Mentoring Compacts: These documents help you and your mentor to align both of your expectations (yes, as a mentee, you should have and are encouraged to articulate your expectations), improve communication, and establish actionable goals for your mentoring experience. Your mentor may come with their own version, but if they don't, you can use this downloadable one as a guide.

 

Poster templates: Whether you are making your own poster for the first time or just can't remember when/how you landed on your current poster format and want to check out an alternative, here are two very basic templates: one in landscape and one in portrait.

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OTHER OPPORTUNITIES

-CCFBA: The Community College Field Biology Alliance is an 8-month mentorship program in terrestrial and aquatic ecology. Participants, all community college students in Los Angeles County, develop an original research project alongside a graduate student mentor, spend a week camping in the Sierra Nevada, present their research, and receive a stipend. Information about CCFBA recruitment for the 2024 cohort can be found here.

-RMBL (pronounced 'rumble'): The Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory provides logistical support for scientists and students, including access to living quarters, research laboratories, and protected research sites. RMBL focuses on the importance of preserving and providing access to historical data about the local ecosystems. It offers an NSF-Funded summer (10-week) REU program. This program involves independent research and coursework and supports students with a stipend.

- University of Southern California REU program at the Wrigley Institute on Catalina Island: The Wrigley REU program is an NSF-funded summer research experience and supports students with a stipend. Students who prefer not to participate in the program at Wrigley can also apply to the sibling program at the main USC campus.

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The National Science Foundation funds Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU). These are usually 10-week summer programs, but shorter summer programs and similar on-site programs offered during regular academic terms are available at colleges, universities, and research institutions and sites across the United States and its territories. While a handful are listed above, many many more are available. All accept community college students and most now actively recruit such students as part of NSF's recent investment in supporting research at emerging research institutions. You can search for REU sites/dates that match your interests and availability by field, keyword, or state. REUs typically pay for or provide travel, lodging, and food costs as well as providing a stipend. They are wonderful opportunities to connect and network with faculty and staff scientists and their graduate students as you prepare for transfer to a four-year institution and/or graduate school.