How to Become a Member

Member Recruitment:

Member Recruitment: New members will be recruited from among established investigators who move into environmental health research, (e.g., via the Pilot Project Program), and among junior investigators recruited to the university. Recruitment of new Center members can be initiated by any current member through a nomination process that includes a letter of nomination accompanied by a CV of the recruit. 

The Program Committee will discuss and vote on member nominations at their monthly meetings. A simple majority vote (50% + 1) is required to approve a nominee for membership. For those elected to membership, the Center Director will send a welcome letter and schedule an individual meeting with the new member to describe Center opportunities (e.g., subsidized core support, participation in organized meetings to meet potential collaborators, access to pilot project funding and career development activities) and expectations (e.g., participation in Center activities, NIH and preferably NIEHS funding, and mentoring junior faculty if senior).

The Director will personally contact and meet with each prospective member from under-represented groups to discuss the benefits and responsibilities entailed in becoming a Center member. The goal of recruitment will be to sustain a membership that will continue to nurture a vibrant and highly interactive environmental health research community at Texas A&M to address contemporary and timely issues of relevance to the NIEHS mission.

Loss of Membership: Members will be evaluated annually by the Program Committee to ensure they continue to fulfill the criteria described above. If a member has a prolonged lack of productivity or change in focus away from environmental health research, lack of engagement in the Center, its facility cores, or collaborations with other center members, or lack of commitment to mentoring junior members, they will be considered for removal from the Center member list. Removal requires a majority vote (50% + 1) of the Program Committee. The Center Director will inform affected members of negative votes along with the reasons for the vote outcome. It is anticipated that the main reasons for a loss of membership in the Center will be a member moving away or retiring from Texas A&M.