Oceanography | Vol.29, No.3
elements, but one of the most successful has been MPOWIR
mentoring groups, which are composed of five to seven stu-
dents, postdocs, or early career scientists and two senior ocean-
ographers as lead members. The groups meet monthly for about
an hour via teleconference for the purpose of providing confi-
dential mentoring, including peer mentoring, for the junior
group members. Each group has an expected lifetime of approx-
imately two years. Survey results from group participants reveal
high satisfaction with this mentoring element, and early indica-
tions are that MPOWIR is moving the needle on retention.
The TOS Council plans to explore whether the MPOWIR
model can serve our goal of exposing current graduate stu-
dents, men and women alike, to different career paths. The idea
is to form mentoring groups of students across the country and
pair them with two senior oceanographers, each with a differ-
ent career. While we think that students in these groups will
learn more about oceanography careers, we expect the biggest
advantage to be that a student will learn how his or her own skills
and interests are suited to a particular career. As with MPOWIR,
it is easy to see how a senior oceanographer obtained his or her
job, but it is more difficult to see how to get there yourself. This
is where mentoring comes in.
So, we want to give it a try. We will advertise the start of two
pilot mentoring groups this fall and launch the groups in January
of 2017. It’s a small start, but nonetheless a step in the right direc-
tion. Basically, it is an opportunity for this society of professional
oceanographers (of all stripes) to take responsibility for the next
generation of oceanographers. Or, more colloquially, it gives us
a chance to show them the ropes.
M. Susan Lozier, TOS President
Call for Contributions to the New Web Portal
RESOURCES FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS
http://tos.org/opportunities
The Oceanography Society has created a new Web page to serve as a resource for ocean sciences graduate
students. This portal contains information on fellowships, scholarships, summer positions, volunteer
opportunities, links to useful articles, and ship time/fieldwork opportunities.
Do you have suggestions or contributions for this page?
Please contact us at magazine@tos.org.
Oceanography | Vol.29, No.3