Conference: Early Career Mentorship at Research Conferences

This project will support activities for early career scientists at the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) annual meetings in 2026 and 2027. Fifty early career scientists (ECS), from undergraduate students through 10 years after graduation, will gain mentorship and knowledge about the different academic pathways. Activities will include a workshop for students interested in academic jobs (tenure versus non-tenure, hard- versus soft-funded positions, etc.), a session for ten undergraduate students to present research results, and networking opportunities throughout the meeting. Lastly, the project will allow undergraduate students to co-chair a session at a scientific meeting and gain deep understanding of managing a session at a professional meeting.

There is a lack of knowledge about the tenure pathway in academic careers among ECSs. To address the lack of information available to ECSs, this project outlines three activities to allow for ECS mentorship at research conferences. These activities would be run in conjunction with the 2026 and 2027 Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) meetings. First, a workshop will be held specifically to address the academic tenure pathway and how to be successful at each step. Second, an undergraduate-only oral and poster session will be held to allow undergraduates to present their research at the conference. This session will also include an undergraduate session co-chair to understand the process of running sessions at scientific meetings. Finally, three informal meetups will be held for ECS throughout the meeting with workshop presenters and session co-chairs to respond to questions and provide additional advice.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

Award Number: 2533385
Principal Investigator: Hayley Schiebel
Funds Obligated: $49,950
State: MA