The document discusses the importance of mentorship in professional development, particularly in the context of green building and sustainability. It highlights various types of mentors and resources for networking and career development, emphasizing the value of relationships that enhance both soft and hard skills. The author shares personal insights and recommends tools such as social media and informational interviews for building a robust professional network.

1. Resources for Emerging Green Builder Speed Mentorship Event CaGBC 27 May 2015
MENTORSHIP
MATTERS
Dawn R Bazely, Professor of Biology
Faculty of Science
York University
Toronto
@dawnbazely
1

2. –Caela Farren (2006) 8 Types of Mentor
http://www.masteryworks.com/newsite/downloads/Article3_EightTypesofMentors-
WhichOnesdoyouNeed.pdf
“Mentorship is a personal developmental relationship in
which a more experienced or more knowledgeable person
helps to guide a less experienced or less knowledgeable
person. The mentor may be older or younger, but have a
certain area of expertise. It is a learning and development
partnership between someone with vast experience and
someone who wants to learn.”

3. MENTORING
For me, mentoring is about helping
people (of all ages) to develop the soft
skills that are essential and
complementary to career hard skills
I have had tons of great mentors
throughout my Biology career, which
includes 7 years as director of York
University’s IRIS (Institute for Research
and Innovation in Sustainability
2004-15), starting in 2006
Here’s Prof Emerita Judy Myers, at right,
one of my top mentors… see http://bit.ly/
1uvHhOW

4. MENTORSHIP
I like to be prepared, so when Dana
Sperling of the Toronto chapter of the
Canada Green Building Council invited
me to participate in a mentoring event, I
made some lists of resources to remind
myself about 1. why I think that
mentoring matters, 2. what good
mentorship looks like and 3. what
resources there are out out there that I
like.
I was a grad student at Oxford
University and I met Judy Myers, shown
earlier there in 1986. She was on
sabbatical and invited me to write a book
with her (it only took 17 years to finish!)

5. MENTORS: THE MORE THE MERRIER
When Dr. Marie McNeely (@PhDMarie) interviewed me
for the Podcast series, People Behind the Science
(@PBtScience) I advised people to find and listen to as
many mentors as possible:
http://www.peoplebehindthescience.com/dr-dawn-bazely/
Dr. C. Farren lists 8 kinds of mentors: Profession or Trade
Mentor, Industry Mentor, Organization Mentor, Customer
Mentor, Work Process Mentor, Technology Mentor, Work/
Life Integration Mentor, Career Development Mentor

6. RESOURCES:NETWORKING
Network building: LinkedIn (check out
my profile - I worked hard on it & I’m
not looking for a job), Social Media,
conferences (many of them sponsor
youth delegates to attend:
Rajbir (at right with glasses) and another
student in my lab, Michelle, applied for,
and won fully sponsored attendance at
last week’s Ontario Biodiversity Summit
as Youth Leaders (@YL4Biodiversity). It
was a crucial networking opportunity.
Invite people for informational
interviews - buy them coffee or lunch
and ask them about their career paths

7. RESOURCES:MIND YOUR INTERNET P’S & Q’S
Minding your electronic footprint: Keep a squeaky
clean online reputation by Paul Hill (author of The
Panic Free Job Search): http://bit.ly/1KpxIVd
Your virtual presence is a big influencer, so tend it
properly (and, have an e-presence. These days, an
absence of one rings alarm bells. See https://
twitter.com/LiberoFusi/status/
603873518653046784).
Also, see Karen Kelsky (@ProfessorIsIn): http://
bit.ly/1MIfZtF
And: Jodie Rummer’s http://figshare.com/articles/
Strategically_using_social_media_to_communicat
e_research/1301693

8. RESOURCES: NEWSPAPER ARTICLES
http://nyti.ms/1G07AlW
http://nyti.ms/T9b9zu
http://nyti.ms/1qhAeqq
Aqeel, Simrat and Jana at right (L to R)
at Ontario Biology Day 2014, presenting
their research to students from across
the province. They did BSc research
honours theses in my lab. Our weekly lab
meetings often covered career
development including the need to read
weekly newspaper columns about career
development. Currently, they are
completing or doing an M.Sc., B.Ed. &
optometry training, respectively.

9. RESOURCES: READ BLOGS & LISTEN TO
PODCASTS
There are loads of great
blogs and podcasts out there.
General mentorship blogs:
eg http://
www.recruitmentgrapevine.com/
Subject specific mentorship
blogs:
eg http://
www.peoplebehindthescience.com/