Episode Highlights:

Timestamps:

0:26 - What is a geologist (in industry)?

2:52 - What does a typical day look like?

6:12 - What do you enjoy?

8:59 - What do you dislike?

17:26 - How does your career compare to your initial aspirations?

22:16 - What were your career milestones?

34:01 - What advice would you give an aspiring professional?

About Our Guest:

Dr. Kelsey Crane is a geologist with expertise in planetary research and environmental geology. She earned her BS in Mathematics and Geology from the University of Tennessee, where she began studying planetary geology, and later completed her PhD at the University of Georgia, analyzing Mercury's tectonics for NASA's MESSENGER mission and conducting fieldwork in the Yakima Fold Province. After serving as a faculty member at Mississippi State University, where she achieved tenure and discovered her passion for mentoring students, Dr. Crane transitioned to Seres Engineering. There, she leads a GIS team, conducts innovative research, and thrives in a supportive environment that fosters collaboration and compassion.

Looking for career support?

About Our Guest:

• Hilary Eisen is the Conservation Policy Director at Winter Wildlands Alliance, a nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring and empowering people to protect America’s wild snowscapes. She works with grassroot partners, agency staff, and elected officials on National Forest winter travel management, forest planning, and other policy issues.
• Hilary started her career in public lands in the backcountry, maintaining Forest Service trails and educating the public about Wilderness stewardship as a Wilderness Ranger while spending winters working on wildlife research projects.
• She also earned a BA in conservation biology from Middlebury College and an MS in wildlife biology from the University of Montana along the way. 

Episode Highlights:

If you have an adventurous spirit and love spending time in the great outdoors, you will be captivated by Hilary’s career journey story. And here are a few other inspiring topics from today’s episode:

• How creating your own job description might lead to an exciting opportunity 
• When to include your hobbies on a resume
• Which conversation jobs involve more time in the office than time outdoors

And if you’re looking for a way to visit top vacation destinations like Lake Tahoe or Yellowstone and get paid for it, this is the episode for you! 

Learn More:

• Go to successinscienceCC.com/podcast for more details, including resources provided by our guest.
• Access the full, extended interview at patreon.com/diverseroutes
• Contact our host, Dr. Cassie Briggs at cassie@successinscienceCC.com

Dr. Delaney Dann is a Career & Professional Development Manager at Scripps, a nonprofit biomedical research institute in San Diego, CA. With a background in molecular biology, including a BS in biology, a couple years in the biotech industry, and a PhD in biology Delaney had her sights on becoming a university biology professor. But during the interview process, realized that a faculty role was not the right fit for her. So, she used an NIH fellowship to explore alternative career options and build her skills and network - landing her in her current role where she supports early career scientists through career development workshops, programing, and advising. 

Episode Highlights:

• What things to consider when contemplating a gap year before grad school
• How to successfully “cold apply” for jobs - that is land a job without an network connection
• How online learning (or teaching) can prepare you for a remote or hybrid career

BONUS: And we reveal the non-science class, every scientist should take. 

Go to successinscienceCC.com/podcast for more details, including resources referred to in this episode.

Access the full, extended interview at patreon.com/diverseroutes.

Dr. James Mantas is an Emergency Medicine Physician at Stony Brook. Originally from upstate New York, James earned his undergraduate degree at Hartwick College, then was the assistant basketball coach at Skidmore University before heading to medical school and earning his MD at New York Medical College.

Episode Highlights:

• How not to pick a college
• How to get into med school
• Life as a student athlete

Go to successinscienceCC.com/podcast for more details, including resources referred to in this episode.

Access the extended interview at patreon.com/diverseroutes

Dr. Tanya Latty is an associate professor at the University of Sydney Australia. As an invertebrate ecologist or entomologist she has a broad interest in insect behavior and ecology, such as finding ways to create pollinator friendly cities and using invertebrates as inspiration for new technologies. Tanya has a special fondness for what some would consider ‘weird’ and ‘under studied taxa’, such as slime moulds and velvet worms. And she is also deeply committed to outreach and education and is an active science communicator having working in TV, radio, and print media.

Dr. Tanya Latty is our first international guest on this podcast and offers an incredibly valuable perspective for those of you considering studying or working outside of the United States. But for those of you wishing to stay in the States, much of what we discuss applies to you too!

Lauren Bretz is a Lead Manager on Starbucks’ Data Science team, building enterprise self-service tools. Prior to Starbucks Lauren was an Applied Scientist at Zillow, constructing and forecasting economic time series. Lauren has a Bachelor’s degree in Statistics, Economics, and Finance and a Master’s degree in Applied Statistics.

Episode Highlights:

• Preparing for your industry interview (including what to consider if you are not fluent in all the programs listed in a job ad)
• Overview of 3 different paths in data science
• Clarifying the purpose of and differences between a mentor, a coach, and a consultant or advisor

Go to successinscienceCC.com/podcast for more details, including resources referred to in this episode.

Access to extended interview at patreon.com/diverseroutes.

Dr. Terence Wong is a Life Science Consultant at ZS Associates where he delivers innovative solutions to biomedical research, clinical development, medical affairs, and pipeline and launch strategies for clients in the biotech and Pharma industries. 

Prior to ZS, Terence was a Clinical Genomics Analyst at Rady Children’s Institute for Genomic Medicine and genetics instructor at UC San Diego Extended Studies.

Terence was born and raised in Honolulu, HI by his parents who both immigrated to America from Asia. And he is the first in his family to go to college and the first in even his extended family to earn a doctoral degree. 

Episode Highlights:

• How you can start contributing to your retirement as a graduate student
• What questions to expect in a job interview
• How attending (food) sponsored events could lead to your next big break!

successinscienceCC.com/podcast for more details, including resources referred to in this episode.

Become a patron and gain access to the extended video interview @ patreon.com/diverseroutes

Dr. Darrell Marshall is CEO, Research Scientist, and founder of Total Analysis. Darrell holds a PhD in Bioanalytical chemistry, specializing in infectious diseases, ionization product development, and machine learning. With 13 years of research experience, he has worked on multiple innovative projects, including an ovarian cancer screening tool based on ML and nuclear magnetic resonance, an automated tool for bacterial species identification, and a mass spectrometer-based bacterial tool. He has co-authored over 25 publications and two book chapters.

Episode Highlights:

• How to land your first research opportunity as an undergraduate (be bold, be brave)
• The hidden benefit of applying to jobs where you might not have all the credentials (be bold, be brave)
• Insight into launching your own start-up (be bold, be brave)

See successinscienceCC.com/podcast for more details, including resources referred to in this episode. 

Become a patron and gain access to the extended interview @ patreon.com/diverseroutes.