career development

In 2012, a group of bright- eyed students and post-docs gathered at the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest in Blue River, Oregon, to learn about climate change, climate adaptation, and science communication. There, in the rainforest of the Pacific Northwest, a community of peers formed whose affiliations ranged from Alaska to the Hawaiian Islands to each of the corners of the continental U.S. These early career professionals decided to form a network to support each other in their future endeavors.

As a first year PhD student, being a part of the Northeast Climate Adaptation Science Center is a spectacular learning opportunity. Each month, I’m able to participate in meetings and seminars, to learn about the work of other researchers and students, and to improve my own research and engagement. Being a student at the University of Minnesota and part of the NE CASC, I feel particularly fortunate to learn about work spanning both the Great Lakes states and the Northeast.

Many early-career scientists balance a multitude of roles when attending graduate school, from the heavy demands of coursework and research to teaching and thesis and dissertation writing, not to mention the added responsibilities of a job or career.