Talking BIG Jobs: BIG Jobs Live Interview Series
A live interview series with mathematicians working in business, industry, and government.
Explore careers in business, industry, government, entrepreneurship, and non-profits (BIG) in this web series.
Our hosts
At the 2016 SIAM Annual Meeting in Boston, Sarah Minucci listened to Susan Sohler Everingham talk about her career as a mathematician at RAND, Inc. This experience changed the way Sarah thought about math and the opportunities possible for her. Later she contacted Professor Everingham, who encouraged Sarah to conduct more "informational interviews" whenever she met people whose jobs sounded interesting or heard them talk at conferences. Through broadcasting these interviews, Sarah wants participating students to know that they do not need professional training to seek out their own opportunities to learn about industry, government, and other career paths. Her hope is that these interviews provide exposure to unfamiliar careers, and that she can encourage students to think in new ways and to pursue their passions after graduation.
Sarah is a fourth-year PhD student from Nashville, Tennessee, studying applied math at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA. Her research is in mathematical biology, focusing on mathematical modeling of the immune response to lung damage due to mechanical ventilation. When she's not at school, she can be found running, baking, or trying out a new coffee shop.
Caitlin (Katie) Waddle went to The University of Chicago, where she received a strong mathematical background. She then earned a Master's degree in education, and became a high school teacher in San Francisco. Caitlin has always been interested in the narratives that people have about themselves - how other people view themselves and their worlds. After eight years of teaching public high school Caitlin decided to consider other careers. She is now in the Master's program in mathematics at San Francisco State University and is currently applying to PhD programs for next fall. She likes the idea of working in a team of people on a more concrete project and is interested to discover what job possibilities exist for someone with a strong background in math.
Katie Waddle is in her second year as a Master's student in mathematics at San Francisco State University. She returned to studying mathematics after 8 years teaching high school math at a small public high school for immigrant students in San Francisco. She holds an undergraduate degree in math from The University of Chicago. Originally from Minnesota, Katie loves graph theory, teaching students who don't love math yet, and long distance running.
These interviews are produced by AMS and SIAM as part of the Tondeur Initiatives. These career-focused collaborative activities by AMS, MAA and SIAM are made possible by Claire-Lise and Philippe Tondeur and supported by the BIG Math Network, which has additional resources at bigmathnetwork.org.