SSB Mentorship Program – Overview & Expectations
Last updated May 14, 2025
The SSB Mentorship Program will help create mentorship pairs between junior and senior members of the systematics community (defined below). Junior members receive guidance (e.g., scientific, professional, etc.) from senior members located at different institutions, while senior members nurture growth in the next generation of systematists. The program pairs graduate students and postdocs (junior members) with more-established members of the systematics community that include faculty, curators, teachers, researchers, etc. (senior members).
Please carefully read this document before enrolling in the program. A link to the SSB Mentorship Program enrollment form is below.
The program will help form and facilitate 20+ mentoring relationships for 1 year. Mentees will be chosen at random (lottery) and then matched to mentors to the best of our ability. If we cannot find a suitable match for a mentee after an earnest effort, we will draw a new mentee for enrollment and try again.
Formation of Mentorship Pairs
We match mentees and mentors based on research interests and stated preferences to identify three potential mentors. We then contact the potential mentors to find an approved match. Mentors are free to decline for any reason. In general, we will try to evenly distribute mentees across mentors, so more mentors have the chance to participate and no one is overburdened. Mentors and mentees are notified by email once a match is made.
Length of Mentorships
Mentoring pairs will last one year (12 months). By default, new mentee-mentor pairs will be formed at the end of each year, but have the option to remain paired if requested by both members. Of course, nothing prevents mentees and mentors from continuing to interact after the end of their program-sponsored relationship.
Participant involvement
In total, we will expect participants to commit ~15 hours of time per year to the program. Mentors and mentees should meet for one hour per month over video chat (e.g. Zoom). Mentorship might also involve occasional email correspondence for advice and/or friendly peer review.
Participant Code of Conduct
Participation in the program is voluntary and intended to be enriching for both the mentor and mentee. Participants should behave in a professional manner by showing their partner respect, honoring commitments, and accommodating one another's needs. Participants are expected to meet the minimal requirements of the program (monthly meetings & intermittent correspondences). Interaction beyond the program is completely voluntary and not required (letters of recommendation, collaborations, etc.).
Participants must also abide by the SSB Standards of Conduct (link). In particular, harassment, abuse, scientific dishonesty, and professional misconduct will not be tolerated. Participants who violate these terms may be removed from the program and referred to the SSB Council for further disciplinary action, such as expulsion from the Society.
Data Reporting and Collection
We will request that mentor pairings report data that will help SSB monitor and improve the program, and potentially to substantiate support requests from funding agencies. These data will be periodically collected using an anonymized survey. Upon program registration, new mentors and mentees will be asked to report data related to career goals, institution type (e.g., research university, primarily undergraduate-serving university, government agency, museum, etc.), home country, and membership in underrepresented groups in research.
Periodically, we will also ask mentees to report the number, the total time, and the value of the meetings they have had with their mentor by filling out a 5-minute questionnaire. At the end of the year, we will collect mentee and mentor data to quantify whether they valued the experience and whether it created new scientific/professional/personal opportunities for them that they otherwise would not have had. We will also ask mentees and mentors to each provide a brief statement to summarize their experiences and provide suggestions for how to improve the program.
Enrollment
Enrollment is open to all members of the systematics and phylogenetics community who will meet the program's expectations of participants (described above). Enrollment will remain open until June 10th, 2025. We will aim to announce mentoring pairs by June 20th, 2025.
Enrollment link: forms.gle/QtD22C9dtfRFCsza7
Acknowledgements
The program designers (Michael Landis & Laura Kubatko) are grateful to the SSB Council and Executive Committee for their helpful suggestions. We are also thankful to SSB Presidents David Baum and Corrie Moreau, as well as Vice President Elizabeth Jockusch, for helping us implement the program.
Contact Info
SSB Mentorship Program ([email protected])
Michael Landis ([email protected])
Laura Kubatko ([email protected])
Alonso Delgado ([email protected])
Ixchel González-Ramírez ([email protected])
Please carefully read this document before enrolling in the program. A link to the SSB Mentorship Program enrollment form is below.
The program will help form and facilitate 20+ mentoring relationships for 1 year. Mentees will be chosen at random (lottery) and then matched to mentors to the best of our ability. If we cannot find a suitable match for a mentee after an earnest effort, we will draw a new mentee for enrollment and try again.
Formation of Mentorship Pairs
We match mentees and mentors based on research interests and stated preferences to identify three potential mentors. We then contact the potential mentors to find an approved match. Mentors are free to decline for any reason. In general, we will try to evenly distribute mentees across mentors, so more mentors have the chance to participate and no one is overburdened. Mentors and mentees are notified by email once a match is made.
Length of Mentorships
Mentoring pairs will last one year (12 months). By default, new mentee-mentor pairs will be formed at the end of each year, but have the option to remain paired if requested by both members. Of course, nothing prevents mentees and mentors from continuing to interact after the end of their program-sponsored relationship.
Participant involvement
In total, we will expect participants to commit ~15 hours of time per year to the program. Mentors and mentees should meet for one hour per month over video chat (e.g. Zoom). Mentorship might also involve occasional email correspondence for advice and/or friendly peer review.
Participant Code of Conduct
Participation in the program is voluntary and intended to be enriching for both the mentor and mentee. Participants should behave in a professional manner by showing their partner respect, honoring commitments, and accommodating one another's needs. Participants are expected to meet the minimal requirements of the program (monthly meetings & intermittent correspondences). Interaction beyond the program is completely voluntary and not required (letters of recommendation, collaborations, etc.).
Participants must also abide by the SSB Standards of Conduct (link). In particular, harassment, abuse, scientific dishonesty, and professional misconduct will not be tolerated. Participants who violate these terms may be removed from the program and referred to the SSB Council for further disciplinary action, such as expulsion from the Society.
Data Reporting and Collection
We will request that mentor pairings report data that will help SSB monitor and improve the program, and potentially to substantiate support requests from funding agencies. These data will be periodically collected using an anonymized survey. Upon program registration, new mentors and mentees will be asked to report data related to career goals, institution type (e.g., research university, primarily undergraduate-serving university, government agency, museum, etc.), home country, and membership in underrepresented groups in research.
Periodically, we will also ask mentees to report the number, the total time, and the value of the meetings they have had with their mentor by filling out a 5-minute questionnaire. At the end of the year, we will collect mentee and mentor data to quantify whether they valued the experience and whether it created new scientific/professional/personal opportunities for them that they otherwise would not have had. We will also ask mentees and mentors to each provide a brief statement to summarize their experiences and provide suggestions for how to improve the program.
Enrollment
Enrollment is open to all members of the systematics and phylogenetics community who will meet the program's expectations of participants (described above). Enrollment will remain open until June 10th, 2025. We will aim to announce mentoring pairs by June 20th, 2025.
Enrollment link: forms.gle/QtD22C9dtfRFCsza7
Acknowledgements
The program designers (Michael Landis & Laura Kubatko) are grateful to the SSB Council and Executive Committee for their helpful suggestions. We are also thankful to SSB Presidents David Baum and Corrie Moreau, as well as Vice President Elizabeth Jockusch, for helping us implement the program.
Contact Info
SSB Mentorship Program ([email protected])
Michael Landis ([email protected])
Laura Kubatko ([email protected])
Alonso Delgado ([email protected])
Ixchel González-Ramírez ([email protected])