I firmly believe that a scientific career based only on publications is an incomplete career. I think that teaching, outreach and ecoservice are also important, especially given the challenges that our society is currently facing (e.g., global warming, overpopulation, etc). I have been and still am an active citizen both inside and outside my previous and current institutions. At the Biology Department at UPenn, I organized several workshops pertaining graduate issues (research, teaching, social life, job search, etc), I was involved several times in the 1st yr PhD orientation, helped in the Year of Evolution symposium, organized the ecolunch talk series, and co-organized the 2008 Ecology, Evolution & Biodiversity UPenn-Princeton-Rutgers graduate conference. I consider that one of my main contributions to the ESA-Student Section has been to establish a long-lasting partnership with the Union for Concerned Scientists (UCS) to honor young ecologists' involvement beyond academia and into ecoservice (more info here). ... but why ecoservice? Find out here! At a larger scale, I have served as networking and social affairs officers, vice chair, and chair of the Student Section of the Ecological Society of America, and the ESA-Plant Population Ecology -- ESA-Student Section liaison. Currently, I serve as secretary of the ESA-Plant Population Ecology section, member of the centennial committee of the Ecological Society of America, and I'm a founding member of INNGE (International Network of Next Generation Ecologists), a new effort to bring together young ecologists around the world under the umbrella of INTECOL. |