Under The Hood with Dr. Sunshine

Maggy Harake is a 2nd year Ph.D. student in the chemical engineering program at Stanford University. She is exploring areas of research focusing on area-selective atomic layer deposition in Dr. Stacey Bent’s group. She graduated with top honors from the University of California, Riverside in 2020 with B.S. in chemical engineering. As an undergraduate researcher in Prof. Jinyong Liu’s research lab, she was awarded the Chancellor’s Research Fellow for her work on chemical degradation of PFAS in aqueous film-forming foam. She also won a UCR mini-grant allowing her to present her work at the American Chemical Society Fall 2019 national meeting in San Diego, CA. Upon completion of her graduate studies, she looks to pursue a career as a researcher in a national laboratory and maintain her focus on surface science. ***************************************************************************************************************************

Timestamps:

Part 1: Maggy’s Research Journey 3:34

Part 2: Choosing a Graduate Program 19:44

Part 3: Application Process 33:11

Part 4: Financial Aid 39:11

Part 5: General Advice 50:11

Casey Finnerty is a doctoral candidate in the environmental engineering graduate program at the University of California, Berkeley. He earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from UC Berkeley in 2013. Casey was an NSF GRFP recipient from 2017-2020. His aspiration is to develop integrated technologies and approaches that create safe and sustainable access to clean drinking water. He is exploring the fields of water quality improvement and water access.

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National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP)

Due Date: Mid-October, varies by discipline

Official application website: https://www.research.gov/grfp

Application guide: http://renuwit.org/diversity/resources/application-guides

Winning proposals: https://www.alexhunterlang.com/nsf-fellowship

Timestamps

Part 1: General Best Practices 2:48

Part 2: NSF Review Criteria 13:32

Part 3: Research Statement and Personal Statement 24:47

Part 4: Letters of Recommendation 35:51

Part 5: Application Barriers 43:35

Part 6: General Information 52:47

Dr. Sharon L. Walker, PhD, is Dean of Drexel’s College of Engineering and Distinguished Professor in the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering. She also holds courtesy faculty appointments as professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering, as well as Distinguished Professor in the Department of Biodiversity, Earth and Environmental Science in the College of Arts and Sciences. A Yale University-trained water quality systems expert focusing on the fate and transport of bacteria and nanoparticles in water, Dean Walker is also a fellow in the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors (AEESP) and in the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Prior to joining Drexel Engineering, Dean Walker served as Interim Dean at the Marlan and Rosemary Bourns College of Engineering at the University of California, Riverside (UCR), where she was John Babbage Chair in Environmental Engineering and professor in the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering; she was also an associated faculty member in the Department of Bioengineering. Dean Walker’s scholarship has focused on working with bacterial pathogens and engineered nanomaterials, investigating the fundamental physical, chemical and biological processes that control their fate in natural surface and groundwater environments, as well as analyzing engineered systems including water and wastewater processes.

Part 1: Career of Dean Sharon L. Walker 1:22

Part 2: Work-Life Equilibrium 1:11:48

Part 3: Allyship 1:27:15

Mitch Boretz was formerly the Technical Communication Specialist for the Bourns College of Engineering at the University of California, Riverside. He helped faculty and researchers identify funding opportunities, develop pursuit plans, and write and submit winning proposals. While at UCR, Mitch’s group managed approximately 600 proposals per year and generated about $50 million per year in grant and contract awards. Mitch joined UCR in 1996. In 2008, he was named a Fellow of the Association of Proposal Management Professionals (APMP), one of only a handful of Fellows from the non-profit sector. Mitch has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri and worked for about 12 years in newspapers before the transition to proposals. He retired at the beginning of 2021. Linked Resources: Federal Grants: www.grants.gov FedBizOpps: www.fbo.gov California Grants Portal: https://www.grants.ca.gov/ Pivot-RP: https://pivot.proquest.com/ EPSCoR: https://www.epscorideafoundation.org/

In this episode, we go under the hood to discuss the nuances of relocating for new positions as a STEM professional.

Dr. Sunshine introduces Under The Hood, a space where we go under the proverbial academic hood to explore the nuances of studying and building careers in STEM.