Community
Student Association of Geosciences and Engineering
At the University of Nevada, Reno, I have worked with a few other graduate students to establish the Student Association of Geosciences and Engineering (SAGE). The vision of this group is to provide a means for organizing community building programs for graduate and undergraduate students, faculty and postdocs across the various geoscience departments at UNR. We organize the yearly Fall and Spring picnics, as well as the monthly Bagel and Coffee Hour. SAGE is also committed to enhancing diversity, equity and inclusion within the geoscience community at UNR. We have developed the Graduate Student Mentor Program, and will be beginning our Undergraduate Student Mentor Program during Spring 2021. We are also working with the UNR geoscience faculty DEI committee to plan a series of workshops that provide undergraduate and graduate students with information on how to utilize campus resources to be a successful student, funding/scholarship opportunities at UNR and through professional organizations, strategies for dealing with stress and imposter syndrome, as well as career opportunities, among other topics.
UNR graduate students exploring the active Genoa normal fault in Carson Valley, NV
The double rainbow approves of this excellent normal fault exposure!
Bruin Geological Survey
At UCLA, I was very involved with the Bruin Geological Survey, which was the graduate and undergraduate geology club. As Vice President and President of the club, I organized several fundraisers to raise money to subsidized extracurricular student field trips. These field trips were very popular for students from a broad range of majors and backgrounds, and allowed us to introduce students to the awesome Earth that we live on. This included first time hikes and camping trips for many! We ran and funded overnight trips to Joshua Tree and Death Valley national parks, and a 4 day trip to Santa Catalina Island, among a half dozen day trips to local sights around Los Angeles. I also helped organize the Bruin Geological Survey Rock Room exhibit at the yearly Explore Your Universe fair, which draws several thousand attendees, primarily elementary and middle school kids and their parents, every year.
BGS field trip to Santa Catalina Island. Here we are exploring the coastal blueschist
BGS field trip to Death Valley National Park