Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics

A research ecologist / biologist study organisms and plant life to learn more about their composition, behaviors, habitats, and how they interact with other organisms and their environment. They conduct research, collect samples and measurements, perform tests and experiments, and interpret and report their findings.

As a scientist with the federal government. Lea studies how the response of plants and soils to disturbances such as fire can lead to more sustainable land management. She has been working in plant ecology for approximately 20 years. She has been invited to speak in Australia several times as they are dealing with many of the same land management challenges that we are.

Speaker: Dr. Lea Condon

Mechanical engineers develop, design, build, test, and inspect mechanical devices and systems, such as machines, tools, and engines. Since mechanical engineering is a very broad field, they work in a variety of different industries designing a wide range of products.

Lisa is the president of Engineering at Materna Medical, a company specializing in women’s health. She has more than 25 years of experience in the medical device industry developing products including inhalable insulin, transdermal applicators, auto-injectors, and now pelvic floor dilators. Lisa oversees the design, development, and manufacturing of Materna’s two product platforms. She holds a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from San Jose State University.

Speaker: Lisa Molloy

A Software Engineer, or Software Development Engineer, is responsible for developing software programs or systems that align with user needs. Their duties include meeting with clients or business professionals to strategize ideas for beneficial software, coordinating with other IT professionals to design software and running tests to catch coding errors.

Alan interned @ 3Com for two years. He graduated during the Dot Com boom, in '99 and spent eleven years at HP, doing a little coding, but mostly working with setting up and testing networking systems, and automating tests within HP-UX, HP's flavor of Unix. In 2010, Alan made a career move to Salesforce to pivot more towards coding and hasn't looked back since. He now contributes to a lot of important and useful projects.

Speaker: Alan Arbizu

A research physical scientist in involved in studying, observing and analysing the nature of various elements of the natural world designing and conducting experiments that test a specific hypothesis developing practical applications of how the general public could use their work

Kristin conducts research on environmental change that happens across large landscapes like the San Francisco Bay and the Central Valley of California. She collects field data, analyzes satellite images and uses Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in her research. Some research topics include studies of how wildlife habitat change with drought, or modeling how coastal wetlands will change with sea level rise. Kristin provides information to wildlife refuge managers to help them with management decisions.

Speaker: Dr. Kristin Byrd

A structural engineer is responsible for every building and structure created, ensuring every project is structurally sound and a feasible design for the desired results.

Justin is a structural engineer with a focus on earthquakes. This specialty is often called “earthquake engineering.” He studies how earthquakes affect buildings and the people who use them, and he applies that knowledge to make buildings safer during earthquakes. Justin has designed new buildings, worked with communities in Haiti to prepare for future earthquakes, visited Ecuador, Mexico, and New Zealand after earthquakes, and developed new methodologies to improve the practice of earthquake engineering.

Speaker: Justin Moresco

Clinical Laboratory Science, also called Medical Laboratory Science or Medical Technology, is the health profession that provides laboratory information and services needed for the diagnosis and treatment of disease. Clinical Laboratory Scientists perform a variety of laboratory tests, ensure the quality of the test results, explain the significance of laboratory tests, evaluate new methods and study the effectiveness of laboratory tests.

Steve Miller is a clinical laboratory director. His path was medical and graduate school and residency training. Will also talk about careers in Clinical Laboratory Medicine and research careers in academics and industry.

Speaker: Steve Miller, MD

A toxicologist is a scientist who has a strong understanding of many scientific disciplines, such as biology and chemistry, and typically works with chemicals and other substances to determine if they are toxic or harmful to humans and other living organisms or the environment.

Dr. Parman is a board-certified toxicologist developing medicine for many diseases. As a toxicologist, she assesses drug safety prior to human use. She has a BSc in chemistry, MSc in physical organic chemistry, and PhD in reproductive toxicology. She is an Iranian-Canadian-American and can speak Farsi. Her two daughters are Aragon graduates; One is at UC Davis studying Biology/Psychology and the other at NYU studying biology. She enjoys walking and watching old/silent movies.

Speaker: Dr. Toufan Parman

Marine science educators are a type of environmental education specialists focusing on the conservation of the oceans, for the protection of marine life (plant and animal) and for the preservation of this vital resource.

Tiffany is a scuba instructor who has taught and led scuba all over the world, She has worked in aquariums. She was a field biologist, and has attended a culinary academy. Her careers have been very diverse and colorful. Now she mostly works in marketing and outreach, but she still enjoys the hobbies that allow her on, in, and under the water.

Speaker: Tiffany Murzi-Moyce