Here ye, here ye! We know everything about the academic job search!

Psych. On this episode of How We Got Here, we talk to each other about the perils, pitfalls, and page-length-of-cover-letters of the mysterious wonders that comprise the job search for a professorship. Rachel talks about her recent failures and successes in the most recent #jobseason, while Steph provides crucial insight from the point of view of a search committee member. Application materials, first and second round interviewing, negotiations… Denmark does everything better (?!)… we cover it all!

Listener questions guide this podcasr episode but NO, we CANNOT answer the question: What am I doing with my life?! Sorry. We don’t know either.

Jordan Rowell doesn’t have a business card, but he does have a delightful LinkedIn bio: Student of Life & University of Vermont | Builder of Trails & Community | Producer of Place-based Media & Belly Laughs. This episode, Steph and Rachel talk to Jordan about his latest foray into “place-based media," a documentary, “No Other Lake," following his journey paddling the entirety of Lake Champlain. Along the way, he talks to all sorts of people about the lake’s ecological significance, the environmental challenges facing the basin, and how to protect it for future generations. Jordan also talks about his winding pre-college path that includes working at McDonalds, dressing up at a ski lodge as a mouse (?!) to entertain children, and leading middle-aged men through ropes courses: all experiences that led to his appreciation of outdoor recreation, community building, and conservation.

You stay updated on “No Other Lake” by following their Instagram and checking out their website.

Mary-Carson Stiff is the Director of Policy at Wetlands Watch, an environmental nonprofit working on issues like sea-level rise, wetlands preservation, and floodplain management. And she has a really cool (vertical) business card.

On the podcast this week, Mary-Carson tells Rachel and Steph all about the importance of wetlands and the things she’s doing as policy director to help them out. Read: they need a lot of help. Think of the critters! We chat about the importance of high school science teachers (shout out Dr. Peter), listening to people who tell you to not go to law school, and, of course, Taylor Swift.

You can follow all the good work Wetlands Watch is up to on Twitter.

Episode Notes

Full disclosure, we edited out where Steph and Rachel insisted to Mary-Carson that she was from Delaware, while Mary-Carson continued to insist she knew where she was from, and it was not, in fact, Delaware. But, if you want a delightful sketch about the Mid-Atlantic accent, see Elizabeth Banks on 30 Rock. Also, Julianne Moore’s Boston accent throughout that season is INSANE.

This week on How We Got Here we talk to Dr. Marysa Laguë who is… wait for it… a James S. McDonnell Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow in Dynamic and Multi-scale Systems (WHEW!) at the University of Saskatchewan in Canmore, Alberta, Canada. Say that once. Just once. It’s a lot and it’s IMPRESSIVE.

Marysa expertly explains what climate models are to those of us podcast hosts who should really know what climate models are. What is q-u-e-u-e anyway? She also regales Steph and Rachel of stories about her first job as an educator at an 1890’s Victorian heritage town, which takes place, for the record, pre-hoop skirt, pre-bustle, and feather in cap optional.

You can follow Marysa on Twitter and Instagram for pics of her cats Alistair and Tufa.

Welcome to How We Got Here - the podcast that talks to people who have figured out how to use their talents to combat climate change, in the hopes that their journeys might inspire your own.

In this first episode, co-hosts Steph and Rachel talk first jobs, accidentally learning about the earth, graduate school prom, and how Steph is actually using this podcast as a vehicle for getting out of academia