SOCIETY OF WETLAND SCIENTISTS (SWS) MULTICULTURAL MENTORING PROGRAM: UNDERGRADUATE MENTORING AT THE ANNUAL MEETING

湿地科学家协会(SWS)的多元文化指导计划已经进入第17个年头。这一新奖项将支持在未来四年内每年从代表不足的群体中选出七名本科生参加该项目。SWS认识到有必要接触代表性不足的群体，为个人成长和发展提供智力机会。从代表性不足的群体中挑选出来的一批本科生参加年度科学会议，为每个学生提供了关于湿地科学和个人接触的广度和深度的视角和接触，这是单一的学术母校无法获得的。将前SWS多元文化辅导计划参与者(现为研究生)与本科生配对的点对点辅导将有助于创建一个包容的社区，并增加本科生在科学领域的留存率。该奖项还将继续与规模更大的美国生态学会(ESA SEED)少数族裔本科生指导计划之间的富有成效和协同作用；来自SWS的两名参与者受邀参加ESA SEED年度领导会议，并将他们的经验带回SWS年会。参与者调查结果的摘要将发表在SWS公告《湿地科学与实践》上。SWS认识到有必要接触代表性不足的群体，为个人成长和发展提供智力机会。由于SWS横跨学术、政府和私人咨询部门，学生们能够根据个人对湿地科学的兴趣来定制他们的日常活动。各种战略(社会活动、实地考察、辅导、职业发展讲习班、通过欧空局种子进行领导能力培训)将为获奖者提供指导和增强自信，并将导致生态科学的族裔和种族多样化。通过在SWS和ESA年会上将本科生与研究生或教师导师配对，并提供面向职业发展的研讨会和研讨会，SWS正在培养积极的参与和讨论，这是促进科学进步和促进本科生智力发展的关键组成部分。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The Society of Wetland Scientists (SWS) Multicultural Mentoring Program is in its 17th year. This new award will support the participation in the program of seven undergraduate students per year from underrepresented groups for the next four years. SWS recognizes the need to reach out to underrepresented groups to provide intellectual opportunities for personal growth and development. 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. Peer to peer mentoring involving pairing former SWS Multicultural Mentoring Program participants that are now graduate students with undergraduate students will help create an inclusive community and increase retention of undergraduate students in science. This award 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. A summary of participant survey results will be published in the SWS bulletin, Wetland Science and Practice. SWS recognizes the need to reach out to underrepresented groups to provide intellectual opportunities for personal growth and development. 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 the award recipients and will lead to 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.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.