169 Preparing mentees for their future.

Abstract Mentoring students in research is a task that is required of a faculty member with a research appointment. Frequently, very little preparation in this role is acquired during the graduate training years, therefore one’s experiences as a trainee, both positive and negative, are the first means used when engaging in student research mentoring as a junior faculty. The success of the laboratory’s research program, especially in a research-intensive university, generally depends on the productivity and commitment of the trainees, which in turn depends on the mentor’s commitment to their training. Mentoring of research trainees will be based on the understanding of the expectations of the research area/position as experienced by the mentor. Dr. Rivera will discuss both positive and negative outcomes in graduate training and lessons learned as a research mentor during her ~18-year career at the University of Missouri. In addition, she will discuss observations made during her 2-year tenure as Director of Graduate Studies in the Division of Animal Sciences as well as her experiences and interactions with a sundry of graduate students from various disciplines that she mentored over 11 years in her role of faculty advisor to a campus-wide graduate student organization.