Funding the Future: CICOES Professional Development Program
By Carol Pérez for CICOES Magazine
The CICOES Professional Development Program (PDP) allocates $25K per year for CICOES employees to engage in professional development opportunities. These funds are commonly used to support participation in conferences, workshops, certificate programs, and UW Professional and Organizational Development classes. The PDP is especially focused on opportunities that grow an employee’s development in a new or expanded direction, beyond an employee’s more mainstream day-to-day activity.
Applications for the PDP are accepted year-round, and are reviewed by a committee of representatives from the Pacific Marine Environmental Lab (PMEL), Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC), and the CICOES administrative staff. All CICOES employees are eligible for support up to $1,000 annually, and can request up to $800 more if the additional funds are matched by their grant or program budgets.
Cynthia Christman, a research scientist at the AFSC Marine Mammal Laboratory, used funds from the program to attend the Posit Conference in Chicago, Illinois. Cynthia has been a member of the PDP review committe for two years but this is the first time she’s taken advantage of the program herself. Posit, formerly known as RStudio, was founded in 2009 to create opensource software for data science, scientific research, and technical communication. The structure of the conference included two days of hands-on workshops and two days of concurrent talks.
“I was absolutely awe-struck by the supportive learning environment and sense of community,” Cynthia wrote. “My workshop on Advanced Quarto Applications (the next generation of RMarkdown) gave me the knowledge and confidence to broaden my own use of the software and it inspired new ideas for data products, communicating our research to the public, and creating more organized and efficient workflows with colleagues. I highly recommend this conference to anyone who works with data, and I encourage others who have thought about applying for funds from the Professional Development Program to finally take the leap!”
Postdoctoral Scholar Vivek Seelanki heard about the PDP through conversations with his advisors at PMEL. In September he applied for and received funding to attend the 69th annual Eastern Pacific Ocean Conference (EPOC) in Fallen Leaf Lake, California. Vivek’s research focuses on ecosystems in the Pacific, so EPOC was an enticing opportunity for him. In addition to the thematic relevance, he was eager to engage with the array of world-renowned experts coming together for the conference.
“Learning from their experiences and research findings was, for me, a significant motivator to attend,” Vivek said.
“This exciting event was an invaluable opportunity for me to stay at the forefront of the latest trends and innovations in my research field. I am grateful for the support and resources that CICOES provides for professional development. This program has been instrumental in helping me enhance my skills and contribute to the success of CICOES.”