ESA SEEDS Spring Newsletter

ESA SEEDS Spring Newsletter    May 2015
Greetings SEEDS family! Congratulations to the graduating class of 2015! We at the SEEDS program wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors and may they be filled with a thirst for knowledge.  The academic year has come to an end and summer is finally here! Many of you are traveling to new destinations for REU’s, internships, fellowships or taking a break before starting graduate school – Wherever this summer takes you, keep it filled with science and nature… 2015 SEEDS Leadership Meeting - Pollination! Celebrating its 10th Anniversary the 2015 SEEDS Leadership Meeting was held May 6-10 at NorthBay Adventure Camp in North East, Maryland.  Twenty three students from across the US, as well as ESA President, Dr. David Inouye, met around the theme, Pollination Science, Policy and Communication.  Students were able to discover amazing career paths around the science of pollination, and tour areas of Maryland and Washington, DC.  With the help of Dr. Sam Droege and numerous other partners from the USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, the US Forest Service and the University of Maryland – we explored pollination science, from data to policy, and everything that falls in-between! Students also visited ESA HQ and picked up some communications strategies from Liza Lester, ESA’s Communications Officer!  Later this year, watch for educational outreach activity ideas for a Pollination Toolkit - generated by participants! To learn more about this trip and see some great pictures from this group – follow us on Facebook and check out the photo album. 2015-2016 SEEDS Partnership for Undergraduate Research (SPUR) Fellows Congratulations to the incoming 2015-2016 SEEDS Fellows! The SPUR Fellowship program, with funding from the National Science Foundation and our partners, will support four students to conduct an independent ecological investigation with the help of a mentor scientist at three field stations. As part of the Fellowship program, students participate in SEEDS Leadership Meetings and present their research at the 2016 ESA Annual Meeting in Florida. The SEEDS Fellowship is our program's highest honor, and we are thrilled to welcome these deserving candidates: Coral Aviles, a junior from the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras, will be working at Texas Tech University Llano River Field Station on watersheds.  She is also very excited about developing educational outreach materials for the station. Kyle Reid, a junior from the University of Illinois at Chicago will also be working at Texas Tech University Llano River Field Station.  Kyle is particularly interested in bats, but he’s eager to explore other projects.  A Chicago native himself, he is happy to be out the city for the summer. Roxanne Hoorn, a freshman from Eckerd College in Florida will be conducting her research at Harvard Forest as part of their REU program.  She is very interested in ecology and loves being outdoors; she is developing a research project with ants. Brandon Hoenig, a junior at Duquesne University will be spending his summer in his home state of Pennsylvania at a program from the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.  His research project is focused on stream ecology and riparian zones.  Brandon is also an avid birdwatcher and fisherman. SEEDS at the 100th ESA Annual Meeting in Baltimore! This August 9-14, the Ecological Society of America is celebrating its 100th Annual Meeting and SEEDS is ready to celebrate! This year we are bringing over fifty undergraduate students and ten SEEDS Alumni to attend this once-in-a-lifetime event. That’s over 60 students – our biggest SEEDS group in history! They will get to experience the world’s largest ecology meeting and network with thousands of scientist covering every aspect of ecology. Come and celebrate with us and meet our amazing SEEDS students at these events: Thursday, August 13 - ESA Diversity Luncheon (TK5): SEEDS Awards ceremony Thursday, August 13 – SEEDS Chapter Presentations Visit our SEEDS booth during poster session in the Exhibit Hall! Interested in being a mentor to one of our SEEDS students during the meeting?  Sign-up to be a SEEDS mentor TODAY! Deadline to Sign-Up is May 30, 2015. SEEDS Ecological Field Trip – Application will OPEN next month! We are pleased to announce that applications will soon open for 20 students from across the US to visit HJ Andrews Experimental Forest in beautiful Blue River, Oregon from October 1-4, 2015.   The Andrews Forest is a great representation of the Pacific Northwest mountainous landscape and hosts a very unique research station studying conifer forests, wildlife and stream ecology.  To be eligible, students must be enrolled in an institution within the United States. Preference will be given to freshmen, sophomores and other students that have not had prior opportunity to engage in ecology research or field experience. Students from underrepresented minority groups, low income and first generation college students are strongly encouraged to apply. The SEEDS program will cover field trip expenses including travel, lodging, and meals for selected students. We hope that all of you have a great summer! Best wishes, ESA-SEEDS Staff	IN THIS ISSUE : 2015 SEEDS Leadership Meeting on Pollination!  2015-2016 SEEDS Partnership for Undergraduate Research (SPUR) Fellows 100th ESA Annual Meeting SEEDS Events   Student Opportunity:    SEEDS National Field Trip   Find SEEDS on Facebookand Twitter or join our conversations on LinkedIn The mission of SEEDS is to diversify and advance the ecology profession through opportunities that stimulate and nurture the interest and leadership of underrepresented students in ecology.
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