Schedule
We are meeting this semester (Fall 2025) on Tuesdays 11 am - 12:15 pm in the Bamford Room (TLS 171b).
Fall 2024 resources are available here: 2024 schedule
There are also a few good general resources at the bottom on this page.
August 26
| Presenter | Elizabeth Jockusch | |
| Topic | University/department resources; Trainings; Where do EEB grads end up? | |
| Resources | Compliance, Resources and Grad. School Path slides |
Orientation Slides |
| Notes | Homework: Look through at least 1 mentoring plan (e.g., Meg Duffy’s linked below); Identify 3-5 qualities that you look for in a mentor |
September 2
| Presenter | Elizabeth Jockusch |
| Topic | Mentoring |
| Resources | [Mentoring slides to come] Good mentoring (from Nature) Getting mentoring (from Science) Meghan Duffy’s mentoring plan outline (from Dynamic Ecology) |
| Notes |
PLEASE IGNORE EVERYTHING BELOW–IT IS STILL 2024 INFORMATION; SCHEDULE IS IN PROGRESS
September 9
| Presenters | Chris Elphick & Savanna Brown |
| Topic | Mentoring |
| Resources | Mentoring slides Good mentoring (from Nature) Getting mentoring (from Science) Meghan Duffy’s mentoring plan outline (from Dynamic Ecology) |
| Notes | Homework: Identify, for next week’s discussion, a person or activity that greatly influenced your learning |
September 16
| Presenters | Kurt Schwenk & Nick Van Gilder |
| Topic | Developing as a teacher |
| Resources | Kurt and Nick’s slides Kurt’s tips on learning Tips on engaging students Tips on how to learn Benefits of Active learning for inclusivity Specimen-based research courses Graduate Certificate in College Instruction |
| Notes | Homework: come up with three questions for next week’s grad student panel - email to Chris, before Monday morning. |
September 23
| Presenters | Franco Gigliotti, Vidya Vuruputoor, Kyle Rossner, Katie Drumma |
| Topic | Grad panel: TAing, research & anything else you want to talk about! |
| Resources | |
| Notes | Homework: Identify at least 3 places outside of UConn where you could apply to get funding that would support research you are planning, or the type of organization you’d like to work for. (This list might be a good place to start, but notice that it is out of date.) For each, determine the due date, how much money you can ask for, and look over the grant requirements. |
September 30
| Presenters | Mark Urban, Sarah Knutie |
| Topic | Funding your research |
| Resources | Mark’s slides Sarah’s slides Grad-compiled funding page Pivot searchable database of funding opportunities |
| Notes | Homework: identify, for next week’s discussion, 3-5 characteristics of good scientific questions |
October 7
| Presenters | Colin Kremer, Yaowu Yuan |
| Topic | Formulating good scientific questions |
| Resources | Alon 2009 on choosing good scientific problems Schwartz 2008 on the importance of stupidity in research Founding of the NSF: text pdf Good and less good reasons for choosing a question Dan’s blog posts on finding inspiration and fads Predictability of transformative research 100 Questions in Ecology |
| Notes | Homework: come up with at least three questions for next week’s alumni panel - email to Chris, by Monday morning |
October 14
| Presenters | Sarah Bois (Linda Loring Nature Foundation), Kevin Keegan (Carnegie Museum of Natural History), Marilyn Gould (Connecticut Dept of Transportation), Jonathan Richmond (USGS) |
| Topic | Alumni panel: Careers outside academia |
| Resources | |
| Notes | Homework: Identify at least 1 annual conference or professional society specific to your discipline |
October 21
| Presenters | Karolina Heyduk, Andrius Dagilis |
| Topic | Conferences and professional societies |
| Resources | |
| Notes | Homework: do all of the following: (1) Identify an ethical dilemma you have faced during work/school that you are comfortable sharing with the class; (2) Read UConn’s code of conduct, especially the Research Principles section; (3) Look up the code of conduct for one professional society, meeting or academic institution of your choice |
October 28
| Presenters | Pam Diggle, Robi Bagchi |
| Topic | Scientific ethics |
| Resources | UConn RCR training Read this blog post And, either this or this Updated post on spider case |
| Notes | Homework: Identify at least 2 journals relevant to your discipline; look up the impact factor, read the instructions to authors for each of the journals, and figure out the cost of publishing in each. |
November 4
| Presenters | Bernard Goffinet, Carlos García-Robledo |
| Topic | Writing and Publishing |
| Resources | Slides The Writing Workshop highly recommended for all grad students! guide to Peer Review (British Ecological Society) |
| Notes | Homework: Homework: Read Lopes et al. (2018) (linked below); fill out google form, and identify a piece of science outreach that has influenced you in some way |
November 11
| Presenters | Margaret Rubega, Jimmy Bernot |
| Topic | Outreach and communication outside academia |
| Resources | Kahan 2015 Lopes et al. 2018 Lupia 2013 |
| Notes |
November 18
| Presenters | Kent Holsinger |
| Topic | Succeeding in graduate school & Long-term goals |
| Resources | How to get the most out of your advisor Planning ahead for your job search Graduate School Timeline Plan templates Kent’s slides |
| Notes | track the hours you spend on work this week (for discussion next week) |
November 25
| Presenters | |
| Topic | THANKSGIVING BREAK |
| Resources | |
| Notes | Homework: Bake a pie! |
December 2
| Presenters | Jill Wegrzyn, Michael Finiguerra |
| Topic | Work-life balance |
| Resources | Slides Full time is full enough 10 simple rules for balance Grad perspective on balance Achieving balance with kids |
| Notes |
Useful readings
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Some modest advice for graduate students: Steve Stearns and Ray Huey. The full exchange is on Ray Huey’s page: http://faculty.washington.edu/hueyrb/prospective.php
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Stephen Stearns’s later reflections: http://stearnslab.yale.edu/designs-learning