North Carolina State University

North Carolina State University is a university with graduate programs, including doctoral programs.

I have a BSc from Queen's University, Northern Ireland. I went to Oklahoma State for a Masters. I thought it would be a nice wee 2-year excursion to the US that turned in to a career. I was much better as a grad student than I was as an undergrad. I earned a PhD at Texas A&M, fully planning on going into the oil and gas industry but my roommate was committed to a career as an academic and that made me reconsider and try a few job applications. I started out as a structural geologist in a sabbatical replacement position at Kansas State, then the U. of Akron before getting a full-time job at the latter. I was in Akron for 19 years before moving relatively late in my career to NCSU. About 10 years in, post-tenure, I shifted research focus from structure to geoscience education. That turned out to be a good decision and I believe that any measure of subsequent success mainly followed from that choice.

I typically teach one or two classes a semester and oversee about 30 sections of our physical geology lab taught by grad students and a few undergrads. Much of my time is committed to working with a team of grad students and with colleagues at multiple institutions involved on several funded research projects. Some of that is actual research but a lot of it involves administration and communication, a critical component of multi-institutional collaborative projects. My classes are either large intro courses (~95 students) or a grad class (15 students) on geoscience education research.

Working with students. I thoroughly enjoy weekly meetings/discussions with my grad students but also find a great pleasure in directing learning in my large intro course. I have found that the best part of science is the social aspect of the work, working with others.

The hardest part is finding a balance. First, there are always too many things to do. (At least you should hope that is the case.) So, I am always not doing something I think has value and that causes some stress. I try to keep track of what's due and schedule more challenging tasks for when I have several hours to focus and knock out basic things (like writing this profile) in an hour here or there between other tasks. Some of the best advice I got was about keeping to a strict schedule so that you maximize the time you have to write papers or proposals. (I don't actually follow that advice, it's impossible, but do the best you can.) Second, there is a work-life balance that also requires effort. You absolutely have to get away from work and do something else - workout, hike, join a band, crochet outfits for baby goats - anything to shift gears several times a week.

The right mix of experience and publications. I had some publications during grad school and the sabbatical replacement positions gave me good experience with teaching. There is a bit of luck about it too, right place, right time. The interview process is going to be different every time, sometimes you will just click, other times the won't be a connection. I've been turned down for more jobs than I have been hired for, you have to persevere and consider each opportunity a learning experience.

I married after my career was already on track. It was always a challenge to find an appropriate work/life balance. Others who are not in academia often don't view the job in the same light. For many, it only involves teaching a few hours a week, and they have a hard time considering work that involves a lot of thinking and writing as "work" or as a source of stress for you. Unlike some jobs, you can't just stop at 5 PM and leave it behind, the ideas follow you home.

Get a good mentor when you start. Someone who's advice you can trust, a good sounding board for all the issues that will come up as your career develops. Find the type of institution that best fits your career goals. Be honest with yourself, do you prefer teaching or research? Can you see yourself working in the same field 10, 20 years from now?