Minutes from October 20, 2009...

• The Nature Conservancy Diversity Internship Program Ed Smith and Neil Chapman from the Nature Conservancy spoke to us about their experiences working in the organization and about the importance of internships and seasonal work with the organization for their careers.  The Diversity Internship Program has 44 paid internship opportunities in science, business & marketing, and even law.  To see for yourself, just go here and search "diversity internship."  Make sure you check out the information available on their careers page!  If you have questions about the Diversity Internship Program you can contact Von Gretchen Nelson at 703-247-3742. If you have questions about what the Nature Conservancy does locally, you can contact Ed Smith at 928-774-8892 x4.
• IGERT Undergraduate Program Matt Lau talked about applying for the IGERT Undergraduate Award to support a research project that you design.  He pointed out that this is worth pursuing even if primary research isn't necessarily what you're interested in doing for your career - showing that you can get grants and do a research project always looks good. 
• Matt is interested in being a mentor for students who want to apply for this award.  He's especially interested in the evolutionary consequences of interactions, which encompasses a wide range of possible projects.  If you're interested, email him soon at mkl48@nau.edu.  The application is due November 30th.
• If you want to start research, but aren’t sure about writing your own proposal, there are opportunities (with funding!) in the Cottonwood Ecology Group and you can always apply for the IGERT Undergraduate Program or Hooper Award next year.
• Vision We have four main goals for our SEEDS chapter:

• More student involvement
• An ongoing chapter project
• Help people find jobs and internships and other opportunities
• Support existing undergraduate researchers and inspire new ones.

We had a great conversation about some ways to make this happen and will be talking more about it at our next meeting!

Minutes from Past Meetings
November 3, 2009	May 21, 2009
October 20, 2009	May 7, 2009
September 10, 2009	April 23, 2009
August 31, 2009	March 26, 2009
August 19, 2009	February 26, 2009
June 17, 2009	February 12, 2009
June 3, 2009	January 29, 2009
May 21, 2009	November 20, 2008