Dear Colleagues, We would like to invite you to a half-day workshop entitled "Career-Life balance and how to make a successful career in marine mammal science" in association with the SMM Biennial Conference on Sunday, December 13th from 8:30am - 12:30. Below is a brief description of the workshop. More information can be found at the SMM conference website. Career-Life balance and how to make a successful career in marine mammal science Workshop Summary: Globally, there is increasing recognition that family and care giving responsibilities are driving women away from STEM fields. However, this issue is not unique to gender, and other minorities or those (of either gender) with additional caring responsibilities can face similar difficulties. In particular, marine mammalogy is a challenging career in this respect because of the fieldwork and travel obligations necessary to excel in the field. This workshop aims to bring awareness to this issue within our community, and examine whether there is more that the Society for Marine Mammalogy could do to retain and maximize talent and diversity across its members. Before the workshop we will be distributing a brief on-line survey to Society members. We will use the results of the survey at the workshop to highlight potential challenges and biases as they apply specifically to our community. Date and Time: December 13th, 2015, 8:30 am - 12:30 pm For further information and to register please go to the Society's website: https://www.marinemammalscience.org/conference/workshops/#career REGISTRATION DISCOUNTS: We are seeking sponsorship for the workshop and have received support from ATS, Loggerhead Instruments and Teledyne-Reson. We will pass on this support as a reduction in fees, and are currently able to offer a $20 discount to the first 30 registrants for this workshop. (If you have registered already a refund will be issued through the SMM system). If you have any questions about the workshop please contact one of the co-organizers: Samantha Simmons (ssimmons@mmc.gov<mailto:ssimmons@mmc.gov>), Sascha Hooker (sh43@st-andrews.ac.uk<mailto:sh43@st-andrews.ac.uk>), Gitte McDonald (gmcdonald@mlml.calstate.edu<mailto:gmcdonald@mlml.calstate.edu>), Alison Stimpert (astimpert@mlml.calstate.edu<mailto:astimpert@mlml.calstate.edu>) We hope to see you in San Francisco in December! Sam, Sascha, Gitte and Alison. _______________________________________________________________ Samantha Simmons, PhD. Assistant Scientific Program Director Marine Mammal Commission, 4340 East-West Highway, Suite 700 Bethesda, MD 20814 (w) 301-504-0087 web: www.mmc.gov The Marine Mammal Commission is an independent agency of the U.S. Government Follow us on Twitter: @MarineMammalCom