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Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Scholar Resources
Pathways Career Symposium 2008
An Inside Look at an Interview (Beyond Academia)
Time: 1:40-2:40pm
Room: 106 Wellman
Come watch an actual (mock) interview. Our workshop leader will lead you through the interview process as he interviews a graduate student, for a position outside of academia. Our speaker will lead the audience in a critique of the interview to enable you to determine for yourself what works or doesn't work without actually being in the hot seat!
Mock Interviewer:
Robert Shibatani, M.Sc., Managing Partner & Consulting Hydrologist, The SHIBATANI GROUP, INC.
Mr. Shibatani has over 23 years of combined experience in watershed hydrology and environmental/water resource consulting. He is an acknowledged expert at developing and implementing long-range water supply planning projects and has managed some of the State's most controversial federal/state water projects and landmark regional water plans.
Mr. Shibatani focuses his current practice on regional/local water supply issues in the Sierra Nevada including utility infrastructure improvements, climate change effects, and new water projects. He is an expert at developing long-term water supply alternative scenarios; integrating the elements of firm yield availability, legal entitlement, effective storage capacity, conveyance routing, and spatial demand forecasts. Mr. Shibatani is an accomplished public spokesperson, facilitator, and negotiator, devoting considerable time to stakeholder liaison/outreach, legislative lobbying, and directing highly sensitive public issue matters.
Mr. Shibatani has held an array of corporate officer positions in the consulting industry; as a founding Partner, Vice President/Principal, U.S. Southwest Regional Director, and International Liaison Director. His business background includes experience in international strategic marketing, global climate change consortium development, mergers and acquisitions, corporate due diligence protocols, environmental policy, corporate liability and environmental criminal litigation, contracting, and operational/financial analysis. Mr. Shibatani is intimately familiar with all aspects of the consulting business.
Robert Shibatani received his Honors B.Sc. in earth science and geomorphology from the University of Toronto and his M.Sc. in watershed hydrology from Trent University, Ontario, Canada.
Mock interviewee:
Alan Szmodis, Ph.D. Candidate, Biophysics, UC Davis
Alan Szmodis is a Ph.D. candidate in Biophysics at the University of California, Davis. His dissertation is entitled Imposing Topographical & Compositional Inhomogeneities In Lipid Membranes. Before coming to UC Davis, Alan worked at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories for two years. He received his B.S. in Physics and minors in Mathematics and Chinese from Pennsylvania State University in 2001. Alan’s primary research interests lie in model biological membranes, their mechanical properties, and the fundamental interactions that occur within these nanometer thin dynamic structures. His studies utilize the techniques of optical, fluorescence, and atomic force microscopy, imaging ellipsometry, deep UV soft lithography, microfluidic devices, as well as X-ray and neutron diffraction.
Alan Szmodis was selected as a Professor for the Future fellow for 2006-2007 and conducted workshops on hands on teaching methods for graduate student and postdoc instructors. In addition to his doctorate, Alan is pursuing designated emphases in both Biotechnology and Biophotonics.