Winter 2005 Newsletter
Thank you Judges!
More than 260 students (out of over 300 students attending) elected to have their oral presentation or their poster judged at the ERF 2005 conference. Judging provides critical feedback by experienced scientists who agree to evaluate a talk or poster. Judging is only possible through the commitment of many volunteers who agree to take the time to evaluate a presentation. Over 230 judges volunteered, including 50 graduate students who judged undergraduate papers. You performed an invaluable service and the students benefited greatly from your time and effort.
Thanks to the Student Judging Team!
For co-chairs, Chris Swarth and Judith Stribling, matching 260 students with 230 judges was like tussling with a long, convoluted logic question on the GRE. Twenty- five variables were examined for each student-judge pair and three judges were assigned for each presentation. Our goal was to assign judges to talks related to their specific field of expertise. We also tried very hard to keep anyone from racing between the Sheraton to the Marriott to judge back-to-back talks. We hope we succeeded! Helping us at the judging table for three long days were Pat and Frank Reilly, while Erika De La Fuente and Helen Schneider, registration staff, were always there to provide answers to our many questions. After the conference, we mailed the written evaluations to the students (without revealing who the judges were), so they could read the comments made by the judging teams.
The top 10 student awardees reflect the conference theme (physical and biological interactions), and our national and international membership. The high percentage of women (70%) also indicates the important contributions young women scientists are making to estuarine science.
Other Stats:
- Four presentations focused on physical processes in estuaries; three on estuarine higher organisms; two on biogeochemistry; and one student studied a non-estuarine subject (corals in the Marshall Islands).
- Eight graduate students (6 PhD. and 2 Masters students) and two undergraduates.
- Five from the East Coast, two from the West Coast and one from the Gulf Coast
- Two students from countries outside the U.S. (Australia and the Netherlands).
First place: Jennifer Spicer, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Second Place: Meir Sussman, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia
Third Place: Malcolm Scully, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Gloucester Point, Virginia
Honorable Mention: Jessie Campbell, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Gloucester Point, Virginia
First Place Tie: May Ling Becker, University of North
Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
and Michela Burla, OGI School of Science and
Engineering, Beaverton, Oregon
Third Place: Thomas Mozdzer, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia
Honorable Mention: Karin Huijts, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands
First Place: Gabrielle Lyons, Hampton University, Hampton, Virginia
Second Place: Cecilia Lewis, Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington
The top 50 students in all categories received a copy of Ivan Valiela's new book, Doing Science: Design, Analysis, and Communication of Scientific Research. Dr. Valiela, 2005 recipient of the Federation's William A.Niering Award, donated his honorarium to this cause.
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The ERF Student Volunteers were essential in assisting with conference operations over the entire six days in Norfolk. If you attended just one talk (and we know you attended more than one), read any of the posters, or liked your tote bag and all of its contents, thank an ERF Student Volunteer!
Over 100 students, from 41 academic institutions, 22 states/U.S. territories, and 5 foreign countries, each committed from 10-14 volunteer hours and helped with a myriad of behind-the-scene conference activities. ERF Student volunteers ran all of the projectors and other a/v equipment for ALL of the conference presentations, special sessions, and meetings. They helped to set up the poster hall and assisted the poster presenters with poster set-up and other logistics. They assembled all of the conference tote bags and assisted at the registration area throughout the week (which was also a great way to meet and greet other ERF members). They cruised around Chesapeake Bay while assisting with the pre-conference field trips. They were also good, all-around crisis-solvers, always eager to help without saying "Sorry, I've done my 14 hours already".
In return for their help at the conference, student volunteers received many benefits including free student conference registration, a lovely bright orange volunteer T-shirt, and good ERF karma brownie points.
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for all you did!
Students and mentors packed the Sheraton Ballroom for a fun evening of networking and dining during the biennial ERF Student Career Night and Pizza Social. Tables full of enthusiastic estuarine and coastal mentors, who included established scientists and recently employed graduates representing academic institutions, federal agencies, non-governmental organizations, and consulting firms, answered career questions from ERF students.
Between slices of pie, mentors shared the deep dish on student internship and employment opportunities and job search tools and skills. In addition to bellies full of free food (thanks to our many sponsors of this event including the ERF Affiliate Societies), students left with valuable career information and key contacts to add to their networks.
Thank you to all of the ERF students who turned out in masse for the event and to all of the ERF mentors who shared their experiences, advice, business cards and program fliers with the students. If you liked the informal, mixer-style nature of this event, be sure to join us at ERF 07 for the debut of an even more interactive and exciting event format!
The Federation thanks the Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences, Graduate Studies Program and Salisbury University, Henson School of Science and Technology for cosponsoring Dr. Peter S. Fiske's nationally renowned Putting Your Science to Work workshop for graduate students and post-docs in all fields of science.
Thirty ERF students took advantage of this great opportunity to hear this featured NPR Talk of the Nation- Science Friday guest present an up-beat, practical and often humorous career planning and job hunting overview in today's job market from the perspective of a young scientist. Fiske highlighted specific steps that graduate students and post-docs can take to broaden their horizons and strengthen their skills, including the realization that most young scientists possess a range of valuable "transferable skills" that are highly sought after by employers in and out of science. Fiske also covered specifics of job-hunting, including informational interviewing, and building a network.
All students received Fiske's booklet Putting Your Degree to Work: Practical Career Strategies for Ph.D.s. Fiske was an engaging presenter who, after his workshop, spoke one-on-one with many students who had questions.
Workshop participant Joel Hoffman, Ph.D. candidate at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, commented, "It was great to hear a young scientist speak to us about issues in today's job market. Dr. Peter Fiske provided a knowledgeable perspective about what it means to hold a Ph.D. now and how we can learn and grow as scientists throughout our careers."
With funding from NSF's Undergraduate Mentoring in Environmental Biology (UMEB) program, ERF sponsored 14 students from groups under represented in the sciences. The students were treated to a full week of events including a field trip co-sponsored by ERF and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, mentor meetings, career discussions, and various socials. Two UMEB students received undergraduate awards for their poster presentations: Cecilia Lewis (2nd place for her research at Western Washington University) and Greg Losada (honorable mention for his research at Florida International University). UMEB students were uniformly enthusiastic about the friendly ERF atmosphere and most left the meeting with lots of personal contacts for graduate school and professional opportunities.
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