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Biodiversity Career Event



Recap of our November 2019 Event
Albuquerque, New Mexico
New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science
& Museum of Southwestern Biology
Shadowing Day: Friday the 8th of November, 2019
This was an opportunity to shadow a curator of natural history at either the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science or the Museum of Southwestern Biology, University of New Mexico.
Shadow event at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science
Shadow Leaders at New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science:
Jayne Aubele (Adult Programs Educator); Larry Crumpler (Research Curator, Volcanology and Space Science); Lindsay Fredrickson (Bioscience Collections Manager); Brian Grace (Registrar); Jason Malaney (Bio Science Curator); Gary Morgan (Curator of Paleontology); Mike Sanchez (Naturalist Center Educator); Tom Williamson (Paleontology Curator); Nicole Volden-Ridgewell (Geoscience Collections Manager); Corey Welch (Ornithologist/Mammalogist; Iowa State University)
Shadow event at the Museum of Southwestern Biology, University of New Mexico
Shadow Leaders at Museum of Southwestern Biology:
Mariel Campbell (Genomic Resources Collection Manager); Tom Giermakowski (Herpetology Collection Manager); Teresa Mayfield-Meyer (Collections Assistant in Genomic Resources Collection); Phil Tonne (Herbarium Collection Manager)
Workshop Day: Saturday the 9th of November, 2019
This was a full-day workshop where students learned about navigating a pathway to their career, followed by an afternoon reception where students could interact with professionals.
This opportunity was open to all undergraduate students and recent graduates interested in the biological sciences. We had over 100 applicants to participate in this event!
Featured Speakers:



Ornithologist/Mammalogist
Director of STEM Scholars Program, Iowa State University
Talk Title:
Succeeding in the Sciences: advice from an academic outsider who learned how to get inside
Paleontologist
Graduate Student, University of Florida
Talk Title:
When You Do What You Love, it Stops Feeling Like Work: Ups and Downs of Graduate School
Botanist
Program Director, National Science Foundation
Talk Title:
Opportunities for Education, Travel and Research in Biodiversity Science
Agenda: Saturday, November 9, 2019
Location: The New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science
9:00 - 9:30 Breakfast/meet & Greet (9:00-9:30)
9:30 - 9:35 Intro and Logistics (Anna Monfils, Professor and Director, CMU Herbarium)
9:35 - 9:45 Welcome from Host Museum (Deb Novak, Chief of Education, New Mexico Museum of
Natural History)
9:45 - 10:00 Defining what you need: making the most of this opportunity (Gabriela Hogue,
Collections Manager, Ichthyology North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences)
10:00 - 10:15 Discussion
10:15 - 10:30 Succeeding in the Sciences: advice from an academic outsider who learned how to get
inside (Corey Welch, Director, STEM Scholars Program, Iowa State University)
10:30 - 10:45 Discussion
10:45 - 11:00 Break
11:00 - 11:15 When You Do What You Love, it Stops Feeling Like Work: Ups and Downs of Graduate
School (Jeanette Pirlo, Research Assistant, Florida Museum of Natural History)
11:15 - 11:30 Discussion
11:30 - 12:30 Museum Tours
12:30 - 1:15 Lunch provided
1:15 - 1:30 Opportunities for Education, Travel and Research in Biodiversity Science (Roland
Roberts, Program Director, National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON),
Operations Division of Biological Infrastructure Directorate for Biological Sciences)
1:30-1:45 Discussion
1:45 - 2:15 Applying to Graduate School (Anna Monfils) PDF of presentation
2:15 - 3:00 Discussion and Questions for Panel on Applying to Graduate School:
Mechelle Crazy Thunder (Career Center, Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute);
Heather Fitzgerald (School of Math Science and Engineering, Central New Mexico
Community College); Tony Marin, (Assistant VP Student Affairs, New Mexico State
University, NMSU); Cheryl Martin (Senior Academic Advisor, Biology Graduate Program
Coordinator, University of New Mexico); Michael Ray (American Indian Program,
NMSU); Roland Roberts, Program Director, National Ecological Observatory Network
(NEON); Emily Stern (Center for Diversity and Integrated Learning, Santa Fe Community
College)
3:00 - 3:15 Break
3:15 - 4:15 Discussion and Questions for Careers in Biodiversity Science Panelists:
Katelyn P. Driscoll (US Forest Service); D. Westin Furr (New Mexico Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Office, NMFWCO); Debra HiIl (US Fish and Wildlife Service, Ecological
Services); Donavan Jackson (Wingate Highschool); Gwen Kolb (US Fish and Wildlife
Service, PFW); Rachel Loehman (US Geological Service); Maria Mullins (Bureau of Land
Management); Teresa Mayfield-Meyer (Collections Assistant in UNM Genomic
Resources Collection); Bob Sivinski (Botanist)
4:15 - 5:30 Early Evening Reception – Opportunity to meet and speak with Featured
Speakers, Graduate School Advisors and Career Service Representatives, Local
Professionals, and Faculty Mentors
Faculty Mentors:
Donovan Bailey (Professor of Plant Systematics, New Mexico State University, NMSU); Kevin Floyd (Lecturer, Biological Sciences, Assistant Botanical Curator, Chihuahuan Desert Gardens, The University of Texas at El Paso, UTEP); Melvin Foster (Science Laboratory Technician, Navajo Technical University); Ross A. McCauley (Associate Professor of Biology; Curator, Fort Lewis College Herbarium, Fort Lewis College); Neil Snow (Associate Professor of Biology/Director T.M. Sperry Herbarium, Pittsburg State University); Vicky Zuang (Collections Manager, UTEP Biodiversity Collections, UTEP)
For questions regarding future events, please contact Anna Monfils at monfi1ak@cmich.edu.

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under DBI 1730526. Any opinions, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.