The Statistics and the Environment (ENVR) Section has been offering mentoring roundtables for graduate students since 2017. This event is usually organized annually with other ENVR activities at JSM. It is designed to encourage diverse participation and engage graduate students who may not normally have access to or interaction with more senior, advanced-career members of the ENVR community.

This year, ENVR hosted this roundtable virtually on August 10. Maggie Johnson from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Steve Sain from Jupiter Intelligence, and Ben Shaby from Colorado State University joined as mentors to eight graduate students from different universities.

The event began with a panel discussion with the students and all the mentors before breaking into small group sessions formed to foster engagement and maximize participation. Mentors shared with students their experiences across academe, industry, and national laboratories. They also provided suggestions for preparing for a career during graduate school, including gaining experience via internships and building skill sets (e.g., programming tools and software development).

Based on the feedback received, the event organizers are convinced students need such mentoring opportunities. Suggestions from students and mentors included making the event longer and providing ways for students to follow up with mentors.

Student Feedback

• “It was great to get different perspectives from statisticians working in environmental applications.”
• “I really loved the structure and different career tracks represented. I liked how there was a general discussion with the large group and then breakouts for smaller groups. The size of the smaller groups (2–3 people) was also perfect, as it gave everyone a chance to ask questions.”
• “The session was very interesting and interactive. The mentors shared their experiences and opinions about the available opportunities in industry as well as in academic field. That helped a lot for me to reconsider my future career plans.”