Career Day 2008 a Huge Success!

On Friday, November 21st, the NIU Department of Geography held its annual "Career Day", an experience that connects the Department's current students with alumni. During this much-anticipated event, alumni make their way back to DeKalb in order to share their career development experiences with students, recruit candidates for positions or internships, and reconnect with friends and colleagues. The Career Day activities started with introductions by Dr. Harold Kafer (Deputy Provost), Dr. Chris McCord (Dean of LA&S), and Dr. Andrew Krmenec (Geography Chair), followed by Career Break-out Sessions where alumni were able to connect with students in specific subdisciplines, including meteorology.

NIU Staff Meteorologist, Gilbert Sebenste, discusses upcoming internship opportunities with NIU Weather during the Meteorology Break-out Session.

The following meteorology alumni provided valuable feedback and discussions (listed by graduating class):

Mr. Bill Wilson (1979) - National Weather Service (Romeoville, IL)
Mr. Mark Carroll (1984) - Murray & Trettel (forecasting firm)
Mr. Gilbert Sebenste (1994) - NIU Weather
Mr. Mike Ritsche (BS in 1997; MS in 2001) - Argonne National Lab
Mr. Mark Russo (1998) - Chesapeake Energy
Mr. Sam Shea (2005) - National Weather Service (Anchorage, AK)
Mrs. Cindy Dettmer-Shea (2005) - Meteorologist with State of Alaska
Ms. Joi Kwiatkowski (2006) - URS (international environmental firm)
Mr. Alan Black (BS in 2006; MS in 2008) - Midwestern Reg. Climate Cen.
Mr. Dustin Oltman (BS in 2006; MS in 2008) - AON Reinsurance
Mr. Dan Heidel (2007) - ENSCO (forecasting firm for United Airlines)

Thank you to all the Meteorology Program alumni who visited and shared their wealth of knowledge about classes, internships, jobs, and the state of our profession. We all look forward to Career Day 2009!