Dear Faculty Members, Staff, and Instructors,

The Biology Graduate Students’ Association would like to invite you and your students to participate in the RE Peter Biology Conference 2021, to be held during the first week of March. We are excited to continue this important tradition within the Department of Biological Sciences, bringing opportunities for personal and professional growth to our fellow students in 2021. The conference will be held completely online this year, so your support will be even more important than in past years. Without any physical presence on campus to engage casual walk-through participation, student awareness will depend on word-of-mouth and building excitement in the department, leading up to the event.

We believe very strongly that participation in the RE Peter conference is of tremendous benefit to students at all levels, from undergrads to doctoral candidates. Please encourage your fall 2020 students to submit abstracts for poster presentations or short (12 minute) talks, and consider incorporating RE Peter participation into your class requirements for the winter semester 2021. For example, the conference will feature keynote speakers and workshops that can be beneficial for students, even if they are unable to present their own work. We would be happy to work with you to track attendance, if you would like to give credit for participation in any of the talks, workshops, or other events. Please let us know what you require.

If you could set aside time during the conference to attend some of the student talks or poster sessions, it would be very much appreciated. It means a lot to students to have a professor take the time to speak with them about their research interests. If you are looking for motivated undergraduates to join your lab for summer internships or undergraduate research projects, the poster session could also be very useful.

We are in the early planning stages now, and will be posting updates to the RE Peter website as the conference takes shape. In an effort to minimize class time conflicts, student presentations and workshops are being scheduled in the afternoons from Monday, March 1, through Friday, March 5, from 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM each day. Let us know if there is anything we can do to help you or your students get involved with the conference.

We look forward to seeing you there!