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Dear GEOED friends and colleagues, Please consider submitting an abstract to these AGU sessions on: (1) mentoring and (2) emerging challenges in running REU internship programs. These sessions provide wonderful opportunities to meet colleagues, exchange ideas, share experiences and strategies, and present your latest research on mentoring approaches and programs. The descriptions and links are below. The deadline for submitting abstracts to AGU is August 5th. Warm regards, - Val +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Current Thinking on the Value and Best Practices of Mentoring Session ID#: 8781 Session Description: One of the key factors cited as impacting individual career success is having a positive relationship with a mentor or mentors. This is particularly true for those who are minorities in the workplace, who might experience isolation, subcultural differences, or low self-efficacy or a lack of belief in one's own abilities. In this session, presenters will examine the rationale and impact of mentoring, the differences between advising and mentoring, and models of mentoring that do and dont work well. Topics may also include preparing mentors for their role, mentoring on soft professional skills like networking and communicating, or dealing with difficult situations. The session will focus on best practices and lessons learned on mentoring, including what has been learned from research on mentoring, with the aim of increasing awareness about the value of and understanding of best practices for effective mentoring. Primary Convener: Meredith Galanter Hastings, Brown Univ-Geological Sciences, Providence, RI, United States Conveners: Valerie Sloan, UCAR, Boulder, CO, United States and Bethany Holm Adamec, American Geophysical Union, Washington, DC, United States +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Emerging challenges and solutions in running inclusive Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REUs) in the geosciences Session ID#: 7645 Session Description: Involving undergraduate students in research can significantly increase their retention in the STEM fields and help them gain professional skills, learn to think like a scientist, and raise interest in graduate school. Nonetheless, undergraduate research is a time and resource intensive activity for faculty. REU staff deal with issues in the recruitment and selection of diverse student cohorts, providing mentor support & research projects, developing effective professional development sessions, or program evaluation. New challenges emerge every year, such as adapting projects to 2YC students, field safety and sexual harassment, or even how the larger discussion of race on a school campus is manifested in individual REU programs. This session encourages papers on challenges and solutions to issues like these. Papers that present approaches informed by scholarly literature or program evaluations are strongly encouraged so that the community of undergraduate research coordinators become aware of and can build upon relevant literature. Primary Convener: Rebecca Haacker, UCAR, Boulder, CO, United States. Conveners: Daphne S LaDue, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, United States and Valerie Sloan, UCAR, Boulder, CO, United States. .. Valerie Sloan, Ph.D. SOARS Center for Undergraduate Research UCAR P.O. Box 3000 Boulder, CO 80307 [log in to unmask]