For Members
Minority Mentoring Program
Look for a mentor - open to everyone
Become a mentor - ASM members only
ASM has developed a variety of programs that foster mentoring relationships. Specifically, ASM assists students and professionals to identify an appropriate mentor and offers members the opportunity to identify their interests by providing a mentoring relationship.
The Minority Mentoring Program was designed primarily to assist US minority students and professionals in facilitating such relationships.
A mentor is someone who takes a special interest in helping another person develop into a successful professional. A mentor can be a trusted counselor or guide. They can serve as an important role model, adviser, teacher or friend as one prepares for and embarks on a career*.
In many cases, the ability of minority students and young professionals to make connections with experienced microbiologists is simply limited by circumstances. For an early career scientist, educator, or student, a single interaction with an experienced scientist can be sufficient to reinforce his or her interest and confidence in science itself or in the future of their scientific career.
By participating in the Minority Mentoring Program, a student or young professional can seek career advice, have a paper for publication or grant reviewed, or even join a scientist in their laboratory as a short-term fellow. A Minority Mentoring Program applicant will be able to search the database and contact a prospective mentor in their area of scientific interest or discipline.
Minority Mentoring Program volunteers post their name, institution, fax and e-mail address, field of specialty, together with information on the level of scientist they would be prepared to mentor. The Minority Mentoring Program has identified volunteers who can:
- Discuss current research in the mentor's field of expertise.
- Provide general information on the educational path for the particular scientific interest or specialty- such as which schools offer appropriate programs in the microbiological sciences in support of the requestor's interests.
- Provide general information about which courses should be taken and what financial aid may be available for minority students.
- Provide advice and feedback to a student or professional on projects, curriculum, grant applications, or publication of research results.
- Host a promising young scientist in the mentor's laboratory.
* (Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy. 1997. Adviser, Teacher, Role Model, Friend: On Being a Mentor to Students in Science and Engineering. National Academy Press).
Underrepresented Members Committee
The mission of the Underrepresented Members Committee is to promote full and complete participation of all of ASM's diverse membership at all participation levels of the Society with a special focus on racial and ethnic minority members. Please contact Lyndsey Van Druff at lvandruff@asmusa.org or (202) 942-9310 for a brochure regarding the UMC or more information.
Maureen Wright, Chair (‘14)
USDA-ARS-SRRC
1100 Robert E. Lee Blvd.
New Orleans, LA 70124
Phone: (504) 286-4294
Fax: (504) 286-4419
E-mail: maureen.wright@ars.usda.gov
Maria E. Alvarez (‘13)
El Paso Community College
Biology TM
P.O. Box 20500
El Paso, TX 79998
Phone: (915) 831-5074
Fax: (915) 831-5084
E-mail: mariaa@epcc.edu
Tesfaye Belay (‘14)
P.O. Box 522
Bluefield State College
Bluefield, WV 24701
Phone: (304) 327-4549
Fax: (304) 327-4572
E-mail: tbelay@bsc.bluefieldstate.edu
Hansel Fletcher (‘14)
Hansel M. Fletcher, Ph.D.
Loma Linda University
Department of Basic Sciences
Division of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics
School of Medicine
Loma Linda, CA 92350
Phone: (909) 558-8497
Fax: (909) 558 -4035
E-mail: hfletcher@llu.edu
Diane Griffin (‘14)
Department of Molecular Microbiology
Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health
Room E5132
Baltimore, MD 21205
Phone: (410) 955-3459
Fax: (410) 955-0105
E-mail: dgriffin@jhsph.edu
Stanley Maloy (‘14)
College of Sciences
San Diego State University
5500 Campanile Drive
San Diego, CA 92182-1010
Phone: (619) 5945142
Fax: (619) 5946381
E-mail: smaloy@sciences.sdsu.edu
Quincy C. Moore III, Ph.D. (’14)
Prairie View A & M University
Department of Biology
Room AF O'Banion Science Building
Prairie View, TX 77446
Phone: (936) 261-3168
Fax: (936) 261- 3179
E-mail: qcmoore@pvamu.edu
Christopher Taylor (‘15)
NIH/NIAID/DMID/RDB
Room 5045
6610 Rockledge Drive, MSC 6603
Bethesda, MD 20892
Phone: (301) 496-5305
Fax: (301) 496-8030
E-mail: ct18m@nih.gov
Annual Minority Microbiologists’ Mixer at asm2012
Please join us Monday, June 18, 2012, 9 - 10:30 p.m. in the Atrium of the Marriott Marquis Hotel in San Francisco, CA
Dessert will be served. Cocktail tickets are limited: first come, first served
All ASM members are welcome, with a special invitation to minority microbiologists
Please contact Lyndsey Van druff by e-mail at lvandruff@asmusa.org with any questions
Mentoring Breakfast at asm2012
The Mentoring Breakfast will provide domestic students, postdoctoral scientists, and professionals an opportunity to discuss topics relevant to career transitions with committed ASM mentors. Sponsored by ASM’s Committee on Microbiological Issues Impacting Minorities (CMIIM) and Underrepresented Members Committee (UMC), the Mentoring Breakfast will facilitate discussions about key career transition junctures, such as:
• progressing to graduate school
• transitioning from graduate student to postdoctoral study
• postdoctoral students moving to a tenure track
• entering industry, clinical, or government positions
• alternative career tracks
Where Marriott Marquis Hotel, Golden Gate A Room
When Tuesday, June 19, 2012, 8-10 a.m.
ASM Minority Affairs
Committees
Committee on Minority Education
The Committee promotes recruitment, education, mentoring and retention of underrepresented and underserved faculty and students in the microbiological science (Education Board).
Committee on Underrepresented Members
The Committee serves to ensure that the underrepresented groups are recognized as valuable members and are included in all aspects of the ASM (Membership Board).
Committee on Diversity
The Committee works to increase the visibility and participation of underrepresented minority scientists in the Academy and its programs (American Academy of Microbiology).
Committee on Microbiological Issues Impacting Minorities
This committee ensures that relevant microbiology issues that may impact minority populations or minority microbiologists are addressed in ASM public policy positions and statements; monitors and enhances the status of minority microbiologists in the profession (Public and Scientific Affairs Board).
Resources
• Faces of ASM/Faces on the Go
• Minority Microbiology Mentor Newsletter
• ASM's Minority Mentoring Program
Student Fellowships
Robert D. Watkins Graduate Research Fellowship
The Fellowship offers a two-year tenure for senior-level graduate students from an underrepresented minority group to conduct research in microbiology.
ASM's Minority Undergraduate Research Fellowships
The Fellowship offers an 10-week summer program for students from underrepresented minority groups to conduct microbiology-related research with an ASM member at a sponsoring institution. Community-based programs at Tufts University School of Medicine in MA or Albert Einstein College of Medicine in NY. Traditional program also available.
Awards
William A. Hinton Research Training Award
The training award honors outstanding contributions toward fostering the research training of underrepresented minorities in microbiology.
Conferences
Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS)
The Conference is an annual forum for invited speakers, professional development workshops, poster sessions and exhibits for undergraduate students interested in advanced training in the biomedical sciences.