Mentorship is certainly a key component in bringing any intern into the actual world of science (or teaching science). What a great idea to focus on this topic.

Can you describe for us how you reached out to find the interns who would not naturally decide to become involved in the work Mote Marine Laboratory?

Particularly interesting to me is how the video clip portrays the program as a mentorship "ecology" in which all of the people, resources, and perspectives seem to magnify the whole. My question is what approach you have used to identify how the community of practice has emerged from the work, and maybe even what changes you might have had to make to tighten the interaction among mentors and mentees? 

It looks like you've designed an effective mentor-training program that inspired a cultural shift toward more inclusive mentoring. At my institution, we are working on a project that we hope will do the same. I was wondering: (1) How do you encourage mentors to get involved in the program, especially those who don't see inclusion as a problem?, (2) Have you assessed the change in student experience as a result of the mentor training program?, and (3) Are your mentor training materials available? 

I love the idea of a. mentor development program that looks for ways to serve the mentor and help them in scholarly growth. We had some aspects of this in our grant with a cohort of students who were trained by faculty and went on to be great mentors to other students. We let students tell us about themselves and their interests in an application process and then provided them ways to. explore their interests and related interests and watched them grow. These students then became more connected to the campus and academics as their comfort level with each other and faculty grew. They then naturally influenced other students who then also started spending more time on campus in academic pursuits.                              

I really liked your idea of moving from choosing students who have had the experience to instead thinking about what can be provided to interns. Thanks!

I appreciate the mentee centered approach to mentoring. How have the mentees described their experiences in the program?  

Hi Jasmin. I love the that your project reached out to and included BIPOC scientific societies and how it made it accessible inclusive for people to participate. I like how the project creates space for mentors to lead and participants to learn from each other.