Early Career Workshop

Hosted in coordination with the EERI Younger Members Committee (YMC), this full-day workshop on Tuesday, April 11 will provide early-career participants with opportunities to learn, network with peers, and meet leaders from EERI and the earthquake reconnaissance community. The morning sessions will focus on practical skills, while the afternoon portion of the workshop will offer networking opportunities. See below for an overview of the workshop schedule.

Breakfast & Registration

Time: 7:45 - 8:30 AM
Location: Breakfast in front of the Market Street Room (level 3), Registration in Cyril Magnin Foyer (level 4)

Welcome from EERI Leaders & CSI

Time: 8:30 - 9:00 AM
Location: Market Street Room

Session 1: Effective Technical Presentations and Visual Communication Workshop

Time: 9:00 - 10:00 AM
Location: Market Street Room

Organizers and Moderators: Dustin Cook and Mohammadreza Farooghi Mehr

Speakers:

The effective technical presentations and visual communication workshop, led by Drs. Jack Baker and Sabine Loos, will provide attendees with general strategies for communicating technical material through presentations. The workshop will include a mix of presented materials and interactive exercises covering topics such as developing your story, refining your message, and designing graphics to visually communicate your message. This YMC sponsored workshop is targeted towards early-career scholars and practitioners; our goal is for you to leave with concrete ideas that you can use in all your future presentations.

Coffee Break

Time: 10:30 - 11:00 AM
Location: in front of the Market Street Room

Session 2A: Project Management: The Skill for Every Sector

Time: 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Location: Powell Room

Organizers: Jack English and Isela Dy

Moderator: Jack English

Speakers:

This session will introduce attendees to ins and outs of goal setting, client & team management, and working within constraints that characterize projects large and small. Representing academia, the private, and public sectors respectively, Dr. Anahid Behrouzi, Jared Ellis, and Ray Lui will present on their experiences with a variety of project types. Through their experiences, presenters will share lessons learned, best practices, and their peaks & valleys during projects' execution.

Session 2B: Successful Research Grants: the Critical and (Nearly) Impossible Academic Task

Time: 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Location: Market Street

Organizers and Moderators: Diane Moug and Renmin Pretell

Speakers:

Obtaining funding can be one of the most challenging aspects of an academic career. This session will provide advice and distinct perspectives from three different roles in the funding process: a representative from a funding agency, an early career academic, and a representative of a NHERI (Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure) collaborative facility. The session will start with brief presentations covering (i) the research goals of the USGS, (ii) how to develop a research project, and (iii) how to leverage collaborations at NHERI facilities, followed by a panel question period.

Lunch Break

Time: 12:30 - 1:30 PM
Location: in front of the Market Street Room

Session 3: EERI Lightning Showcase and Office Hours

Time: 1:30 - 3:00 PM
Location: Market Street Room

View Presentation

This event, hosted by the YMC, will consist of two parts. It will begin with a lightning session showcasing all open EERI Committees, Subcommittees, and a few partner organizations. Each group will have a few minutes to give a quick pitch about opportunities for early career members to join and engage in within their committee or organization. This is anticipated to take up 45-60 minutes. Following the lightning showcase, part two will consist of an open "office hours" networking session. Committees, Subcommittees, EERI Regional Chapters, and partner organizations will be available to answer questions and have more in depth discussions . This portion of the session will be 30-45 minutes.

Participating groups include:

  • Earthquake Spectra Editorial Board
  • Learning from Earthquakes (LFE)
  • LFE Business Resilience Survey Sub-Committee
  • LFE Public Health Sub-Committee
  • LFE VERT Sub-Committee
  • Public Policy and Advocacy Committee
  • Professional Development Committee
  • School Earthquake Safety Initiative
  • World Housing Encyclopedia
  • Japan’s “E-Isolation”
  • British Columbia Regional Chapter
  • Carolinas Regional Chapter
  • Northern California Regional Chapter
  • Sacramento Regional Chapter
  • Southern California Regional Chapter

Coffee Break
Time: 3:00 - 3:30 PM
Location: in front of the Market Street Room

Session 4: Meet the Leaders Networking Event and Reception

Time: 3:30 - 5:30 PM
Location: Market Street

Organizers: Cristina Cordova Arias and Mohammadreza Farooghi Mehr

Sponsored by Computers & Structures Inc. (CSI), this event aims to connect student and early-career attendees to leaders in the field in a relaxed setting. Participants will network in small groups with opportunities to meet various leaders throughout the event.

Participating leaders include:

  • Jack Baker
  • Carlien Bou-Chedid
  • Veronica Cedillos
  • Luis Ceferino
  • David Cocke
  • Erica Fischer
  • David Friedman
  • Christine Goulet
  • Ashraf Habibullah
  • Andrew Herseth
  • Laurie Johnson
  • Lindsey Maclise
  • Janiele Maffei
  • Eduardo Miranda
  • Judith Mitrani-Reiser
  • Khalid Mosalam
  • Sissy Nikolaou
  • Terri Norton
  • Zahraa Saiyed

Registration for this workshop is $200 and includes a continental breakfast, lunch, coffee breaks, and a reception during the Meet the Leaders event. Registration grants are available to support attendance for this workshop.

The Early Career Workshop is sponsored by Computers and Structures, Inc. (CSI).

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