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1. Chasing inter-species communication: what marine mammals are telling us about our oceans

   https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsad030  

   Moore, Sue E (March 2023, ICES Journal of Marine Science)

   Browman, Howard (Ed.)

   Abstract I describe my path through a series of opportunities that provided stepping stones from childhood years in the landlocked US Midwest to a 45-year-long career focused on cetacean behaviour and ecology. My early interest in the ocean and dolphins led me to switch from majoring in journalism to biology during my undergraduate years. While pursuing a master’s degree focused on bioacoustics, I was employed as a contract scientist with the US Navy’s marine mammal laboratory. During 20 years there, my work ranged from dolphin calling behaviour to marine mammal distribution in Alaskan waters, culminating in a Ph.D. dissertation on cetacean habitats in the Alaskan Arctic. Subsequently, I enjoyed a 20-year career with the US NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service. There, I developed and advanced the idea that marine mammals can act as sentinels of ocean variability. To interpret the messages that marine mammals convey about the ocean, we must broaden science discourse to include Indigenous Knowledge and lessons from the experiences of people whose livelihoods depend on the sea. My advice to students and young professionals is to follow your passion while seeking the perspectives of colleagues from a variety of disciplines and people from all cultures and backgrounds. Coupled with a healthy dose of luck, this approach worked for me. 

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2. Remaining safe conducting Field work While Black (FWB), and Tips for PIs, Universities, and Employers of Black Individuals

   https://doi.org/10.1093/icb/icad062  

   Troutman, Alex (June 2023, Integrative And Comparative Biology)

   Synopsis Field work is essential to the career of many biologists; however, when working in the field while black (FWB), everyday tasks conducted while in the field can be life-threatening. As a Black individual or as the principal investigator supervising Black individuals, safety in the field requires you to not only navigate weather and wildlife but also your fellow humans. In this article, I address some of the challenges faced by Black scientists in the field, as well as within conservation agencies, universities, and neighboring towns of field sites. I will also discuss how PIs, universities, and employers can ensure a safer, more inclusive experience for their Black friends, colleagues, and students while conducting fieldwork. 

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3. The faculty-to-faculty mentorship experience: a survey on challenges and recommendations for improvements

   https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2023.0983  

   Sarabipour, Sarvenaz; Niemi, Natalie M.; Burgess, Steven J.; Smith, Christopher T.; Bisson Filho, Alexandre W.; Ibrahim, Ahmed; Clark, Kelly (December 2023, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences)

   Faculty at research institutions play a central role in advancing knowledge and careers, as well as promoting the well-being of students and colleagues in research environments. Mentorship from experienced peers has been touted as critical for enabling these myriad roles to allow faculty development, career progression, and satisfaction. However, there is little information available on who supports faculty and best ways to structure a faculty mentorship programme for early- and mid-career academics. In the interest of advocating for increased and enhanced faculty mentoring and mentoring programmes, we surveyed faculty around the world to gather data on whether and how they receive mentoring. We received responses from 457 early- and mid-career faculty and found that a substantial portion of respondents either reported having no mentor or a lack of a formal mentoring scheme. Qualitative responses on the quality of mentorship revealed that the most common complaints regarding mentorship included lack of mentor availability, unsatisfactory commitment to mentorship, and non-specific or non-actionable advice. On these suggestions, we identify a need for training for faculty mentors as well as strategies for individual mentors, departments, and institutions for funding and design of more intentional and supportive mentorship programmes for early- and mid-career faculty. 

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4. Nevertheless, she persisted: Women thrive when they experience the joy of doing engineering

   Evans, R. (December 2021, Research in Engineering Education Symposium)

   In this presentation/publication, we focus on reporting the notion of joy as revealed in our data. The women undergraduate student participants find joy in their experience of developing and applying engineering expertise, knowing what and knowing how in response to real, tangible and challenging problems. They find knowing what and how exciting, self-rewarding and self-defining. They begin as outsiders, progress through a series of successes; having always to earn and, in some cases, demand respect. They develop an engineer’s systematic approach culminating with them claiming their identity as an engineer. If we hope to transform our gendered, raced, classed institutions, we need to learn more about women who thrive within those institutions, about the joy of doing engineering that these women experience. 

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5. Mid‐career faculty peer mentoring: Rationale and program design

   https://doi.org/10.1002/he.20467  

   Sotirin, Patty; Goltz, Sonia M. (April 2023, New Directions for Higher Education)

   Abstract While formal early career mentoring is considered significant for faculty success, few universities have instituted programmatic mid‐career mentoring. We review the reasons mid‐career mentoring is important especially for under‐represented (URM) faculty and consider the ways the entrenched model of one‐on‐one mentoring can fail URM faculty. We advocate for a feminist‐inspired peer mentoring approach using a Community of Practice model that supports mentoring as advocacy. We then describe how our own mid‐career mentoring program enacts this approach and offer lessons learned that include the need to make a cost‐analysis case. 

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