Spotlight: Katharine Maussen

Current occupation: GIS production manager for the Belgian National Geographic Institute (NOT the magazine)

Summary: Ph.D. in Crater lake geochemistry obtained from Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium. Got current job < 1 year after Ph.D., did not apply for postdocs.

“I was not prepared to go through the cycle of finding postdoc after postdoc and moving countries and continents on short notice.”

“[…] a big part of my job is developing new workflows which requires the abstraction and creativity which is typically developed during a PhD project.”

Spotlight: Jennifer Wade

Current occupation: Program Director at the National Science Foundation, USA.

Summary: Ph.D. in igneous geochemistry from Boston University (2008). One postdoc experience. Got a job immediately after the postdoc.

“A friend working at NSF knew of my broad expertise, and knew I wanted to move from the lab I was in, so she suggested I apply. I thought, “no way I’m qualified for this!” because of #impostersyndrome and I applied and it turned out I had exactly what they were looking for.”

During the last year of your Ph.D., what did you think was your next step?

I wanted out of academia ASAP, and secured a postdoc as a forensic chemist at the Library of Congress before defending/graduating. That postdoc turned into a regular federal job, though I left it for NSF after a year.

Spotlight: Jessica Kandlbauer

 

Current Occupation: Journal Manager for Frontiers

PhD from University of Bristol (Bristol, UK), Earth Sciences, 2013; Publishing

Her Story:

Jessica received her Ph.D. from Bristol University in 2013. At this time she was open to pursuing all career paths, academic and industrial, where her decision had to take into consideration her husbands career path as well. Although she knows her PhD adviser and department would have been able to advise her on an academia route, she doesn’t remember there being a lot of opportunity to discuss alternative options and pathways during her degree (in particular a more general discussion on alternatives also applicable when considering moving to a different country).