MEntor interest application
Our Mentoring program is open to established artists, writers, and scientists who are interested in collaborating with Creature Conserve and who have some leadership experience (formal or informal.) Examples of the latter include experience teaching or mentoring; project management experience; staff supervision.
Mentors are selected for each Mentorship Program cohort based on the successful completion of the 2024 Mentorship Workshop. All Mentors in the pool are eligible to participate in Mentor-specific programming.
We invite you to apply to join our pool of Mentors for our 2024-25 cohort by filling out the application below. APPLICATION DUE: JULY 31, 2024
ABOUT CREATURE CONSERVE MENTORSHIP
The Creature Conserve Mentorship Program is designed to provide a support system for artists, writers, and scientists as they collaborate and explore the human connection to nature, creating new pathways to a healthier world for all creatures. We welcome proposals from any art-making practice, including those interested in developing their skills in science communication and art advocacy. Please see the full Mentorship program description here.
mentor responsibilities
To respect your time and energy as Mentors, we have done our best to keep time commitments low. We anticipate a total variable monthly contribution of 6-8 hours.
We will have four mandatory meetings, one at the start of the program, and the other three will be bi-monthly. These will be group calls for all Mentees and Mentors. These meetings are expected to last between 2-3 hours. Additionally, Mentors are expected to dedicate between 2-4 hours monthly to engagement with their Mentee. Here, we’ve factored in meeting times, email or other forms of written communication, and any additional project-specific needs such as demonstrations or additional research.
MENTOR BENEFITS
We offer specially designed leadership training sessions (free of charge) for those who lead Creature Conserve programs, including our Mentors. The goal of this training is to enrich your experience as a Mentor, help you connect with other artists, writers, and scientists leading our programs, and build a sense of community within the art/sci/conservation space. You will also have the opportunity to practice new leadership skills and explore possibilities for leadership in your own art practice. Mentors are expected to attend these sessions. The first leadership training session for this Mentorship cohort will be Fall 2024.
In addition, we invite all mentors to participate (free of charge) in all our art+sci professional development and skill-based workshops. We will announce the 2024-25 workshop schedule in the Fall.
mentor/mentee pairing process
Once we have selected our Mentees for this next cohort, we will pair them with Mentees selected from our pool. Every year, the projects proposed by our Mentees vary widely and require a unique set of supports that we can only determine after the application period has closed.
All offers will be made in conjunction with a Mentee. If you choose to decline an offer for a particular Mentee, we cannot guarantee a different placement given our current capacity.
Additional questions? Email our Mentorship Program Director, Derek Russell, at mentorship@creatureconserve.com.