Become a Mentor
The IIC aims to cultivate an inclusive community of faculty and staff from across the William & Mary who can build bridges across disciplines to advance integrative conservation solutions. We are looking for faculty who are interested in exploring opportunities to work with external conservation partners to conduct research that meets their applied goals and aligns with faculty research priorities. We are also looking for faculty who are interested in serving as mentors for students who are working on applied projects in collaboration with external partners.
The IIC sends a request for projects from external conservation partners for applied projects that meet an applied need for them to advance integrative conservation solutions. The IIC seeks faculty who are interested in serving as mentors for students on these projects propose by external partners. Many faculty have found that participation as mentors has provided opportunities to expand or fulfill their research goals as the projects while still ensuring that they provide the knowledge and resources partners need to advance their outcomes.
Faculty mentors meet with conservation partners in the spring to narrow down the scope of the project and to ensure that the student-led research project is feasible for the student to complete in a year and that it aligns with the conservation partner's goals. Faculty mentors then meet weekly with the student researcher throughout the program to mentor them through the process of conducting robust, applied research needed to meet the needs of the partner organization and to advance integrative conservation approaches.
Reach out to Erica Garroute, Research Program Manager, if you would like to discuss opportunities to become a faculty mentor for students on applied conservation research.
