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Good Morning Geography and Sustainability Faculty, Lecturers, Staff, and Students,
I want to thank you all for your support of Geography Awareness Week this year and for making it such a success. It takes a team to put all the pieces together, so I want to mention a few folks in particular.
I want to specifically note the efforts of Dr. Derek Alderman and the Team in BGB 304 consisting of Pam Sharpe, Connie Mroz, and Molly Green for all the hard work that goes into organizing a guest speaker, arranging travel plans, reserving
space and food, and all the other components. I had a great time learning from Dr. David Padgett and am inspired by the work he does promoting environmental justice. I also want to thank the Ralston family for their continued financial support for the department
that makes events like this possible.
Our UTAGS leadership has been instrumental in organizing events like UTAGS-Giving, promoting events, and helping their fellow students find opportunities to support their continued academic and professional pursuits. Thank you to Maya and
Megan for all that you do.
Our friend and partner Alexis Andershock sent me an update on the Career Mingle. We had more than 50 students participate in nearly 200 one-on-one interviews with more than 20 organizations! While I appreciate all of you taking the time
out of your schedule to promote the event and attend, none of this would have been possible without Alexis Andershock and her team. Alexis spent countless hours coordinating with organizations, registering them with Handshake, helping them set up their schedules,
and organizing all the help sessions for organizations and students. I suspect that UTK Geography has the most talented and engaged career coach of any geography department in the country and it shows by how engaged our students are in pursuing activities
to support their post-graduation plans. And to prove that no good deed goes unpunished, I highly encourage all of our undergraduate students to
make an appointment with Alexis to review your resume and cover letter, practice interview questions, research internships and graduate programs, or just spend some time thinking critically about
what you want out of life after you graduate. The sooner you meet with Alexis the sooner you can put her expertise and knowledge to use.
Finally, I want to thank Dr. Bandana Kar from ORNL, Jesse Rosenbluth with Omni-Ecosystems, and Ian McRae with Sherwood Design Engineers for serving as panelists as part of our
Green Infrastructure, the Built Environment, and Sustainability Career panel. Again, Alexis Andershock worked behind the scenes to set up the logistics for our speakers to join us remotely
as well as serve as an engaging co-host. If you were unable to attend the panel live but would like to watch the recording, you can find it on
YouTube (53:46).
Have a wonderful rest of your week. For those going to SEDAAG and traveling for the upcoming holidays, safe travels.
Michael Camponovo
GIS Outreach Coordinator
Geography Department, UT Knoxville
209A Burchfiel Geography Building
1000 Phillip Fulmer Way
Knoxville, TN 37996
(865) 974-5348