Alumni Student Careers Forum
Place: 325 McCone Hall, Time: Fridays, 3 to 4 pm George Brimhall, Faculty Organizer Catherine Pauling, 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.
The 2013 Spring Program focuses on Transitions: Key Stages of Our Lives and Families
Date Speaker 'UCB Degee & Year Talk Title Affiliation
Feb. 1 Eric Winchell BA'09 Geophysics "How to Avoid Living with Your Parents after Cal. Work, travel, and Gradschool." PhD Graduate student at Univ of CO, Boulder
Feb. 22 Loretta Kwong BA'08 Geology "A Day in the Life of an Environmental Geologist". ARCADIS San Francisco and Walnut Creek
Mar. 1 Courtney Hart BA'06 Marine Science "Covering the Basics - Preparing yourself for a variety of career paths" Applicant for graduate school
Mar. 8 Josh Graham BA"08 Geology "Environmental Consulting & Secondary Education: Perspectives on 2 Different Career Paths" Physics Teacher, Richland High School, Fort Worth, TX
Mar. 15 Erin Anna Zike Ward BA'01 Geology "Remaining Marketable while Unemployed" Educator
Apr. 19 David Belt BA'09 Geology "Pathway through school and life as a consultant in the Mother Lode" Geologist, Condor Earth Technologies, Sonora, California
Apr.26 Mike McGehee BA'05 Geology, MBA "Military Leadership Experience: Subsequent Career Options and Doors Open for Veterans" Former, US Navy Instructor, Submarine School
May 3 John Willams BA"01 Geology "Navigating the (ground)waters from geology to hydrology to meteorology: the path from Postdoc at the University of Bonn Meteorological Institute
environmental consulting to postdoctoral researcher"
2012 Fall Program
Date Speaker 'UCB Degee & Year Talk Title Affiliation
Oct. 19 Nina FitchBA'09 Geology, MA'10 "Life After Cal: Tips from a Recent Graduate on Coursework, Graduate School, Resumes, AMEC GeoMatrix Oakland
Interviews, and a Sneak Preview Into the Wolrd of Environmental Consulting"
Oct. 26 Charlie Paradis BA'07 Geology "Environmental Consulting and Graduate School: A Candid Testimony of Mistakes, Successes, Associate Geologist, Parsons Walnut Creek
and Lessons Learned" and Graduate Student Researcher, UC Davis
Nov. 2 Liv Detrick "Paid Summer Research, Undergraduate Scholarships, and Graduate Fellowships" Institute for Broadening Participation (IBP) Pathway to Science
Nov. 9 Joel Scheingross BA'07 Geology "How to meander your way to grad school, and enjoy life once you get there" PhD Graduate student at Cal Tech
Nov. 16 Keith Foster BA'11 Geology "Life After Cal: A look inside the public and private sectors through a the eyes of a geologist" URS Corporation
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2012 Spring Program
Feb. 3 Sean Ford Geophysics BA'99, PhD'08 "Tax-payer funded research at a privately-run lab: The new face of forensic seismology
at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory." Lawrence Livermore National Lab
Feb. 10 Charles Paradis Geology BA'07 "Graduate Studies in Hydrogeology: a crash course in admission, coursework, and research" Graduate Student Researcher, UC Davis, Hydrologic
Sciences Graduate Group, and Associate Geologist, Parsons, Walnut Creek
Feb. 17 Lan Ma Atmospheric Sci & IB BA'08 "Clean Air Heads" ENVIRON International Corp.
Feb. 24 Chris Lewis Geology BA'86, MS'93 "From small farms to middle school classrooms: Geoscience education in formal
and informal environments" City College of San Francisco
Mar. 2 Misato Araki Geology'01 Special note: Time 4:10-5:00 "Teaching, and how I got here with a geology degree" Kaiser Elementary, Oakland
Mar.9 Derek Lerch Geophysics BA'00 "Geology right out my window: Faculty and administrative work at a small California
Community College" Feather River College
Mar. 16 Trey Appel "Modeling Catastrophes: From Faults to Families and other things that matter" Risk Management Solutions
Mar. 23 Russell McArthur Geology BA'09, MA'10 "Getting a foot in the door--A view into the world of part-time teaching" UCB, SFSU, SSU, NVC, CCSF, and DVC
April 6 Kate Quigley "Geoscience Education Through New Technology" Lawrence Hall of Science
April 13 3:00-4:00 pm No Forum this week
April 20 Bruce Bilodeau Geology AB'76 "A UC Berkeley Geologisit in Big Oil, A Stranger in a Strange Land" Petrophysicist-Geologist, R and D, Chevron
April 27 Mauricio Escobar & Nick Walchuk , Geology BA'96 "Leveraging an EPS Degree into a Successful Career: Environmental Consulting" Principal Geologist, ROUX Environmental
Associates; and Senior Manager, Environ
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2011 Spring Program George Brimhall, Coordinator
Date Time and Place Speaker(s) Talk Titles Affiliation
Tuesday, Jan. 25 6:00-7:00 pm Charlie Paradis "Environmental Consulting: a candid testimony of mistakes, (1) MSc Candidate, Land, Air & Water Resources,
successes, and lessons learned" Subsurface Hydrology UC David; (2) Associate
Geologist, Parsons, Walnut Creek
Tuesday, Feb. 8 5:00-6:00 pm Arthur Reis "Career Strategies and Experiences in Applied Science and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,
Engineering: Practice through Public Service" Office of Energy Projects
Tuesday, Mar. 8 5:00-6:00 pm Josh Graham "High School Teacher Credentialing Programs- A personal Perspective" Graduate program in teacher credentialing: Texas
Teachers Program
Tuesday, Mar. 29 5:00-6:00 pm Scott Stromberg "The Road from EPS to an Environmental Consulting Firm of 14." Orion Environmental
Tuesday, April 12 5:00-6:00 pm Loretta Kwong "A Day in the Life of an Environmental Geologist" ARCADIS San Francisco and Walnut Creek
Tuesday, April 19 5:00-6:00 pm Nick Walchuk & Mauricio Escobar "EPS Beyond the Degree: Perspectives on Environmental Consulting" Environ
2010 Fall Program
Date Time and Place Speaker(s) Affiliation Talk Title (Click to see slides)
Mon. Sept. 20 5 to 6 pm 365 McCone Hall Nina Fitch (AMEC GeoMatrix) "Advice From a Recent Grad On Getting a Job"
Mon. Oct. 4 5:30-6:30 365 McCone Hall Erik Oerter (ESPM) "What I learned in the first 5 years of my career working
in state government"
Tues. Oct. 19 5:00-6:00 365 McConeHall Nick Odlam (Stanford) "Avoiding the online resume black hole"
Weds. Nov. 3 5:00-6:00 365 McCone Hall Phil Behrman (Marathon Oil, retired) "Some lessons learned from a career in the energy business
2009 /2010 Program Spring
Date 325 McCone Hall Speaker(s) and Talk Titles Affiliaiton
Thursday Feb 25 Nick Walchuk & Mauricio Escobar "EPS Beyond the Degree: Perspectives on Environmental Consulting" Environ
Thursday April 8 5:30-6:30 325 McCone Josh Graham "Environmental consulting - is it for you?" Arcadis
Thursday April 22 5:00-6:00 325 McCone Daniel Mayeri "Education: Teaching, Tutoring, and Flexibility" The Athenian School, Danville
Thursday April 29 5:00-6:00 325 McCone William Teplow "Finding stuff is more fun than knowing stuff: a career in geothermal exploration" VP Exploration US Geothermal
Program Fall
Weds. Sept 16 Delphine Prevost "Beyond Earth Science- Leveraging Your Degree." Project Manager Maritime Division of the Port of Oakland
Lucas Goldstein "A Career in Environmental Consulting" Geologisit/Engineer LFR Inc. Emmeryville
Weds. Oct 28- Jim Murray "Oceanography: Future Science Questions and Professor in the School of Oceanography University of Washington
Research Opportunities"
2008/2009 Program
Spring Semester
Tuesday Feb. 17 5-6 pm 365 McCone George Brimhall "Surviving the Current Job Market " Misato Araki "My Path to Becoming a Primary School Teacher" First grade teacher at Kaiser Elementary School, Oakland Unified.School District
Tuesday Mar. 10 5-6 pm 365 McCone Nick Perry "Exploring the Grassroots Political Perspective" Citizen Outreach Canvass Director, Grassroots Campaigns Inc.
Tuesday Mar. 17 5-6 pm 365 McCone Josh Graham "Environmental Consulting in rough/tough economic times" Geologist ARCADIS
Tuesday Mar. 31 5-6 pm 365 McCone Trey Apel “What is geotechnical consulting? – How to get paid for your opinion” AMEC GEOMATRIX
Tuesday April 14 5-6 pm 365 McCone Laura Glaser "Developing Regional Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Analyses:
How I get paid to do real geology in cool places" AMEC GEOMATRIX
Tuesday April 28 5-6 pm 365 McCone Lan Ma “Why Consulting? Why Air Practice?” Atmospheric Scientist ENVIRON
Saturday April 18 10-11 am 141 McCone George Brimhall "Can Americans Learn to Live Within Their Means" Cal Day Talk
Useful Links to Know about: Geological Society of America: K-12 Teacher Resources GSA main website
American Geological Institute (AGI): Publications Careers
Jobs and Career Development: American Geological Institute Board on Professional Registration
California Commission on Teacher Credentialing Required Geoscience Knowledge (Subject Matter Requirements (scroll to Science 2003)
Association of Women Geoscientists National Association of Geoscience Teachers Northern California Geological Society
American Geophysical Union Career Center UCB Occupational Handbook (In Search Box enter Job Title and see work demands, opportunities)
2008/2009 Program
Fall Semester
Weds. Oct. 22nd 5:30-6:30 pm 325 McCone Hall Peter Yen Bechtel, National Inc.
Weds. Oct. 29th 5:30-6:30 pm 325 McCone Hall Brett Davidheiser-Kroll Stillwater Platinum Mine, MT
Weds. Nov. 5th 5:30-6:30 pm 325 McCone Hall Max Wilmarth Geothermal Power
Weds. Dec. 3rd 5:30-6:30 pm 325 McCone Hall Nick Walchuk & Mauricio Escobar Environmental Consultants: Environ
2007/2008 Program
Date Place Speaker(s) click to see talk Affiliation
(Blue is confirmed; Black invited only)
Weds. Oct. 31 6-7 pm 325 McCone Hall Daniel Mayeri Math Teacher: The Athenian School
Weds. Nov. 14 6-7 pm 325 McCone Hall John Williams Environmental Consultant: Kleinfelder
Weds. Nov. 28 6-7 pm 325 McCone Hall Abel Vanegas & Lucas Goldstein Math-Sci Teacher: Bay Pt. & LRF
Weds. Jan. 30 6-7 pm 325 McCone Hall Paul Henshaw Retired Geologist: Chevron
Weds. Feb. 13 6-7 pm 365 McCone Hall Rebecca Fehr REI Manager
Weds. Feb. 27 6-7 pm 365 McCone Hall Nick Walchuk & Mauricio Escobar Environmental Consultants: Environ
Weds. Mar. 12 6-7 pm 365 McCone Hall Leonard Sklar Professor: SF State Univeristy
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2006/2007 Program
Date Place Speaker(s) click to see talk Affiliation
Weds. Nov. 1 4-5 pm 325 McCone Hall Mauricio Escobar & Nick Walchuk Environ
Fri. Dec 8, 2006 4-5 pm 325 McCone Hall Bill Lettis William Lettis & Associates
Tues. Jan 23, 2007 5-6 pm 365 McCone Hall Tim Mote GeoMatrix
Tues. Feb. 6, 2007 5-6 pm 365 McCone Hall Erin Zike Links to Standards Photos 9th Grade Teacher
Tues. Mar 6, 2007 5-6 pm 365 McCone Hall Russell Graymer USGS
Tues. May 1, 2007 5-6 pm 365 McCone Hall Jaquie Bicais Pre Law Professional