Description: Unwritten rules and hidden agendas exist throughout one’s career, but these agendas can be particularly troublesome and important for graduate students and early career professionals. This is especially relevant in hydrology, where there is no typical academic background – people come from any number of STEM and not-so STEM disciplines to graduate school and careers. So individuals may feel overwhelmed by the lack of clarity in regards to expectations of knowledge, production, and the “rules of the game” for achieving success. This phenomenon harms retention, especially for first generation graduate students.

This moderated expert panel discusses how to support graduate students and early career professionals navigate the hidden agendas and understanding the rules, featuring what you didn’t know and wish you had; managing time, expectations, and stress; and restructuring training and mentoring for students and early career professionals so that they are equipped for success.

Speakers:

Moderator: Angélica Gómez, Ph.D - Post-Doc Research Associate, Department of Earth, Marine and Environmental Sciences, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Louise Arnal, Ph.D - Postdoctoral Fellow, Centre for Hydrology, Coldwater Laboratory, University of Saskatchewan

Efi Foufoula-Georgiou, Ph.D - Distinguished Professor, Henry Samueli Endowed Chair in Engineering, Departments of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth System Science, University of California, Irvine

Ingrid Padilla, Ph.D - Special Advisor to the Chancellor for Research, Innovation and Creative Endeavors, Professor of Civil Engineering & Surveying, University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez

Margaret Zimmer, Ph.D - Assistant Professor, Earth & Planetary Sciences Department, University of California, Santa Cruz