Date

Travel Grants for Undergraduates Presenting at Estuarine Research
Federation Conference 2005

For further information, contact:
Randy Chambers, College of William and Mary
E-mail: rmcham [at] wm.edu


The National Science Foundation Undergraduate Mentoring in Environmental
Biology (UMEB) program, in collaboration with the Estuarine Research
Federation (ERF) is providing funding for up to 15 undergraduate
students to travel to the Fall 2005 ERF Conference in Norfolk, VA.
Funding will be for undergraduate students of the environment who are
involved in estuarine or coastal marine research, particularly those
students from groups under-represented in the sciences.

All UMEB/ERF students receiving travel funds for the conference will
present a scientific poster or paper based on research completed since
ERF 2003. Through each day's events, UMEB/ERF students and their mentors
will have structured times to gather as a group and/or in individual
pairs to discuss, share, and ensure an educationally distinctive and
rewarding learning experience. Students will get a chance to put their
research within the context of estuarine and coastal science conducted
internationally and learn more about careers in estuarine science.

Who is eligible: Undergraduate students who will be presenting posters
or papers at the Fall 2005 ERF meeting in Norfolk, VA. Note that
students must have submitted their conference abstract and abstract fees
on the Conference website by 15 March 2005. The NSF-UMEB program has
provided funding specifically to encourage participation by students
from groups under-represented in the sciences: Native Americans
(including American Indians and Alaskan Natives), African-Americans,
Hispanics, and Native Pacific Islanders. The goal is that 80% of
selected students will be from these groups under-represented in the
sciences.

What participants get: Travel, hotel, registration, and subsistence
support during the conference, plus registration support for their
faculty mentor. In addition to their own poster presentations and to
attending oral and poster sessions throughout the week, participating
students will attend UMEB/ERF events including a pre-conference
workshop, an initial meet-and-greet with distinguished ERF
representatives, meetings/discussions with faculty mentors, a student
career event/pizza social, a Women's Aquatic Network luncheon, a mixer
with graduate students and scientists from the coastal NSF-LTER
programs, and an end-of-conference evaluation session.

How to apply: First, you must submit your abstract and abstract fees via
the conference website (http://www.sgmeet.com/erf2005/abstracts.htm) by
15 March 2005, so that you will be presenting a paper or poster at the
meeting. Only after your abstract has been submitted, apply for
Undergraduate Mentoring at ERF 2005; the application will be online at
the conference website starting 1 March. Applications for the UMEB/ERF
program will be accepted through 1 June 2005.

Contact Randy Chambers (rmcham [at] wm.edu) at the College of William and
Mary for more information.