Career Panel Spring 2010; Opportunities, Challenges, Trends Presented by Six Environmental and Energy Leaders

Pursuing a graduate degree is in effect building a foundation for the future. But what kind of future? And what does it take to effectively make the transition from student to worker?

The Environmental and Natural Resources Law & Policy Graduate Program sponsored a career panel recently at which these and other similar issues were discussed and analyzed. The panel, organized and brought together by Assistant Director Lucy Daberkow, reflected stories of success and determination related to many of the different aspects that a student must consider when preparing to move into the job market. Taken together the panelists provided insightful guidance about the job market and the future.

The panelists (in alphabetical order) were:

• Adjunct Prof. Cecilia Dalupan, Associate Director of the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation.
• Tukka Hess, 2009 LLM graduate, counsel in the Project Development and Finance Group at the law firm of Holland & Hart.
• Andy Lubner, 2009 LLM graduate and Contract Specialist for the National Park Service.
• Gene Holland, 2008 MRLS graduate; Senior Project Leader in Deployment and Industry Partnerships at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
• Kate Marks, 2009 MRLS graduate and Managing Director for the National Association of State Energy Officials.
• Adjunct Prof. Bob Noun; Director of Communications and External Affairs at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Among the key pieces of advice for those attending the session:

• Look for ways to network with key actors in the field; volunteer to do research projects; take on writing assignments as a means of "proving your worth" to potential employers.
• Be persistent and don't rely on a resume or CV to "open the door" for you.
• Work on improving your writing; being a good writer is a benefit no matter what type of position you are seeking.
• Talk to your friends about the type of work you are looking for; see if they have contacts with whom you should follow up.
• Be committed to constantly learning about your field; learning can take many forms including reading about new developments and trends, attending conferences, meeting speakers.
• Look for publications to contribute to; leaders tend to be interested in who is writing about the newest developments.
• Be willing to look outside of the "normal" places for work; this includes outside of Colorado and outside the U.S.
• Look for contract/temporary work for federal agencies that can lead to permanent employment in the future.
• Accept that in your career you are likely to have many different positions, many of which will be dictated by the trends in your field at a particular time.

Finding a new position or "inventing" a position for yourself are not always easy and things do not always happen when we would like them to. On the other hand, there are things that a student can control such as being as prepared as possible when an opportunity does come along.

Many thanks to each of our panelists who offered much advice and context for finding a job in tomorrow's job market. And thanks again to Lucy Daberkow for bringing together such a talented, energetic, and thoughtful panel.

To watch a video of the career panel, please click here.

--Don Smith

Gene Holland, 2008 MRLS Graduate, and Senior Project Leader at NREL Talks About Renewables

Deployment and commercialization of renewable energy technology is one of the key goals of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) according to Gene Holland (2008 MRLS graduate).

Gene, who has been at NREL -- which is located about 25 minutes by car from the DU campus -- since June 2008, is a senior project leader at the laboratory, the premier U.S. federal government research institute for renewables.

Last week, Ann Vessels, the director of the internship program at DU, and I had lunch with Gene to find out what he is doing as well as hear his observations about what the road ahead might look like in the renewables sector. Prof. Vessels and I have known Gene for nearly two years, and so we were looking forward to catching up with him. And we weren't disappointed.

Gene explained a number of NREL's major initiatives, including its work with state and local governments that are pushing ahead with their own renewables efforts. In particular, he pointed to Hawaii, which hopes to generate 70 percent of its energy from renewables by 2030. He also mentioned other NREL projects such as one involving the small town of Greensburg, Kansas, which was destroyed several years ago in a tornado.

He talked about the importance of policy that underlies renewables as well as the many levels of "integration" that must be undertaken when a technology that is developed at the laboratory is prepared for the commercial market. "Deploying the research is being emphasized today," he said, noting that the real success of a renewables-related technology comes when it enters the marketplace as a viable service or product.

It was interesting to hear Gene talk about the types of people -- and issues -- he deals with in his job. The people he deals with range from engineers to policy analysts to financiers and lawyers. He also deals with people in the U.S. Department of Energy's headquarters.

Gene provided us a fascinating peak into the world of renewable energy technology development and deployment. Meetings like this help DU stay ahead of the curve when it comes to addressing and providing the types of experiences and courses students will need to enter the new energy economy.

It was great to see Gene, and it is impressive that he is playing a very real part helping design what our energy future may look like. We agreed to stay in connect in the future. Hopefully Gene -- and all of our other graduates for that matter -- will keep us posted on what they are doing and how we can continue to improve the graduate program to prepare our graduates for the future.