Updated PDP

Follow Up PDP

I am considering graduate schools and programs that are based on location, so that I can start to develop a life in the town prior to starting school there. This will also help to make sure that I want to spend a good chuck of my time and money at the certain institution and town. Graduate school is picking a path that guides me towards where I want to be. But where do I want to be? What do I want to be doing? Below are mentors that have helped shape the person I have become, to be able to answer these important questions.

Who are my mentors? What do these people do as mentors?

Mandy Little: Role model for a plant ecologist, wonderful personality, strong woman. She deals with a lot of crap as a professor from students who don’t really care, but doesn’t get too down about it. Always finds a way to put a good spin on things. She is a very smart and talented scientist, very passionate about her work and her future. She cares about the students who care just as much as she did when she was a student.

Sarah Rykal: Very smart, young professional. Has taught me a lot about working professionally in academic situations, have learned a lot about social norming within sustainability, and is very organized. She has a great personality, very hip and funny. I think I would like to be like her when I am thirty; be done with school, have a job, but still have a great social life and be able to have the freedoms on those aspects.

Charles Bomar: Helps guide me in the school realm.  Narrows my focus onto what I want to do in the future as well as tries to open my eyes to aspects of the major, or field of study that I am not aware of.

Potential Graduate Schools and Programs

1.      University of California-Davis

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Graduate Programs

o    Agricultural and Environmental Chemistry **

o    Agricultural and Resource Economics

o    Animal Biology

o    Atmospheric Science **

o    Biological Systems Engineering

o    Ecology **

o    Ecology (Joint Doctorate with San Diego State University) **

o    Entomology **

o    Food Science

o    Genetics

o    Geography

o    Horticulture and Agronomy

o    Hydrologic Sciences

o    International Agricultural Development

o    Master of Professional Accountancy

o    Master of Public Health

o    Microbiology

o    Nutritional Biology

o    Pharmacology and Toxicology **

o    Plant Biology **

o    Plant Pathology **

o    Population Biology

o    Soils** and Biogeochemistry

o    Transportation Technology and Policy

o    Viticulture and Enology

2.       University of California-Berkley

Programs to consider: (fall 2012 school year)

-Energy and Resources Deadline: Dec 5, 2011
-Environmental Science, Policy and Management Deadline: Dec 1, 2011
-Forestry Deadline: Dec 1, 2011
-Plant Biology Deadline: Dec 4^th, 2011

3.      University of Montana

College of Forestry and Conservation Programs:

Program	Degree Offered
Ecosystem Management	M.E.M.
Forestry	M.S.;Ph.D.
Recreation Management	M.S.
Resource Conservation	M.S.
Resource Conservation (International Conservation and Development)	M.S.
Wilderness Management	Certificate
Fish and Wildlife Biology	Ph.D.
Wildlife Biology	M.S.

Deadlines for fall applications are January 31st and spring applications are August 31st.

4.      University of Oregon:

Biology Course Graduate Teaching Fellowships
Responsibilities include leading discussion or laboratory sections, grading, compiling students' scores, holding office hours, writing quiz or exam questions, and working with faculty on any course-related issues. Positions are listed for fall 2011, winter 2012 and spring 2012. I am guessing that these are also available every year, and most for the classes would be consistent.
Courses: Intro to Ecology, Ecology, Neotropical Ecology, Forest Biology, and Freshwater Biology.

Donna Overall

77 Klamath Hall

1210 University of Oregon

Eugene, OR 97403
Open until filled.

Programs to consider: Environmental and Natural Resources Law (School of Law), Environmental Sciences, Studies, and Policy (College of Arts and Sciences) with a graduate certificate program in Ecological Design Certificate(School for Architecture and Allied Arts).

5.      Western Washington University: Fall 2012 M.S. Environmental Science program: Thesis research will focus on effects of wildfire on soil chemistry.
            Peter Homann, Professor of Environmental Sciences
            Western Washington University
            Bellingham WA  98225-9181
            Email: Peter.Homann@wwu.edu
            Website: http://faculty.wwu.edu/homann/
Application deadline:  February 1.

I have re-signed into my USAjobs account, and started updating that. Over winter break, I plan to update the resumes that are currently uploaded, and searching through jobs. I want to look into SCEP programs within the USFS. Professionals talked about this at the Natural Areas Conference. I will also have to use my networks to start looking for housing in the areas that I want to live. I think that I really want to live in Oregon for many reasons. My parents are also supportive of me moving to start a new chapter of my life. They used to live in Oregon when they were younger, so they understand why I should probably be out there.

On my skills list, under missing, I have animal biology. I will be able to move that up into the emerging, because I am taking Zoology next semester, and that will be my first real animal class, because discussing animals in ecology. I also have chemistry skills under the missing category. I have experience in some soil chemistry from soil science conservation course I took last semester, as well as all the other three chemistry courses required by the major. I also have done small amounts of water chemistry when I worked with Trout Unlimited. After the spring semester, I think that I will be able to increase some of my skills through plant pathology and zoology next semester. I think that in the next job/internship I get, I will talk to my hiring supervisor to see if there is anything I can do to bump up the job, if it’s extra research collection or sitting in/shadowing a upper level professional, I think I will be able to build my skills up. 

Blog Post #15

Choose a focus of either your final project topic or your career plan to develop an entrepreneurial assessment of yourself. This should be about a "1-page" activity. Some of these questions may help guide your thoughts: Do you want to be a "businessperson or an entrepreneur?" What traits and/or strengths do you see in your PDP that aligns with your thought? What weaknesses or opportunities for improvement do you notice that you would like to address to become a "businessperson or an entrepreneur?" Is entrepreneurship just about starting a business? Or is it much deeper and holistic than that? As the world quickly changes, which type of folks do you feel will be more on their "toes" and less on their "heels." Who do you think will achieve and live the happinesses that they seek in life?

here is a link to the comparisons I had shared in class:http://blog.topplaza.com/2011/07/businessman-vs-entrepreneur-whats-the-difference/

Do you want to be a "businessperson or an entrepreneur?"

When it comes to the question of choosing between entrepreneurship and business, I think that I would enjoy a mix of both. I would like to be able to have flexible hours, be able to keep up with my family and personal life, but also be able to have a stable job with a good income that can sustain the lifestyle I would like to live. I personally do not think I would like to run my own business or start my own company. I think I would need a lot more creativity to create a concept that I could live off of. I think I would rather work for an existing organization, but has entrepreneurship values. I would work for natural area restoration, environmental consulting, as well as a government job in botany, working to keep the wildlands wild.

The business aspects that align with my PDP:

-        -  financial freedoms

-       -   travel

-        -  career in USFS

-     -     science

The entrepreneurship aspects that align with my PDP:

·     -    Mission: My purpose or mission is to restore natural areas back to their original state. This may be in the forms of creating policies to keep the lands natural, it may be in the act of physically removing the undesirable plant species, or designing programs that educate youth about why it’s important to continue to preserve and care about the natural landscapes. Incorporate sustainable practices into Forest Service practices.

-        -  Social hours, family, friends

-      -    Renewable energy

-      -    Working with people and the environment

-        -  Restoration management

-      -    Happiness!

As the world changes, I think that entrepreneurs will most likely be “on their toes” rather than
“on their heels”.  I think that they will have the more fluid lifestyle that the world is going to need. I feel like business people are set in their ways, that they aren’t as open to change and innovation as they could be. Most business people need to start to consider less importance on the dollar, and more on the natural world, before it’s all gone. Once the world is gone, the people will be too, and the dollar will no longer have meaning. 

Blog Post #13

The criteria we will use to evaluate and rank the members of your team related to the final project. 

-Attendance/Participation: Must be present for outside of class group meetings. Allowed to miss one or two with an acceptable reason. Group mates had to finish their assigned sections by the deadline.

-Tasks Accomplished: We would go around the room to the people of the different sections had to . We would have the different sections tell the rest of the group what they researched, and how it fit with what we were researching.

-Professionalism

-Communication

-Contribution

The first two categories were the ones that we decided to evaluate the group on, since it was the only way we could get some people to attend, and do their parts. 

Blog Post #10

Ethical Question: 

Ask/address an ethical question in your field of interest. Develop/address arguments for each side of the issue, then defend your position on the issue.

Environmental consulting firm for developmental projects

-never destroy wetlands

-have to destroy for urban sprawl / expansion


The field of interest that this ethical question comes from would be wetland ecology as well as the environmental consulting firm companies. An example of a consulting firm that does this type of work is Normandeau Associates. Normandeau Associates works on environmental planning, permitting, documentation and natural resources. These firms are typically working with various agencies “to develop and operate in a manner that promotes the protection of natural resources while meeting project objectives.”1  Firms are used during major land development projects, when groups or a business or a city want to develop land to expand that area. Issues arise during site selection, when developers have a plan that possibly poses a threat to the natural areas that lay outside of the urban sprawl. This is where the environmental consulting firm is contracted to look over the plans of project, and help make ethically, and environmentally sound decisions.

There is an area that is east of a city that contains a wetland, naturally diverse ecosystem containing a large range of wildlife; from small fauna to large fauna; insects to deer. Wetlands play an important role is the surface and groundwater cycles.

The developers see this land as an opportunity to expand their township, they see it that the area would bring in more revenue for the township if it were an extension of it rather a natural area.

If I were a consultant, I would work with the developers as well as the DNR to weigh the pros and cons and the values tied to each item, to figure out what the best next step is. I would look to the other directions of town, north, south, and west, to see if there was a piece of land available for development. It could be possible that there is a less diverse area of land, especially not a wetland, which could be developed. It is just important to keep wetlands in nature, keeping our surface and ground water clean.

A compromise could occur with this: If the wetland was delineated, a protective buffer could be placed around the wetland to preserve the plants and animals as well as let the developers continue with the plan. The process that this uses is that a site visit needs to happen to insure that the area is a wetland. Based on the quality of the water, and other environmental characteristics, the wetland is rated using the Department of Ecology Rating System. 2. The boundaries would then be mapped out, and using GIS or other spatial analysis applications, a buffer around the wetland would be placed, depending on its category.

Personally, I would try to find a new location for the development, and keep the whole natural are intact, but if this was not an option, then the wetland delineation would suffice.

References

1.       http://normandeau.com/pages/environment/services/environmental_planning.asp

2. http://www.ecy.wa.gov/pubs/0406025.pdf

Blog Post #11

Quality Management

Water Quality Management plans are developed in the US Forest Service to preserve water quality in areas that have low quality water or low access to water. When water is in short supply, managers need to make sure that what is there is of the highest quality for both people and the fish, and animals that need it to survive. This plan is created in the National Forest of California. The State Water Resources Control Board has got to work with the USDA Forest Service and affected Regional Water Quality Control Boards to update the statewide Water Quality Management Plan (WQMP). The WQMP identifies a wide spectrum of activities that are on NFS land that cause point and non-point source pollution, especially sediment and thermal pollution, that all affect the quality of water. There is a staff level working group that works on revising the WQMP, and a policy-level group that works on the policy direction. The staff level working group seeks input from a broad range of stakeholders.

http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/waterquality/briefingpaper

Blog Post # 9

Title, Issues and Action Plan

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LX4YsdFecBCXgm5Ivi7N0UlS5IkzwsYhoEa9OKPjay0/edit?hl=en_US

Blog Post # 8

Ethical Question

Is it ethical for a physician to accept Wild tickets from a pharmaceutical rep to take her family to the game?

I think it is ethical for a physician to accept Wild tickets from the pharmaceutical rep, only if there is a clear understanding between the physician and the pharmaceutical rep that if the tickets are taken, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the physician office will go with that pharmaceutical company. The tickets would have to be received as a gift rather than a bribe with strings attached. I personally don’t know how these organizations function because I don’t plan to go into either one as a profession. I have a feeling that it is an unethical thing for the physician to accept, because it might seem unfair to other physicians at the office for only one to take their family. It could also be seen as unethical because the rep might be thinking that if they purchase tickets for the doctor, that they will for sure choose that company.