AAS Joins Mentoring365 Program for Early Career Researchers
The AAS has joined nine other organizations in a program focused on increasing student and early career researcher opportunities that may have been disrupted by COVID-19.
Today, the American Astronomical Society (AAS), American Society for Gravitational and Space Research (ASGSR), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) joined seven other organizations as partners to expand the Mentoring365 program, which is dedicated to helping fill gaps in resources essential to a successful career and expanding opportunities within and beyond academia. Individuals in the Earth and space sciences (ESS) community will find other professionals who can help them further their careers through opportunities to enhance their communication and leadership skills, explore ESS disciplines, and build connections to successfully move their careers and education forward.
The seven other organizations are: American Geophysical Union (AGU), American Meteorology Society (AMS), Association for Women Geoscientists (AWG), Deutschen Geophysikalischen Gesellschaft (DGG), Geological Society of America (GSA), Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS), and Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG).
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted concerns that could impact the Earth and space sciences workforce for years to come, including a lack of community-building opportunities, given stay-at-home orders and canceled conferences; a lack of career advice and professional development opportunities for early career researchers and students, especially individuals from underrepresented populations; and decreased job opportunities and access to financial support.
Mentoring365 partners are focused on filling the gap in resources, with the goal of fostering a robust, diverse, equitable, and inclusive workforce of talented Earth and space scientists equipped with the skills needed to address the challenges our environment and planet are facing.
Individuals in the Earth and space sciences community are strongly encouraged to create profiles to serve as a mentor, mentee, or both. Mentoring365 provides structured, relationship-building tools in a safe online platform to develop and succeed at focused career goals. Users can choose to engage one-time or long-term as well as one-on-one or in small groups to create a customized experience that best fits their own needs and availability.
Individuals who are members of one of these 10 organizations will have already been vetted for a background check. If a potential mentor or mentee is not a member of one of these organizations, the person must submit to a free background check. All mentors and mentees also agree to adhere to Safe AGU. Additional safety measures will include training videos that offer guidance on working with and supporting early career professionals and students.
For more information or to sign up as a mentor or mentee, please visit the Mentoring365 website.
Contact
This release was issued jointly with ASGSR, AGU, and NASA.
ASGSR press contact: Paul Secor, executive_director@asgsr.org (UTC-4)
AGU press contact: Nanci Bompey, 202-777-7524, news@agu.org (UTC-4)
NASA press contacts:
- Planetary Exploration/Heliophysics: Karen Fox, 301-286-6284, karen.c.fox@nasa.gov (UTC-4)
- Earth Science: Tylar Greene, 202-358-0030, tylar.j.greene@nasa.gov (UTC-4)
- Astronomy: Alise Fisher, 202-358-2546, alise.m.fisher@nasa.gov (UTC-4); Liz Landau, 202-358-0485, elizabeth.r.landau@nasa.gov (UTC-4)
The American Astronomical Society (AAS), established in 1899, is a major international organization of professional astronomers, astronomy educators, and amateur astronomers. Its membership of approximately 8,000 also includes physicists, geologists, engineers, and others whose interests lie within the broad spectrum of subjects now comprising the astronomical sciences. The mission of the AAS is to enhance and share humanity’s scientific understanding of the universe as a diverse and inclusive astronomical community, which it achieves through publishing, meetings, science advocacy, education and outreach, and training and professional development.
The American Society for Gravitational and Space Research (ASGSR), founded in 1984 is a 501(c)(6) nonprofit organization that represents the areas of biological and physical sciences focuses on the understanding of responses of biological and physical systems to variable gravity conditions. The ASGSR provides a forum to foster research, education and professional development in the multidisciplinary fields of gravitational life and physical science research. ASGSR brings together a diverse group of scientists and engineers to encourage an exchange of ideas bridging basic and applied biological and physical sciences research and technology in space and on the ground. The organization is devoted to furthering the field of gravitational research. Our members represent academia, government, and industry interests bonded by a common issue — how living organisms and physical systems respond to gravity (e.g. low-gravity, hypergravity, etc.)
AGU supports 130,000 enthusiasts to experts worldwide in Earth and space sciences. Through broad and inclusive partnerships, we advance discovery and solution science that accelerate knowledge and create solutions that are ethical, unbiased and respectful of communities and their values. Our programs include serving as a scholarly publisher, convening virtual and in-person events and providing career support. We live our values in everything we do, such as our net zero energy renovated building in Washington, D.C. and our Ethics and Equity Center, which fosters a diverse and inclusive geoscience community to ensure responsible conduct.
The purpose of NASA Science is to conduct scientific exploration that is enabled by access to space. We use the vantage point of space to achieve — with the science community and our partners — a deep scientific understanding of our planet, other planets and solar system bodies, the interplanetary environment, the Sun and its effects on the solar system, and the universe beyond. We lay the intellectual foundation for the robotic and human expeditions of the future while meeting today's needs for scientific information to address national concerns, such as climate change and space weather. At every step we share the journey of scientific exploration with the public and partner with others to substantially improve science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education nationwide.