Workshops

This workshop aims to provide graduate students in Landscape Ecology with skills to successfully land a job and negotiate their starting terms.  These topics tend to be a gap in knowledge and experience for many graduate students, and most professionals only go through the application process a few times during their career.  However, these steps are crucial in career development and can make a tremendous difference in career path, salary, future funding, and other opportunities.

During this half-day workshop, professionals from academia, government, and non-profit sectors will provide resume and CV tips, teach interview skills, and explain the process of salary and start-up package negotiations.  Students will learn key differences in applying for jobs in these three sectors, techniques to make their application and interview stand out, tailoring their application for the position, and other tips for a successful application process.    

Student participants are asked to bring a draft resume or CV they would like to improve during the workshop as a hard copy or digitally on their personal laptop.  Computers will not be provided for participants.

Tentative presenters include Betty Kreakie (US EPA), Anita Morzillo (Oregon State Univeristy), Kathy Vigness-Raposa (Marine Acoustics, Inc.) and Alan Short (Gorongosa National Park).

This course provides hands-on training in GIS-based computer simulation of land change. Participants learn how models work and how to quantify forecasts of land change. The workshop uses the modules Geomod, Validate, and ROC in the GIS software Idrisi. Prior experience with GIS by the participants is helpful, while prior experience with Idrisi is not necessary. Professor Pontius has developed this course by presenting it numerous times since 2003 in Ecuador, France, Greece, India, Japan, Mexico, Namibia, The Netherlands, Russia, Portugal, and numerous cities in the USA. Typical participants range from graduate students to GIS professionals with decades of experience. The course includes substantial discussion concerning the intelligent use of models, regardless of the software or algorithm used. Professor Pontius will supply the Idrisi  software freely via CD for the duration of the course for participants to load on their own laptop computers. Computers will not be supplied by the workshop. The lecture and materials are in English. Participants who complete the workshop are entitled to a 50% discount on a general, academic, or student license of Idrisi.