Ask Alumni | Live Panels, On-demand Webcasts

Tuesday, Jan. 25

View the event recordings on YouTube

Participating colleges and units:

>> College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences

Topic: Careers That Impact Climate and Energy

Panelists:
Jeff Burright, ’05, has been with the Oregon Department of Energy for the past four year, providing technical consultation and representing Oregon's interests in one of the largest nuclear cleanups in the world at the Hanford Site just up the Columbia River. He’s also previously worked at an environmental management consulting firm and as a National Science Foundation National Research Traineeship fellow.

Erica Harris, ’11, is a coastal scientist and climate adaptation specialist currently working in the private consulting industry. She leads climate vulnerability and adaptation planning projects across a diverse set of sectors including municipalities, seaports, airports and industrial areas.

Michael Kula, ’17, is an atmospheric science masters’ graduate currently working as a team lead for the Solar Energy Assessment group at DNV. Michael’s team assesses pre-construction, operational and residential solar energy projects for developers, investors and other interested parties.

Zac Pinard, ’19, is an environmental science graduate working for Clean and Prosperous Washington (CaPWA) on the implementation of the state's cap-and-invest carbon market program. While at OSU, he was an ambassador for CEOAS and the Honor's College, as well as the ASOSU Coordinator of Environmental Affairs.

April Vogt, ’20, is a mesoscale meteorologist for the Pacific Northwest for a private sector company called Weatherflow. This position focuses on issuing accurate, daily wind forecasts for specific windsurfing launch sites along the Columbia River Gorge, Puget Sound and South British Columbia.

>> College of Engineering

Panelists:
Haley Coutts, ’19, is an electrical and computer engineering graduate currently working as a grid modernization engineer at Seattle City Light. While at OSU, she was involved in IEEE Power Engineering Society, Phi Sigma Rho and Society of Women Engineers. 

Brian Jeffrey Kim, ’20, is a nuclear engineering graduate currently working as an associate health physicist at Columbia University. During his time at OSU, Brian and his team were awarded the 2020 Nuclear Engineering and Science Project of the Year.

Nikita Lal, ’20, is a civil engineering graduate and currently working as an assistant engineer for Turner Construction, working on preconstruction efforts in NW Portland to include retail, office space, residential apartments and automated parking bays for cars to be automatically parked into stalls.

Helena Raposo, ’21, recipient of the BIOE Eager Beaver Award and a Grand Challenges Scholar, is a bioengineering graduate currently completing post-baccalaureate medical research at Stowers Institute. 

Sneha Sinha, ’20, is an industrial engineering graduate and currently working as a business technology analyst at Deloitte Government and Public Sector Consulting. She is also involved in DEI initiatives within the organization.

>> College of Liberal Arts

Topic: From Purpose to Career

Panelists:
Caleb Chandler, ’19, is a digital communication and arts graduate who is currently pursuing a master's degree in entertainment industry management. He aims to create new and important stories that bring meaningful change and spark conversation within the community.

Maia Farris, ’20, is a BFA graphic design graduate who currently works as the coordinator of communications and marketing for the OSU College of Education. She has many years of experience working in marketing and graphic design, as well as working with children in the education and child care field. She is also a freelance designer, artist and photographer.

Karla Garrett, ’18, is a communications and sociology graduate currently working as a program development and resource advisor at the Community Services Consortium. 

Jahan Kahusi, ’19, majored in English and is currently an account manager at DoiT International. He was recently awarded the Trailblazer Award for scaling the company's revenue exponentially.

Lauren Maurer, ’20, is a political science graduate who currently works as an account manager at Belfor Property Restoration. She is active in her Oregon community, serving on the board of directors for the International Facilities Managers Association and holding committee positions for Multifamily Northwest.

Armon Poostpasand, ’19, is a communications graduate currently working as the director of marketing at Disruptive Growth Solutions.

>> College of Public Health and Human Sciences (including the MPH program)

Panelists:
Evan Hilberg , MPH '16, Ph.D. '19, graduated from OSU with an MPH in Biostatistics and a Ph.D. in Kinesiology. His dissertation focused on physical activity opportunities and its influence on rural Oregon elementary school children. He currently works for Cambia Health Solutions as a Medical Policy Research Analyst. In his spare time Evan is the Executive Director of the Executive Board for the American College of Medicine Northwest Chapter, an Instructor in the PAC program and an official for youth sports in Corvallis.

Haleigh Leslie , MPH ’12, graduated from OSU with an MPH in Health Promotion and Health Behavior. She currently works for the Oregon Health Authority – COVID-19 Regional Response as a program manager. In previous roles with the OHA, she has served as a public health emergency preparedness liaison for nine local public health authorities as part of the Health Security, Preparedness and Response team and as a regional emergency coordinator for regions 3-5. She also previously worked for Yamhill and Linn County in public health and is an AmeriCorps VISTA alumna.  

Marissa Song Mayeda, MPH '20, MPP '21, graduated from OSU with an MPH in Health Promotion and Health Behavior and a MPP in Social Policy. She previously worked for the OSU Center for Health Innovation as a graduate research assistant training students to be contract tracers and case investigators. She also worked as a project manager for Linn Wellness in Neighborhood Stores where she was awarded a Student Field Placement from The Northwest Center for Public Health Practice. She currently is a first-year medical student at the OHSU School of Medicine and is Linn County Public Health’s first epidemiologist working on COVID-19 public health communicable disease response.

>> College of Science

Russell Campbell, '21, graduated with a degree in zoology and currently works as a research assistant in the Moore Lab of Zoology at Occidental College. Campbell also continues to help out in the vertebrate collections on campus with both curation efforts and outreach.

Lucy Su Xiao Huffman, '19, graduated with a degree in chemistry and math, and currently is employed with Inpria as a staff synthetic chemist. Huffman was a member of the OSUMB throughout college.

Rachel Legard, '19, graduated with a degree in math and innovation management, and currently works as a consultant at Deloitte. While at OSU, Legard worked with OSU Alumni Association as a Student Alumni Ambassador and was also a peer advisor on campus.

Jac Longstreth, '21, graduated with a degree in biochemistry and biophysics, and currently works at Absci as a research associate. While at OSU, Longstreth participated in URSA program, worked in a lab in the Department of Botany and Plant Pathology during undergrad and was a member of the Biochemistry Club.

>> International students

Panelists:
Betty Chao, '15, graduated with a MBA degree from College of Business. Chao currently works with Enterprise Premier Support at Blend. Chao is also a food and travel enthusiast.

Vania Halim, ’21, studied chemical engineering and is currently a global material quality intern at Genentech. While at OSU, she was an International Cultural Service Program speaker, International Peer Mentoring program assistant, Intervarsity Christian Fellowship small group leader, Indonesian Student Association (PERMIAS) social media officer and a resident assistant.

Daniel Reimao, ’18, graduated with an M.Eng. in Mechanical Engineering and a B.S. in Industrial Manufacturing Engineering. Reimao currently works as a process engineer at Intel, and has worked with the MECOP program and the International Cultural Service Program (ICSP) when at OSU.

Alisha Saduova, ’20, graduated with a double degree in civil engineering and sustainability. She is currently a second-year graduate research assistant at OSU. 

Vaishnavi Trivedi, ’18, graduated from OSU with degrees in Food Science & Technology and Innovation Management. Trivedi recently worked as the head of development at True Terpenes and is now pursuing a professional MBA program at Campbellsville University.

>> OSU-Cascades

Molly Svendsen, ’17, majored in biology with a minor in chemistry. Currently, Svendsen is an MD, resident physician Marian Regional Medical Center.

Gertrude Villaverde, ’19, majored in Honors B.S. in Energy Systems Engineering. Villaverde currently works with Energy 350 and is also a board member of the Association of Energy Engineers, Columbia River Chapter.

Tuesday, Feb. 15

This event is geared toward students in the Center for Fraternity & Sorority Life.