GSAAS Events: Alumni Roundtable Discussion
March 10, 2011
Howard University

GSAAS invited Howard University alumni from the Atmospheric Sciences program to come and discuss their experiences both in the program and after graduation. Jamese Sims, Segayle Thompson (nee Walford), and Dana Carlis came to speak with the current students, stories and advice. These alumni have been working with HUPAS faculty to improve the program. The program was a roundtable format, with the alumni introducing themselves, giving advice, and then answering questions from current students

Hosted by Micheal Hicks and Tamil Maldonado
Notes Recorded by Cassie Stearns (paraphrased except where in quotations)

Attended by: Jonathan Smith, Ben Albright, Mayra Oyola, Tamil Maldonado (with guest Danny), Micheal Hicks and Cassie Stearns. 

Alumni Bios and Backgrounds
Jamese Sims worked with Dr. Jenkins for her PhD. As an undergrad at Jackson State, she participated in the NOAA Educational Partnership Program (EPP). She worked with HWRF to study air/sea interactions with hurricanes. She is still working with the model, but she is now focused on SST experiments. 

Contact: Jamese.Sims@noaa.gov

Dana Carlis is originally from Tulsa, and attended Howard University as an undergraduate, earning a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry in 1999. After graduation, he was approached by Dr. Morris to study atmospheric science at Howard. During his graduate studies, he participated in the NOAA EPP Graduate Scientist program. As a result, he spent much of this time at the University of Hawaii. After graduating from Howard, he actively searched for jobs (asking for interviews while at Howard for graduation week). He now works at NCEP and works with the GFS model and programs in FORTRAN. He runs experiments and does some programming. His most recent assignment was to run experiments so government leaders could make funding decisions. 

Contact: dana.carlis@gmail.com

Segayle Thompson is known to several current Howard students as Segayle Walford. She earned her Bachelor’s from Penn State in 2002, and went to work with Dr. Joseph and Dr. Demoz for her PhD. She studied how LIDAR observations could be incorporated into the WRF model to test and improve convective forecasting. She is currently at NASA working on a Post-Doc. She has elaborated on her PhD and is working on an ice parameterization scheme in the NASA Goddard cloud resolving model

Contact: Segayle.thompson@nasa.gov
	Walford02@hotmail.com

Advice
Jamese
•	Make connections – Jamese used her connections in EPP to go to Howard for her PhD.
•	For the EPP: If you are in the program, you are a federal employee and will work at a government center (in her case, NCEP)
•	She was shy about computer science, and this has been a limitation. 
•	DO PROGRAMMING. Learn FORTRAN, C++, GRADS, MatLab or other processing program.
•	As EPP employee, she went to a branch which did not do exactly what her research was, and that made things awkward
•	Use your resources to find a place that fits your research!
•	Get on your advisors to use the data they collect!
•	PUBLISH!
•	Make an Independent Development Plan (IDP): write down what classes you want, what you want to learn, what conferences you want to go to, etc. 
•	On being a minority with a PhD: there are not that many out there, so there are still some barriers to overcome
•	Be Proactive!

Dana
•	“Do not accept the status quo; you need to fight for what you want”
•	need to ASK for things you want – they won’t just be given to you
•	Being in Hawaii for a long time meant he had to learn to fend for himself – he had to explain what he was doing at their office which was different from their normal operations
•	He talked to EMC director while a Graduate Student about what he needed for using models. The answer: learn to program!
•	Lesson learned – Ask people what you need to know

Segayle
•	It can be challenging to transition into something that doesn’t directly relate to your dissertation, so try to choose a topic that you’re willing to (and can!) work on for a while.
•	She knew she wanted to study cloud microphysics, but her dissertation did not follow this topic
•	Working with a model in her dissertation is different than working with the model and trying to change the model
•	Field campaigns are excellent networking opportunities – so network while you’re in the field!
•	If your interest don’t align with your advisor’s area of expertise, you need to get an external advisor to ask questions!
•	TRY TO PUBLISH – try to publish at least 1 paper before you graduate; especially try for first authorship
•	use the data from field campaigns!
•	Come up with ideas from the data to ask questions about
•	You need to keep on your advisors/professors if you have an idea (they’re busy – but your ideas and publish are important!!)
•	Chances are many might not see you as a PhD if your are not published in a peer-reviewed journal when you graduate 

Misc Comments
On planning / IDP
Dana - developing plans and deadlines will get you out faster
Segayle –  need to tailor not only courses you need, but field campaigns and conferences 	you want to participate in / attend
Jamese – also keep track of what skills you need to improve

On Publications and Presentations 
Jamese – on publications: publishing is EXTREMELY important

Jamese – on presentations: ORAL presentations are much better than posters. It is easier 	for people to remember you and what you talked about. 
Dana – on presentations: he never got calls back about posters presented, but he did get 	calls about his oral presentations

Question and Answer Session
Q: How did you lean programming?
Dana: took a programming course (C++), then got a book. Also, he looked at output from 	models and asked himself questions (How do I create X?)
Jamese: Once you learn one, other languages come easier
Segayle: Take a course if you can, and get into the programming of a model. 
Jamese: Take codes from the model and “translate them into English”.
Segayle: “Models shouldn’t be black boxes.”

Q: What are your thoughts on [what to do] after graduation?
Segayle: If you’re interested in academia, do a post-doc.
Dana: Have an idea of interests (academia vs. government etc.); I didn’t know what I 		wanted to do, exactly, either. But I’ve been fortunate enough to have 	opportunities present themselves, and I’ve just gone with them. 
Segayle: Going with the flow can be a little dangerous because you can end up floating 	from one topic to another forever. Get experiences in school to understand what 	topic you like. 
Jamese: Figure out 2-3 things you might want to do: agencies of interest etc. Ask if you 	can shadow someone at these agencies.

Q: What was writing the dissertation like?
Dana: Work a little every day. Look at graphics [you produced] then write about it. 	(Writing was hard for him: it took him 4-5 months to get it the way he wanted it.) 	Be prepared to make a lot of changes
Segayle: Make sure you get comments back. “Unless you get comments back, they’re not 	reading it.”
Dana: Give your advisor deadlines for turning in parts. 
Segayle: Ask for feedback by “Day X”. 
Jamese: Stop them – show up at their office and wait until they show up
Jamese: On the writing phase, the hard part was narrowing down information. Keep goals 	focused; use your hypothesis. Have deadlines. EPP helped with this, because it 	had quarterly deadlines. 

Q: When is the best time to enter EPP?
Dana: When you’re writing. You should look when you’re starting to think about your 	career. I joined when I was still in classes and it was stressful. They’ won’t pay 	you much if you can’t go into the office and do work.
Jamese: I worked part-time while in courses. My manager was very good about that. But 	I missed out on opportunities because they were funded by other agencies.

Q: What do you do if you’re not getting proper guidance?
All: Sadly, our advisors are not the best [at advising]. They’re all very busy people. 
Jamese: Use external sources. I had guidance from the EPP office.
Dana: I didn’t feel completely comfortable coming out of the program. You’ll really 	know one topic. But you’ll know enough to be able to learn other things you 	encounter that you need to know. 
Segayle: There will be a lot of moments when you’re thrust into things you don’t know. 	Use what you know about your specific topic to learn about other things. 
Jamese: A PhD says you know how to get things done. 
Segayle: [On reading papers] send emails to authors of papers if you have questions. 	“People like to talk about themselves and their work.” 
	Talk to your advisor about an idea you have. They will probably have funding 	that will let you go and work with X. 

Q: Did you have any culture shock in the workforce?
Segayle: Good networking, there are still few minorities in the field. Most post-docs 	have to prove themselves,  and a PhD really just means “okay, we’ll let you prove 	yourself.”

Q: How much overtime did you do?
Jamese: When I fist started I put in a lot of overtime, but a lot of it was simply adjustment. 
Dana: there’s a learning period.

Q: What adaptation strategies (against culture shock) do you have?
Segayle: At NASA at least, there is an open door policy. GO ASK. They’ll talk to you if 	you ask. 
Jamese: Some people will still avoid questions. Do some research first, then ask.
Jamese: You have to make things happen. You have to be more social. Make a list of 	accomplishments and keep it going. You can use this list for reviews (and 	promotions!)

[on proposal writing] 
Segayle: look into writing real proposals (including budget!). Post-docs usually have to 	write a proposal. 

Q: What are requirements to complete a post-doc?
Segayle: At NASA, you complete the research you proposed when you applied. You will 		do other work, too. Some post-docs are different though. Meet with your 	prospective advisor and make sure your research interests fit what you want 	before applying!

Q: Where do you see yourself in five years?
Dana: Maybe leading some project at Headquarters. I probably won’t stay at EMC (but 	many do). 
Jamese: I want to get into management and developing educational programs. Maybe	NOAA office of education?
Segayle: I just accepted a new position at the geospatial intelligence agency. I probably 	will be doing something with LIDAR and modeling. 

Q: What is the best path to management?
Jamese: Get to know the science first. You’ll need the science. 
Dana: Michelle Hawkins (another HUPAS graduate) did that – she went to AMS public 	policy groups and seminars.
Jamese: The IDP helps. 

Q: Do you think it would be stronger for HUPAS to be more centralized?
Jamese: It would be stronger if HUPAS were a department instead of a program. Now 	you just go to “who funds you”. 
Dana: You can work anywhere – that’s the advantage of being in DC. 

Closing Comments from Alumni
•	Dana: I have been asked to help find good fits for students with agencies. 
•	“If you need a recommendation, just ask.”
•	“We want you to succeed.”
•	[on courses] Use the consortium. But beware the limit on consortium credits 
•	Stick together. 
•	Keep GSAAS going – this is a good thing

Resources:
IDP: www.grad.uci.edu/center/idp.dlc