Alumni Student Careers Forum

Place: 325 McCone Hall
Time: Fridays, 3 to 4 pm
George Brimhall, Faculty Organizer
Nadine Spingola-Hutton, Student Affairs Officer

Purpose: While attendance at UC presents to students the nature of academic careers through daily interaction with faculty and staff, a diverse range of careers outside of the research university environment are also worthwhile exploring upon graduation. Towards this end, our speakers program provides a conversational forum for UC Berkeley undergraduate and graduate students to become more aware of the spectrum of career opportunities in the geosciences through alumni lectures, personal interaction, and networking in a manner that models community building and collaboration. Our Forum explores and affirms the excitement, societal relevance, and employment in both the public and private sectors ranging from the energy and minerals industry, government research agencies, environmental protection and restoration, K-12 through Community College education, and regulatory agencies on the local, state, and federal levels. All speakers explain their own paths in finding their current job and highlight key priorities. Workplace safety, critical reasoning, professional ethics, public speaking, and respectful interaction are all life skills stressed in many of the presentations.To further humanize the various types of jobs and their essential place in our lives, we often discuss practical details about work schedules, transitons in life, childcare, benfits, and work environments. We intend that these forums will expand our academic advisory functions and assist students in better calibrating their life's compass and thus help them discover their own personal future. Talks may also help students develop a more coherent academic program that better prepares them for the future. For example, speakers may highlight preferred fields of knowledge such as risk assessment that may not be included in our major requirements. Many speakers discuss the value of having professional registration as geologists. Teachers discuss certification for K through 5th grade by passing the CSET Multiple Subject Test and 6th through 12 grade by passing the CSET Single Subject exam in Earth and planetary science administered by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing which is based on both the Subject Matter Requirments for teachers and the Content Standards for K-12 education in California.
Scroll down to see all past Forums.