What is the Rising Tides mentorship program?

This is a new MISS program that encourages and supports mentorship between MISS members. Recipients will be awarded $10,000. This program is for MISS Members who are interested in mentoring another MISS Member either remotely, in their lab or at their institution. Mentors can be at any career stage (Undergraduate to Late-career), but must be mentoring someone in an earlier career stage (High School to Mid-career). To be eligible to apply, mentorship teams must be working on a project related to elasmobranch research or conservation. Both mentors and mentees must be MISS members. ​
What do recipients receive?
This program will include a $2,000 mentor stipend, $5,000 student stipend and $3,000 for supplies and/or conference fees for mentorship pairs to work together for one year on a research project.  

Why was this program created?
Women and people of color are less likely to receive mentorship than their white male counterparts (Milkman et. al., 2014; Morzinski et al, 2002). Having access to strong mentors, particularly mentors who share similar identities, increases retention in STEM fields (Williams et al, 2015). With few gender minorities of color in faculty, post-doc or senior positions, these folks experience a higher mentorship burden than their white male counterparts and are often not compensated for this additional expected service.
This program is sponsored by re:wild.