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MCS Lead Mentor Resources

MCS Lead Mentor Courses:

The MCS Lead Mentor teaches courses in Fall, Winter, and Spring that prepare MCS majors for their future. The courses include professional development, career exploration, and a seminar series journal club.

Learn more about the MCS Lead Mentor Courses

A person in a polka dot shirt and face mask standing in front of a group of students and gesturing while instructing a course on science writing.

Resource Topics:

Peer Mentorship

These resources have been compiled and maintained by each of the past MCS Lead Mentors.

Links to outside organizations or materials are for the information and convenience of the user and do not constitute an endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the Coastal and Marine Sciences Institute or the University of California, Davis.

Individual Development Plan

For Mentees: AAAS myIDP Individual Development Plan (IDP) tool

Several articles to guide you through myIDP

For Mentors: The Mentor Mirror: A ‘Reverse’ IDP For Mentors

The Case for the Mentor Mirror by UCD Associate Provost of DEI, Dr. Renetta Tull

The myIDP tool above says it's for PhD students, but it is useful for any career stage!

Other Mentor/Mentee Tools

Podcast - NPR Life Kit: The Right Mentor Can Change Your Career. Here’s How to Find One

Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring from The National Mentoring Partnership

Maximizing Mentoring Relationships (YouTube Video) from UC Davis GradPathways

One mentor isn’t enough. Here’s how I built a network of mentors

From UCSF’s Accelerate Program

Defining Mentorship from the Beginning

Communicating Effectively with Mentees

The One-Minute Mentor

Mentoring Checklist

JEDI in Marine Science

These resources have been compiled and maintained by each of the past MCS Lead Mentors.

Links to outside organizations or materials are for the information and convenience of the user and do not constitute an endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the Coastal and Marine Sciences Institute or the University of California, Davis.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at UC Davis

Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Resources and Retention Centers

JEDI in Marine Science / STEM more broadly

From A Special Issue of Oceanography entitled “Graduate Education in the Ocean Sciences” (2016) All articles are open access

Strategies for Increasing Diversity in the Ocean Science Workforce Through Mentoring by Johnson et al.

The Ocean Science Social Diversity Challenge by Gilligan & Ebanks

MS PHD’S: By and for Minorities by Ricciardi et al.

Minorities in Ocean Sciences: The LGBT Pride Weekend Edition

Pride, Actually

Reclaiming STEM

Diversity in STEM: What is it, why does it matter, and how do we increase it?

ESTEME:Equity in Science, Technology, Engineering, Math, and Entrepreneurship

Imposter Syndrome

Recognizing and Addressing Power Dynamics in Science and Academia

Anti-Racism Resources

Scaffolded Anti-Racist Resources

Anti-Racism Resources for White People/Parents

Is Your University Racist?

You can’t defeat racism with ‘reading lists’

Doing The Work by Ambika Kamath

Part One

Part Two

Why I’ve struggled with the pressure to assimilate when teaching

Latine in STEM

Cientifico Latino

@LatinxMarineSCI

Addressing Settler Colonialism

Decolonization is for Everyone (TED Talk)

Accomplices Not Allies: Abolishing the Ally Industrial Complex

This Land (Crooked Media Podcast)

Indian Country Today

News from Native California

California Through Native Eyes: Reclaiming History by William J Bauer

An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

Land-Grab Universities

LGBTQIA+ Resources

500 Queer Scientists

Queer in STEM: Workplace Experiences Reported in a National Survey of LGBTQA Individuals in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Careers by Yoder et al. 2015

National Organization of Gay and Lesbian Scientists and Technical Professionals Inc.

Why you should use gender pronouns

Accessibility/Disabilities in STEM

STEM Climate for Students with Disabilities

It’s time to stop excluding people with disabilities from science

How immunocompromised people manage risk (Twitter Thread)

Mental Health in STEM

The Importance of Mental Health Awareness in STEM!

Women in Science

500 Women Scientists

American Association For University Women (AAUW)

Association for Women in Science (AWIS)

Quantitative Skill-Building

These resources have been compiled and maintained by each of the past MCS Lead Mentors.

Links to outside organizations or materials are for the information and convenience of the user and do not constitute an endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the Coastal and Marine Sciences Institute or the University of California, Davis.

UC Davis DataLab

The DataLab (formerly the Data Science Initiative) offers trainings, seminars, and consultations on a wide variety of data analysis and exploration.

Statistics

Statistics for Terrified Biologists

Linear Mixed Models with Applications to Evoluationary and Behavioral Biology

Programming in R

R-DAVIS course offered through the Graduate Group in Ecology

Weekly #TidyTuesday Challenges

Hadley Wickham’s R for Data Science

Programming in Python

Data Analysis and Visualization in Python for Ecologists

GIS

Getting Started with GIS via ESRI

Data Visualization / Figure Design

Data Visualization: A Practical Introduction by Kieran Healy

MIT Communication Lab Figure Design

Ten Simple Rules for Better Figures

Using Version Control / GitHub

R-DAVIS guide to setting up a Git repository with RStudio

A Quick Introduction to Version Control with Git and GitHub by Blischak et al. (2016)

MIT Communication Lab GitHub Resources

Best Practices for Organizing Code

MIT Communication Lab Coding Mindset

Science Communication

These resources have been compiled and maintained by each of the past MCS Lead Mentors.

Links to outside organizations or materials are for the information and convenience of the user and do not constitute an endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the Coastal and Marine Sciences Institute or the University of California, Davis.

General Science Communication Resources

AAAS Communication Toolkit

Science Communication Training

Science Says at UC Davis

#SciFund Challenge Classes

Science Talk Courses - Cost ~$100 to participate in a Science Talk course

Writing Training / Opportunities

The Ethogram at UC Davis

Massive Science

oceanbites

Scientific Filmmaking

Jackson Wild Media Lab

Eric Sanford has also periodically offers a scientific filmmaking course at UC Davis - ECL 290

MIT Communication Lab Intro to Policy Communication

National Science Policy Network SciPol Resource Guide

Useful Twitter Hashtags

Science Communication

#SciComm: Science Communication

#SciWri: Science Writing

#SciPol: Science Policy

About Academia

#CCtoPhD: Community College to PhD

#PhDChat

#PhDLife

#ICanHazPDF: For PDFs you can’t access thru university licenses

Science Writing

These resources have been compiled and maintained by each of the past MCS Lead Mentors.

Links to outside organizations or materials are for the information and convenience of the user and do not constitute an endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the Coastal and Marine Sciences Institute or the University of California, Davis.

General Writing Advice

How to construct a Nature summary paragraph

Write Like A Scientist: A Guide to Scientific Communication

Writing Grants + Fellowships Application & Research Proposals

Fellowship Application Tips from

Graduate School Personal Statement

NSF GRFP Personal Statement

NSF GRFP Research Proposal

Writing Manuscripts/Papers

Ten simple rules for structuring papers by Mensh & Kording (2017)

Simple rules for concise scientific writing

Writing a scientific paper, step by painful step by Kevin Lafferty

From the MIT Communication Lab:

Abstract

Introduction

Methods

Results

Discussion

Writing a Talk / Presentation

MIT Communication Lab Public Speaking Tips

MIT Communication Lab Slide Deck Design

Designing a Poster

MIT Communication Lab Poster Structure

Mailing Lists

These resources have been compiled and maintained by each of the past MCS Lead Mentors.

Links to outside organizations or materials are for the information and convenience of the user and do not constitute an endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the Coastal and Marine Sciences Institute or the University of California, Davis.

CMSI and BML Lists

Find information about CMSI and BML listservs here

Other Campus Listservs

Undergraduate Research Center - Instructions to join their listserv are here

Internship & Career Center - Instructions to join their listserv are here

Other Listservs

Coral-List: opportunities and updates in coral reef science

U.S. Harmful Algal Blooms

Seven Seas Media: marine science in the United States and job opportunities across the country

Es_jobs_net: opportunities in environmental science

University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS): opportunities to join oceanographic cruises

ECOLOG-L: academic and non-academic positions and updates in ecology

For Black Marine Scientists: Black in Marine Science “Members Only” Section

For LGBTQ+ STEM members

New England Marine Science Opportunities

California Interagency Ecological Program

Seminars

These resources have been compiled and maintained by each of the past MCS Lead Mentors.

Links to outside organizations or materials are for the information and convenience of the user and do not constitute an endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the Coastal and Marine Sciences Institute or the University of California, Davis.

Bodega Marine Laboratory Seminar Series

You can find information about the BML Seminar Series here

Check the CMSI Events Calendar for upcoming seminar dates

And find recordings of previous seminars here

Other Ocean Science Seminars (Online)

List of online ocean webinars

OneNOAA Science Seminars

If You Have Questions About:

  • Getting involved in the Marine Science Club:
  • Professional development opportunities and career planning:
  • Your undergraduate coursework and meeting degree requirements
  • Your undergraduate career, in general:
    • contact Anne Todgham, the Master Advisor for the MCS major.
  • How to share your experiences as a marine science student at UC Davis on the CMSI blog and social media:
  • CMSI (Coastal and Marine Science Institute) programs,