SOCIETY OF WETLAND SCIENTISTS DIVERSITY PROGRAM: UNDERGRADUATE MENTORING AT THE ANNUAL MEETING

湿地科学家协会（SWS）本科生多样性指导计划已进入第12个年头。这个新奖项将在未来五年内每年支持7名来自代表性不足群体的本科生参与该项目。它还将继续在规模大得多的美国生态学会（ESA SEEDS）的少数民族本科生指导计划之间开展富有成效的协同合作；邀请两名来自SWS的参与者参加ESA SEEDS年度领导会议，并将他们的经验带回SWS年会上。SWS认识到需要接触到代表性不足的群体，为个人成长和发展提供智力机会。参加科学会议通常可以提供智力火花，以及为未来建立联系的机会，鼓励本科生在学士学位之后继续他们的专业教育。该项目的一个主要目标是为这些学生打开大门。生态专业人员的多样化预期将促进更好的科学和科学应用，因为更多不同观点的融合。参加者调查结果的摘要将刊载于《湿地科学与实践》。从代表性不足的群体中选出一组本科学生参加年度科学会议，为每个学生提供了一个视角，并接触到湿地科学的广度和深度，以及在单个学术机构无法获得的个人接触。由于SWS涵盖学术，政府和私人咨询部门，学生可以根据自己对湿地科学的个人兴趣定制日常活动。各种策略（社会活动、实地考察、指导、职业发展研讨会、通过ESA SEEDS进行的领导力培训）将为获奖者提供指导和增强自信心，从而促进生态科学的民族和种族多样化。通过在SWS和ESA年会中将本科生与研究生或教师导师配对，并通过提供面向职业发展的研讨会和专题讨论会，SWS正在培养积极参与和讨论，这是推进科学和促进本科生智力发展的关键组成部分。

The Society of Wetland Scientists (SWS) Diversity Mentoring Program for Undergraduates is in its twelfth year. This new award will support the participation in the program of seven undergraduate students from underrepresented groups each year for the next five years. It will also continue a productive and synergistic collaboration between the much larger minority undergraduate mentoring program of the Ecological Society of America (ESA SEEDS); two participants from SWS are invited to attend the annual ESA SEEDS leadership meeting and bring their experiences back to the SWS annual meeting. SWS recognizes the need to reach out to underrepresented groups to provide intellectual opportunities for personal growth and development. Attendance at scientific meetings can often provide the intellectual spark, along with the opportunities to make contacts for the future, that encourage undergraduate students to continue their professional education beyond the Bachelors level. A major goal of the program is to open doors for these students. Diversification of ecologically oriented professionals is expected to promote better science and science applications as a result of the melding of more diverse perspectives. A summary of participant survey results will be published in the SWS bulletin, Wetland Science and Practice.Attendance of a select group of undergraduate students from underrepresented groups at an annual scientific meeting provides each student with a perspective on and exposure to the breadth and depth of wetland science and personal contacts that cannot be obtained at a single academic home institution. Because SWS spans academic, government, and private consulting sectors, students are able to tailor their daily activities to their personal interests in wetland science. A variety of strategies (social events, field trips, mentoring, career development workshops, leadership training through ESA SEEDS) will provide guidance and boost self-assurance for award recipients that will lead to greater ethnic and racial diversification of the ecological sciences. By pairing undergraduate students with graduate student or faculty mentors at both the SWS and ESA annual meetings and by providing workshops and symposia oriented toward career development, SWS is fostering active participation and discussion, key components of advancing science and promoting the intellectual development of undergraduate students.