In this episode, we invited Levon T. Esters, Associate Professor in the Department of Agricultural Sciences Education and Communication at Purdue University, to talk about how he approaches mentoring students and strategies for positioning graduate students of color for career advancement. Levon is also the Director of the award-winning Mentoring@Purdue program (M@P) and discusses how he uses his mentoring philosophy and sponsorship to support underrepresented graduate students in the STEM-based agricultural and life sciences disciplines in Purdue University’s College of Agriculture.

Listen to this episode to learn more about how Levon helps foster excellence in his advisees, and what he believes mentors can gain from adopting sponsorship as a strategy to help position graduate students of color for career advancement.