The SETAC North America Awards and Fellowships Committee is pleased to announce the eleventh year of a program to introduce North American minority students and/or their faculty mentors to the Society and to the professional opportunities offered in the fields of environmental toxicology, environmental chemistry, and risk assessment. The long-term goal is to increase the awareness among minorities of educational opportunities and career choices in the fields encompassed by the members of SETAC.

Selected individuals will receive a one-year membership to the Society and funds in support of travel to the SETAC North America 33rd Annual Meeting in Long Beach, California, 11-15 November 2012. Individuals will be selected on a competitive basis; the selection process will be implemented through the SETAC North America Awards and Fellowships Subcommittee for Travel and Minority Awards. For more information contact the SETAC Office, Pensacola, FL. (See below.)

Application Procedure and Criteria for Selection:

For the purposes of this award, the term "minority" refers to African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, and other ethnic groups designated by the Board of Directors. All applicants must be a current SETAC member and reside in North America. North America minority undergraduate students, graduate students, and faculty mentors of these students with an interest or area of study allied with SETAC will be eligible to apply. Travel applications may be completed during abstract submittal and should include the following items:

• A completed application form;
• A one-page curriculum vitae of the applicant, giving citizenship status;
• A statement of educational/professional goals and accomplishments by the applicant (one-sided, single-page maximum), and of how these goals and accomplishments coincide with the mission of SETAC; and
• A letter of endorsement by the applicant's faculty advisor (for students) or academic supervisor (for faculty), one-sided, single-page maximum. Verification of monetary match should be included. 
• Applicant must agree to volunteer four (4) hours during the Annual Meeting to receive monetary stipend.

Ideally, all applicants will be sponsored. However, because the number of awards is limited by available funds, applicants will be ranked on the basis of the following criteria:

• Completeness and timeliness of the application package;
• Quality of educational/professional goals and accomplishments in relation to the background of the applicant;
• Organization and presentation of the applicant's statement of goals and accomplishments; and 
• Availability to volunteer at the Annual Meeting.

If the number of highly meritorious applicants exceeds the available funds, selection will be made with the objectives of maintaining educational, discipline- and geographical-based distribution. Students may apply for only one travel award (e.g., Student Travel Award or SETAC Program for North American Minority Students and Mentors) in any given year.

NOTE: All monetary stipends will be awarded at the Annual Meeting.

Students can win one award as an MS and one as a Ph.D. student, but cannot win a minority student/mentor award plus MS and Ph.D. awards. A maximum of two awards will be given to any one person. (An undergraduate award does not count toward total awards for which a student is eligible.)

To Submit:

Applications must be submitted during or follwoing abstract submittal, but must be completed by 1 June 2012.  For assistance or questions, email setac@setac.org.