2^nd Potawatomi Student Conference in Industrial Ecology

(Pokagon State Park, Angola IN, 23–25 March 2007)

Background

Industrial ecology is a new and rapidly growing field. As a result students in industrial ecology often lack opportunities for interaction, peer mentoring, and informal guidance that comes from being associated with a mature scientific discipline. Students are scattered across various departments and their involvement is often limited to ISIE and GRC conferences. To overcome this limitation, a regional student conference on industrial ecology was organized last year at Patawatomi Inn. It began with the idea of bringing students from research groups in Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana and others that were conducting industrial ecology research. This conference was a valuable experience for participating students who had opportunities to present their research and learn from others in a supportive and informal setting. Moreover, students found it useful for improving their presentation and skills, and benefited from a grant writing session. Building on the success of the first conference, we have decided to organize the 2^nd Potawatomi Conference in Industrial Ecology. We believe that it is critical for students to begin making research and peer connections early in their careers and hope that this regional conference will be an important forum for networking outside their universities. The students will present their research, conduct mini-discussion sessions, organize a poster session, and organize the entire conference. Faculty advisers are asked to participate to enhance their students’ experience by informing the discussions, providing tips on presentation styles, and contributing advice to sessions such as the grant writing and paper publications.

Call for Abstracts

We invite abstracts from students in industrial ecology and related fields such as environmental science, engineering, and policy. Please submit abstracts to Hatice Sengul via email hsengu2@uic.edu before February 1, 2007. Abstracts should not exceed 300 words. Indicate in your abstract whether your contribution is for a poster session or a 25-minute presentation and state the specific area that best describes your research.
Submit your abstract online

Tentative Agenda

Friday: Arrival and poster session in the cabin suite (starting at 7pm)

Saturday morning: Welcome speech, presentation by guest speaker, and student presentations

Saturday afternoon: Student presentations

Saturday evening: Poster session in cabin suite

Sunday Morning: Remaining student presentations and grant writing session

Potawatomi Inn

The conference is scheduled for March 23- March 25 (arrival on the evening of March 23 and departure on the afternoon of March 25) at Potawatomi Inn in Angola IN. The Inn provides several different levels of accommodation and comfort from economy cabins to suites. Breakfast and lunch buffets are available on-site. Additional information is available at: http://www.in.gov/dnr/parklake/properties/inn_potawatomi.html

NOTE: Since rooms are occupied quickly at the inn, we advise students to reserve the rooms early, preferably 2 months before schedule. Also neither the inn nor Pokagon Park sell or allow alcoholic beverages in public spaces.

Cost

Students and faculty are responsible for their own travel and accommodations. There is no conference fee.

Student Organizing Committee:

· Anil Baral, The Ohio State University (baral.1@osu.edu)

· Brianna Dorie, Purdue University(bdorie@purdue.edu)

· Hilary Grimes-Casey, University of Michigan (grimeshg@umich.edu)

· Hatice Sengul, University of Illinois at Chicago (hsengu2@uic.edu)

· Shanon Rogers, University of New Hampshire (shrogers@cisunix.unh.edu)

· Yi Zhang, The Ohio State University (zhang.468@osu.edu)

Faculty Advisors

· Dr. Bhavik R. Bakshi, The Ohio State University

· Dr.  Thomas L. Theis, University of Illinois at Chicago

· Dr. Thomas P. Seager, Purdue University

For further details please e-mail or call Mr. Baral at 469-767-6172.