/42114"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/seeds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/seeds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}