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3 - Student Research Spotlight with Sydney and Tyler
4 Plays1 year ago
Episode 3: Student Research Spotlight
Join hosts, Jon Miller & Deb Fernandes, on the Going Coastal Podcast as they dive into the world of student research! In this episode, we shine a spotlight on two recent graduates from the University of South Alabama, Sydney Goodman and Tyler Jacobs.
👩🎓👨🎓 Join us in celebrating Sydney and Tyler as they share their incredible journey to completing their master’s degrees!
🔍 In This Episode:
- Academic & Professional Background: Dive into Sydney and Tyler’s stories—how they entered the coastal field, overcame challenges, and achieved their goals, including insights from their internships.
- Research Highlights: Explore their groundbreaking research, its importance, and its impact on coastal communities.
- Personal Experiences: Gain valuable advice from their experiences with networking, mentoring, and their exciting next steps in the professional world.
✨ Special Mention: You can (re)watch the professional licensing workshop with Dr. Bret Webb, Dr. Jack Koban, and Taylor Zimmerman by SNP on YouTube: https://youtu.be/gw-CCYtg2zE?si=r8T1wvdwCHfQNpQg
Thank you to NJ Sea Grant for sponsoring this episode. Also, remember to register for the ASBPA National Coastal Conference in Galveston (Aug 26-29) - poster abstracts and award nominations are due by July 15. As wells as the RAE Coastal & Estuarine Summit in Arlington (Oct 6-10).
👉 Enjoying our podcast? Support us and get sponsored episodes for your brand. Contact us at podcastgoingcoastal@gmail.com.
Tune in now and stay coastal! 🌊
#GoingCoastal #Podcast #StudentResearch #CoastalStudies #ASBPA #NJSeaGrant #ASBPA #SNP #Students #Newprofessionals
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Transcript
Podcast Introduction
00:00:07
Speaker
Hello and welcome back to the Going Coastal podcast, the podcast of the students and your professionals hosted by John Miller, Marisa Torres and Deb Fernandez. I am one of your co-hosts, Deb Fernandez. And I'm one of your other co-hosts, John. For this month's episode, we are bringing it back to our roots with the students research spotlight topic.
Meet the Guests
00:00:30
Speaker
We invited two students who both recently graduated from the University of South Alabama. Sydney Goodman and Tyler Jacobs. Let's congratulate them on completing their master's and welcome them on the show. Congrats, welcome. Hey, thank you. Hey, thanks for having us.
00:00:47
Speaker
ah Okay, great. We have a big South Alabama print today. The three students were from South Alabama. I'm also from there and myself. So I do know Tyler and Sydney, but I want you guys to tell our listeners so who you are.
Sydney's Education and Career Path
00:01:07
Speaker
So what are you guys doing right now? um How did you get involved in the coastal field and what were the biggest challenges and greatest accomplishments you've done so far in your academy career. I'm going to start off with you Sydney. Yeah, so I went to Florida Institute of Technology for my undergrad.
00:01:27
Speaker
I studied ocean engineering there. I actually started off studying general engineering, but after my first semester, I realized ocean was kind of the route I wanted to go. I've just kind of always been involved in water and all those things, so ocean engineering just sounded really, really fascinating to me. And then during my time there, I kind of discovered you know the field of coastal engineering. And as I took more and more classes, I really realized that's kind of what I wanted to do. So after my four years there, whenever I graduated in 2022, I decided to go and get my master's in coastal engineering. So that's how I found the University of South Alabama. And I kind of got to do my master's thesis there and I just graduated in May. So I did my two years and now I'm out of school.
00:02:11
Speaker
And I just accepted a job to work as a coastal engineer at Olsen Associates in Jacksonville. So I'll start there in June. So I'm really excited. Really looking forward to it. And just super excited to get started with the field and everything. Yeah. Congratulations. You didn't, you didn't lose any time. Yeah. Congrats. That's awesome. Thank you. Are you going to be mostly behind a computer during like modeling or are you going to go on the field with your new job? Do you know a little bit? Yeah, so from my understanding, I think I get a good mix of everything. um Thankfully, it's a really small firm. I'm going to be number 14, so it's super tiny. But I'm really excited for all you know the FaceTime I'm going to get with my coworkers and also clients. So I think I'll get to do a mixture of in the office, you know computer work, and all of that, and also get to do some field inspections and things like that whenever we have projects that are closer to our home base in Jacksonville. That's awesome. Yeah, thank you. yeah I'm super excited.
00:03:09
Speaker
You did an interview with Dr. Browder, did you? Yes, I did. Yeah, he's great. Al and I were colleagues at University of Florida together. So we go back a long, long time. So you're in good hands. It's a great firm, great great people there. So congratulations. Well, thank you very much. Yeah, I'm super excited to work with him and the other two principal engineers. They all seem so welcoming. And I think I'm going to learn a lot from them. So I'm really excited. That's great. Everybody knows every everyone in this field. I know. And it's awesome too. Yes, definitely.
00:03:47
Speaker
So Tyler, why't you yeah why don't you give us a little bit of background on yourself?
Tyler's Education and Career Path
00:03:53
Speaker
Sure. um So I got both of my degrees from the University of South Alabama. I started in 2018, did the traditional civil engineering background. That was kind of the plan. Didn't really know what Coastal was, was not familiar with with that different world than the Civil. realm. um About my junior year Dr. Stephanie Patch and Dr. Brett Webb convinced me to do some ah free manual labor or you know field work and really enjoyed that and kind of got connected with them and then decided that after graduation I was going to get my master's in civil with a coastal focus and here I am two years later.
00:04:38
Speaker
After now, now that I've graduated, I will be starting in June with Moffitt Nickel and engineering and consulting firm as a coastal engineer. That's awesome. Congrats to you too. Thank you. Great. Yeah. And, um, kind of same question. Do you know what are you're going to do there? Field work, mostly modeling. I think I'm going to start out doing some support work, some on the civil side and on the coastal side. um And I think my main job will be getting into coastal design. So hopefully some fieldwork and getting out on projects, but I think the majority of it will be designed. Okay, awesome. And I know that you just got your P.E., right?
00:05:23
Speaker
I passed my PE in between my first and second year of my master's program. So I still need the experience, but I was glad to get that out of the way. That's awesome. That's great. You guys are ready, ready to work. So I think, I think it's interesting that, uh, you kind of both brought up, I think that one of the biggest problems that our field faces in that nobody really knows we exist. Like, we're there. What we do is really cool. Everybody that does what we do really enjoys their jobs. But so many people come into it with either looking at general engineering or environmental or civil. oh And then ultimately, some by some fortuitous set of circumstances, they end up finding Coastal and typically falling in love with it and you know having long successful careers. so
00:06:22
Speaker
It's interesting to hear that, you know, as much as we try to overcome that and this podcast is part of that, right? Like we're trying to broadcast more about what the coastal field is and what you can do with the coastal field, you know, still we have that problem that we have to overcome. So I'm happy you guys ended up finding coastal. Hopefully you'll fall in love with it as well if you haven't already. and yeah Yeah, that's so true. I think with everyone that we talked to, every everyone kind of found um Coastal. It's crazy, but it's awesome too. You kind of fell in love with it. You find it and you're like, oh, I love it so much and you stay in it.
00:06:59
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. I think it's so cool because I don't really feel like Coastal is really broadcasted whenever you're high school or younger ages. You just kind of hear about it once you get to college, maybe. Sometimes it's not even until masters that you hear about Coastal. But I think that if more people knew about it, they would immediately jump on that because it's almost too good to be true, right? You get to hang out at the beach while you're doing your job. It's awesome. It's like the best of both worlds. Did either of your universities have like a programs that kind of helped you find Coastal or was it really left out to you your own initiative to to so figure it out? Mine was kind of left up to my own initiative. Once I picked ocean engineering, they kind of showed us the different kind of ways you could go within ocean engineering. So that's coastal or naval architecture, or maybe offshore engineering even, but kind of once you're in ocean engineering, that's kind of whenever you learn all the different paths. And then ever since I heard of coastal engineering, I kind of just knew
00:07:54
Speaker
that that's what I wanted to do. So yeah, it's kind of up to your own, but my university did a great job at kind of introducing it to us. So I'm really, really thankful for that opportunity. Yeah. And on my end, um, definitely in the civil part, I guess the first few years, it wasn't, I guess it's advertised, but I was lucky to have professors like Brett Webb and Dr. Stephanie Patch that really you know connected their teachings through civil and also introduced you to coastal and weren't too pushy with it and kind of you know introduced it to you and let you fall in love with it as you as you went. It's kind of interesting to hear that because it's something that is pretty similar to the way people come to it at Stevens. We have a couple, like this summer I have a couple hundred grads working with me
00:08:45
Speaker
through a research program, introducing them to Coastal. Most of them have environmental backgrounds. But then we also have a number of students that, you know, through our civil engineering program ultimately come to Ocean and Coastal that way. So it's kind of interesting to hear that it's kind of similar in some ways to to the way that you you both found it. I have a little question about your research now. um If you guys want to talk about the research you did during your master's. So what was it? um Why is it important? And what kind of problems um did you guys had to solve? Or did you find during your research?
Sydney's Coastal Storms Research
00:09:25
Speaker
And how did your research affect the coastal community?
00:09:29
Speaker
I can jump into it. um So my research was funded as a larger Department of Defense project where we were looking at different military installations along the coast and seeing how different coastal storms and hurricanes and things like that kind of affected those installations and trying to figure out if there's a way on the research side that we could predict what it was going to what storms were going to do to those installations and kind of help those um areas prepare for those kinds of events. So my specific task was looking at Tyndall Air Force Base. It was on the panhandle of Florida.
00:10:06
Speaker
bordering the Gulf of Mexico and I looked at Hurricane Michael specifically. So that storm kind of came in 2018 as a category 5 storm and just caused lots and lots of damage on Tyndall Air Force Base. and so my research looked at the numerical model X beach and wanted to see if we could predict what the total water levels were going to be at different times during that storm and see if that led to any kind of inundation or flooding within the base or any kind of breaching or overwash of the barrier island system in front of it. So basically I learned a lot of different things during this project because I've never really done a full-scale numerical model before or
00:10:48
Speaker
used it really in any kind of capacity. So I really got to look at you know how to even set it up using like the different grid, the hydrodynamic inputs, and things like that, things that are really applicable to real life projects, which I thought was super, super cool. But I also learned numerical models are lots of trial and error. So I'm really thankful that I got that experience in you know my master's um so I could go ahead and start you know thinking about how to solve that for the future. But the project was really cool because it kind of ended up shifting um paths in what I was looking at towards the middle, I guess, of the project once we found some really cool different things that were happening at this specific area. So we just kind of saw that there's this weird barrier island system in front of this installation that is kind of connected to the mainland behind it, but also not completely connected. So it was just causing some weird interactions in the two back barrier bays.
00:11:43
Speaker
And we ended up really focusing on that as part of our research, which was not you know the initial objective. So I thought that was super cool. And it was really cool to see a real you know location and real effects that kind of did happen whenever the storm came through in 2018. And I think it really helped prepare me for maybe all the different ways that research can kind of go wrong or maybe take different paths whenever you're looking at, you know, different projects. And I'm just, I was really grateful that I got, ah that I had such a great advisor, Dr. Stephanie Patch kind of helped me through it. I never felt like I was, you know, leading myself through it. I always had the support of her. So that just really helped. And we had just such a great, you know, relationship working back and forth. And I was able to, you know, find these really cool, different things happening during my research. And I was just,
00:12:32
Speaker
I know, I loved it, it was so fun. and I got to you know present my project at two different conferences, so I think that really helped prepare me, and I also got to you know prepare for my thesis defense by doing those presentations. So, I don't know, I think that doing the thesis track in the Masters was definitely the best thing for my career. um and I would definitely recommend that to other people as well, but it was just a really, really cool project. That's great. Honestly, that's a ah great project story. And I think you highlighted something. I don't think I've ever heard anyone who had their initial idea of what their project or like research was going to be. Their idea was their actual research question. You never like end up a question you started with. It always shifts. I think it's the definition of research. You never know where it's going to go. And I think that's awesome that you found these things because it made it even more interesting. That's great.
00:13:29
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. Yeah. I had a great time. Yeah. Now I'll just chime in on the, uh, on the thesis side of things, um, because it's a good point that you brought up. I know a lot of programs offer opportunities to either do a thesis option or a non thesis option. And I would always, always, always, always suggest the thesis option, um, just because it gives you flexibility that you look into problems that are really interesting. And at the end of the day, I'm sure when you interviewed for your job, they never said, oh, you did a thesis. We don't want you. But the the thing that can come up, though, especially if you decide at some point to go back to graduate school, which does happen um when you go to look for a PhD, they'll ask you, have you ever done any independent research? And if you've done a thesis, you can just point to it and say, yes, I have. Here it is. I was at that conferences and away you go. And if you haven't,
00:14:22
Speaker
then you have like an extra hurdle to go to kind of prove it. So I feel like the thesis never really hurt you, but in certain circumstances, it definitely helps you. So anybody that's out there thinking about it, definitely thesis is the way to go. I think it's even more fun, honestly, because especially what we do, we get to go to the field or we at least get some data for somewhere. I mean, it's more interesting. What about you, Tyler? Do you want to tell us about your research?
Tyler's Shoreline Management Research
00:14:51
Speaker
Yeah, so my thesis also shifted a couple times starting out very early. My project was supposed to be a numerical model looking at different shoreline management types on the private property scale. We were
00:15:07
Speaker
very data limited at that small of a scale. So it started out with we were going to do an X-Beach model as 75% of the project and I introduced using our WAFE basin to set up adjacent shorelines. to look at how different shoreline management types such as bulkhead or riprap or even artificial vegetation may have effects on neighboring properties. So then we realized that data was even more limited than we thought so the project went okay we'll do half
00:15:42
Speaker
of the project in numerical model and we'll do half as um a physical model and then it kind of just transitioned into okay we're doing a hundred percent physical model in the wave basin and that's ultimately what my a research project was so I had different configurations set up in our wave basin with three adjacent properties and really just looked at erosional and depositional trends depending on neighboring property configurations. That's super cool. I remember you being in the lab all the time. Yeah, it was hard work. Yeah, definitely. Um, yeah, the university of South Alabama, we have a one big basin. Like it was, I don't know what are the dimensions, but it's a pretty big one. You have to it's like 20, 20 by 30 feet. Yeah, right. That's a lot. And you had to move a lot of sand.
00:16:39
Speaker
Yeah, that's a baby one. That's not like we have a 300 foot long one. and steve Okay, John. Okay. Well, I'm sorry. We're we're not on your level.
00:16:52
Speaker
harry No, bit bit but, but you can put sand in yours. I can't put sand in mine. So there you go. You win from a cultural standpoint, you probably win. I didn't think I was winning some days when I was regretting my slopes for multiple hours on the end, but Yeah, it it is nice to actually have Gulf of Mexico sand in in the basin. You're almost at the beach. The coolest one that I've ever been at, University of Florida obviously had its own facilities, which was was pretty cool. But when I was, I actually spent a year in Australia and I was at the University of Queensland and they had facilities that were both indoors as well as outdoors. So they had outdoor basins. So when you're out there rebuilding your sand beach, you could literally be out in the sunshine.
00:17:38
Speaker
rebuilding your beach, which most days was ah was a good thing.
00:17:47
Speaker
you Cool stuff. So I think that's i think it's interesting. um so yeah So do you have, I guess for both of you, you know so I always say as a you know an ideal graduate student experience is somebody that has exposure to numerical modeling, laboratory modeling, and field data collection, because those are really kind of the three primary tools that we use as Coastal engineers. So it's very rare that somebody has exposure to all of those different parts. So I don't know, based on your experiences, like, you know, some insights to like,
00:18:29
Speaker
you know, I guess the things that you have experienced, what you haven't experienced and you like miss not experiencing everything to have an opportunity to work on like, you know, not necessarily your project, but help other students. Like, and how does that kind of, I guess, round you out as a, as a coastal person? Yeah, I can go ahead and take that. Um, I didn't get to have all three of them during my time at South Alabama. Um, but I will say I've gotten a little bit of it throughout all of my education, which is, has been really great. It's kind of show me what I've liked, what I haven't liked. um During my time at Florida Tech, I got to help doing some undergrad research and we did some field data collection of just, you know, collecting beach elevation profiles and walking the beach, doing transects, all of those things with an RTK. So I got to kind of see, you know, using the wave tank and how different models were set up there. I learned, you know, that process. I learned how, you know, exhausting that process is of manually moving things and changing and
00:19:25
Speaker
all of that. So that was really cool to see as well. And then finally, once I got to my masters, that's whenever I really focused on numerical modeling. So I wouldn't say that I got all three at one time, but over the years, you know, I've gotten a little bit of everything. And I've learned as a whole, you know, I think I'm more of a numerical modeler and more of a computer girl as more than the physical and the outside feel ah field, fieldwork and all of that. I do love being outside, but sometimes, you know, those days are long and that's just, you know, takes a different kind of personality. And I think that I, you know, like doing my work and ah on a computer inside and then going and enjoying the beach on my own, not working. That's funny.
00:20:04
Speaker
That's interesting. It's an interesting perspective. you know So I'm more of a field person myself. So there's nothing like I'll wake up at whatever time you need me to. I will spend as long as you need me to like go collect data. That's like those are my those are my great days. um But it's interesting you you bring it up that there's different types of personalities. And I think yeah in the context of students and new professionals and kind of thinking about like you can be somebody who doesn't necessarily always want to be at the beach or you know in the case of like living shorelines like in a marsh or something like that, you can be somebody who just enjoys you know the i'll say the process or enjoys the subject matter of the of the of the application of kind of what you're doing. There's a lot of people, particularly in the numerical modeling world, that come to Coastal with either but mathematics backgrounds or applied physics or
00:21:01
Speaker
you know, it's just the coastal problems are really cool. And so they enjoy applying their skillset, you know, in a coastal environment without necessarily in some cases, you know, not even enjoying being in the coastal environment, but the problems are really challenging, right? So you can do it and not necessarily want to be in the field all the time or want to be in the lab. So I think that's kind of, you know, an important point to emphasize for anybody that might be thinking about coastal career. Yeah, that's definitely very true. Like we need all types of personalities. And also you tried everything to you experience the lab and the modeling. And now you can say that you prefer more like the inside work. So, um, yeah, for anyone out there again, just try experience and see which one you prefer. Yeah. And you know, and it's important in the context of, you know, working, you know, collaboratively and, you know, at a company that, you know, there's an understanding, like a lot of times
00:22:00
Speaker
you know the I guess the stereotypical like the numerical modeler wants everything very precise because in the model you can set up the grid and you can make it perfect and you can get things to the millimeter or whatever resolution that you're looking at. But then when you're out in the field and it's like I want the gauge to be right here and you go to put the gauge there and you realize you can't because there's rocks or shells or things and you got to move it and you know then there's limitations to what you can do. And having an appreciation as somebody who's done some field work you know, helps you as a modeler to know, okay, like this is what I would love to have, but it's not always possible and how do we work around it and kind of vice versa. So like, I think it's important to be conversant at least oh with other types of coastal engineers. Definitely. I think it's been great that I've gotten, you know, a little bit of everything. I kind of learned what I liked and it's, it's different than what I originally thought that I would like. I thought I would like a job that would allow me to do field work all the time.
00:22:59
Speaker
And I think it's important to, you know, still have that experience every once in a while. I've just learned that for the most of my job, I would like to do more of the computer things. And I think that's really important to everyone. It's just kind of, you know, experimenting with little things as much as you can before you have to kind of pick. But then even once you do pick, you know, the, the coastal world is so wide that you can kind of change paths whenever you feel like you want to. Oh yeah. A hundred percent. Our our co, our co-host Marissa is a modeler and we don't hold it against her. So it's cool to be like everybody.
00:23:31
Speaker
And what about you, Tyler? Yeah, I won't hold Marissa against it either. But modeling is, I guess, not my, my number one choice. I did get experience with it as an undergrad researcher helping some grad students do modeling, numerical modeling. And even starting my master's, it was supposed to be numerical modeling and I gave it my go and with data limitations, I proposed the physical modeling because I kind of had some experience with that. And I felt that's where I could thrive. Sometimes with numerical modeling, when I would run into an issue, I felt like I had to wait on my advisor to solve the problem or figure out where we were messed up with the code. But in the, in the lab, I felt like, okay, I can go in there and work all day and figure out, you know,
00:24:20
Speaker
what I'm doing and if it's not working, I'll just redo it and I know how to do that without asking questions. And then on the field work side, I did get some undergrad research doing some RTK surveying and I really enjoyed being in the field or the lab. that's That's kind of fun. But I also do enjoy being in the office and and getting into the design and seeing the data you collect or you're in the lab um collecting, kind of come to fruition with your design. Yeah, that's definitely, yeah, I'm also much more of a ah a field field guy. um And I think some of it just comes down to, you right? Some people just have sort of a natural hands-on sort of mechanical inclination and and others less so. And so if you're more comfortable you know troubleshooting
00:25:14
Speaker
you know, literally getting down and dirty when it comes to field work and laboratory work. Sometimes there' there's no substitute for kind of being able to physically see it and feel it and touch it and understand it. So, yeah, I definitely can appreciate that. Yeah, so the limitations of your research, they were in your favor because you were able to do the physical. um model Yeah, they were. There was also also limitations in the lab, but we we tackled those ah as they as they came up. Yeah, very cool. and So, Sydney, you mentioned ERDC, and can we talk a little bit? How did you end up at ERDC?
00:25:57
Speaker
Yeah, so after I was kind of finishing up my undergrad degree at Florida Tech, um I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do next if I wanted to go straight into a job or if I wanted to do grad school or what that next step was for me yet. So I decided, you know, I go ahead and start looking at jobs and maybe internships, just kind of seeing what's out there before I committed to anything completely. And I actually stumbled upon the ERDC website because I always had you know the Army Corps of Engineers kind of in the back of my head of you know a future job possibility just because they do so much coastal work and a lot of really cool coastal work too.
00:26:34
Speaker
So I found ERDC and I was talking with Lauren Duncan and she's you know she's awesome. She's the branch chief of the coastal engineering branch. That's what it was. um And she had some really cool work and they did some really cool projects. So they brought me to Vicksburg for the summer. I got to you know dabble in different projects here and there with different groups. And I kind of got to just see you know all the different things that research you know you can do on the coastal side. and clearly I can't see it all in that short amount of time I was there, but they do some really really cool work and a lot of really cool work that kind of you know helps the design firms make decisions on their projects that they're actually implementing. So it was really interesting to kind of see the research background of how these decisions are made and I had a great time working there. That was a really great opportunity for me. Were you in Vicksburg in the summer?
00:27:29
Speaker
Yeah, it was very hot. Very, very hot. No wonder you like numerical numerical modeling. You can do that in your conditioning. Exactly. The AC is very nice.
00:27:42
Speaker
Very interesting. So not to not to jump around, but what the hell. Let's just jump around. um So I think, ty Tyler, you had mentioned that you had just completed the PE exam. And so can you, let's talk a little bit
Taking the PE Exam Early
00:28:01
Speaker
about that. ah What led you to kind of decide to take the exam? Why did you take it so early? I know it used to be you had to do the experience first and then take the exam. And I think the way that they do it now is much better. So maybe just talk a little bit about what went into your decision to to do that. Yes. So originally I was planning on kind of waiting to take the PE exam until after I finished my research. But I have a twin brother that is, we did the same undergrad degree and he went more of the civil route.
00:28:35
Speaker
And his job, um, got him study material to start with it. He passed it, you know, talked to me every day about it. And he said, you should just go ahead and take it this summer. So he still had some, some subscription on his study material. And I thought it was a good time to go ahead and do it kind of before research really ramped up. And, uh, I got into it and I realized that the majority of it was what I had learned in undergrad with a few kind of more detailed things here and there, but I'm really glad I went ahead and did it while it was still fresh. And, you know, before I kind of got out into the world and maybe forgot some of the college type problems that you'll, you'll see on there. So I'm, I'm glad I got it out of the way. So is it.
00:29:24
Speaker
Still, you have to select like a version of the PEE. So like did you do like a civil geotag, water resources? Which did you? I did the um civil water resources and environmental test. and And I took it last summer. So it's before the recent April change, where it's going to be more focused on your specialty. OK. That's always something that you know historically has come up, particularly with the PEE exam. And it actually comes up comes up in my life sometimes now here and there where people will talk about the PEE and specifically as it applies to coastal engineering and coastal engineers. And you know the lack of a pure PEE in coastal engineering wow forces most people to take either geotech or water are resources or even general engineering version. And you know so I think
00:30:25
Speaker
from the standpoint of, because it's you know for especially for those with like that undergrad background in more pure civil, I think it makes a ton of sense while all that stuff is fresh in your mind to take it early. oh Because once you once you track down you know the coastal path, a lot of that stuff, you're not going to use as much. and So it's just that much harder to to to remember it for the exam. ye Yeah, especially since you know i I was a year into the master's program and there was transportation, there was you know some other things on there that I hadn't thought about since my junior year when when taking that class. But I will say because I had the pure civil background that you know it was probably an easier path than I will say that some people who I've talked to in the coastal world may have um with
00:31:16
Speaker
with them changing the exam that may get a little better, but especially for some people who kind of had an alternate route to get to the coastal world, they you know may have struggled with having to almost learn some of that civil background that they they didn't know since there's not a not a specific coastal coastal test. So speaking of that, do you want to do a little advertising a little in-show advertising for S&P? Yeah, I want to jump on this because S and&P so students in your professional chapter of ASVPA organized a workshop about ah professional licensing and it's going to be on the 29th of May
00:31:59
Speaker
3 p.m. Eastern time. It's going to be with Dr. Brett Webb, um Dr. Jack Cobin, and Taylor Zimmerman from the Maclaren Engineering Group. And I think um so they're going to talk about the new version of the test too. So if you're a student and you're thinking of doing your professional licensing, you should attend this workshop because it's going to clarify probably a lot of of the questions that you may have. um And it's going to be a a workshop so you can ask your question. It's going to be a pretty, you can participate. So that's going to be pretty cool. Yeah, I think it's, I think the the whole professional certification process is interesting and it's sort of never ending.
00:32:49
Speaker
You know, we have, ASBPA has its own certification, Certified Coastal Practitioner. So each one means something a little bit different. But obviously the PE is kind of, from and for and for an engineer, the PE is sort of like the standard, of the bold standard, right? But even within the coastal profession now, there's, Copri has what used to be, I think, the company diplomat of coastal engineering, which signifies more of a, expertise specifically within Coastal. um and what you I guess you'll hear all about it at the seminar, but um one thing that you will find is that under for certain certain certain projects there will either be a strong preference for certain types of certifications or maybe even a requirement for those types of certifications. so Generally speaking, the more letters you have after your name, the better.
00:33:46
Speaker
so So go for it. Some people have so many letters. I get lost. Honestly, I do. Dr. Brett Webb, all of his letters. Yeah, I have to say, like, one of my regrets is that he's got more letters than his actual name. That's actually kind of funny. I never thought about that. That was good. I was just about to say, one of the regrets that I have is that I do not have my PE and it just for me worked out that I went from undergrad directly to grad school, got my PhD when it's teaching. And back at the time, there was no option to take the PE exam and I never got my full experience, my design experience. So it's been kind of out there as you know in my perfect world, I would have graduated with my PhD, done a few years of consulting,
00:34:44
Speaker
taking the PE, gotten the PE, then went back into academia and you know had my PE, but ultimately I wanted to end up in academia and it just the the the I had the shortcut, like the path was there and it was open to me and there's not a whole lot of jobs in what we do, so I couldn't afford to say, nah, I think I'll wait a couple years and and go into this. But still, I wish I i wish i had gone the PE route. and I guess it's not too late. I can still still do it at some point if I can squeeze it in between teaching and research and advising and all the other fun stuff that faculty have to do. I mean, you still made it without the PE, right? I mean, the PE is just for you to be able to sign designs, right? Yeah, but for the most part, yeah. And I think, you know, it depends. You know, ultimately, like I know, speaking about ah your advisor, Brett, I know Brett
00:35:40
Speaker
does a let hold lot of consulting work on the side. So for him, in particular, the ability to sign off on drawings is particularly important, useful. oh I don't do quite as much consulting work on the side. And if I do, I typically have to work with somebody who's willing to um to appreciate my expertise and I would say sign off on things that I do, but you know work with me to develop the designs, right? so I might have the coastal expertise. They might have the civil engineering PE. So technically, they shouldn't be doing coastal designs. Technically, I can't sign off on coastal designs. But together, we can work and ultimately you know do some good work. But for me, it always just requires that I have to bring in a partner to work on things if I want to do like official design. So I end up doing a lot of like more conceptual design type work, which is does not require a PE.
00:36:35
Speaker
ah use I usually come up with the ideas and then let the called the actual engineers do the hard work. You call them actual engineers?
00:36:47
Speaker
That's true. You know what, sometimes that so fa i door because we two young consulting engineers. a yeah ah but the where that The path I was going to go is sometimes I i i get into meetings and I see the the hurdles that good projects have to overcome in order to actually come to fruition, sometimes on the regulatory permitting side and just other obstacles that get thrown in the way of good projects. And whenever I see that, that's when I go, thank God I'm an academic, because I don't have to worry about all that stuff. I don't have to, I don't have to spend my time justifying good projects to people who just may have, may just want to kill a good project for
00:37:32
Speaker
but whatever purpose. So good luck with that.
00:37:39
Speaker
Yeah, Tyler, you you said you wanted to do design, right? That's exactly what you wanted to do right now. Yeah, yeah that's that's what I'm looking forward to getting into. But yeah, I know there's definitely going to be some hurdles, especially coming from from the research side. There's there's there's goingnna be a ah difference there, but I'm excited to get into it and you know see what see what I can do in that that different world and gain my experience. but you know, having this research background, maybe one day I am interested in, in doing research again. But at the moment, I think, I think of the consulting worlds where I want to, where I want to go.
00:38:21
Speaker
It's always, I mean, one of the things like in the consulting world, it is cool. I mean, as much as painful as it can sometimes be to you take a design from like conception all the way through to, you know, actually having it built. There really is something, especially for somebody who has sort of but the inherent like engineering interest and background to see something that you've designed actually built. like I still go back to projects that I've been involved in all the time. And like you know I go back to them and I look at them and see how they're doing. And it's like, hey, I i was a part of that. like I designed that. It may be a small part, but like it's always nice to have that you know to go back to. And thats I guess I'm fortunate that I do research, but I still have some projects I'm involved in where there is an actual sort of
00:39:05
Speaker
final product, so it's not just on paper. right So it it is actually built in some state some situations. And it is cool. like if There's nothing that kind of replaces being able to see that. And quite honestly, as a as a parent at this point, like even just to take my kids past and be like, oh, yeah, daddy did that. That's kind of cool. right
00:39:27
Speaker
So you guys are both recently graduated master's students. um Along the way, obviously, you've had research mentors, your advisors, and and whatnot. um You know, one of the programs that ASPPA has that I'm involved with that I think is really cool is this mentorship program.
Mentorship Program Benefits
00:39:46
Speaker
oh So I have a young, aspiring, will soon-to-be a professor. who I work with to talk to and just give advice about all sorts of things. um Have you gotten involved with any sort of other mentorship outside of your research advisors? you know Do you have any thoughts about
00:40:05
Speaker
you know a program like that I think might be useful. So I've i've actually applied to be a part of the mentor program through S and&P and I'm currently awaiting a mentor um and hoping to find one that you know when I start work will help me navigate some of this transition from research to the consulting world. and kind of just give me that expert advice, whether it's you know questions about work or how to balance you know my new you know time constraints. you know I know research is a little bit more flexible, so having any advice towards towards a work week is is going to be great. Yeah, I think that's such a cool program that ASBPA offers. I still need to get around to signing up for that. This past couple months, I've been kind of busy.
00:40:58
Speaker
I've been really lucky that I kind of had a natural like mentorship kind of path there. Um, I worked as a part-time intern with Moffin and Nickel this past year. And, um, the girl I was working with, Peyton Posey, she has just been, she was so great with helping me kind of transition from, you know, the school side to the consulting side. And she just kind of, you know, took every chance to kind of like bring me under her wing and show me the ropes of, okay, this is how it's done. This is kind of the design process of this. stage all of that so that's been really cool and also just even having some of my friends who are in really similar spots to me even if they're not any older than me they have been such great examples of oh this is such a really cool way that you're going about it that's a like a good way to think about you know future steps for myself as well so there are so many ways i feel like that you can have that mentee mentor relationship
00:41:52
Speaker
even if it's not necessarily an official relationship, but I think ASPPA has a really, really cool program too, for maybe people who haven't gotten to have that internship experience or have that advisor you know connection yet, that that is such a great way to kind of you know get introduced into the coastal field. I totally agree with you, with both of you, honestly. I think yeah having a ah mentor or just someone to talk to who's already been through um what you guys don't know yet, like what your new experience you're going to have, it's super important. And I think um in this community, everyone is so open and everyone will tell you everything you want to know. So that's also great. You can reach out to absolutely anyone.
00:42:35
Speaker
And so I'm sure the S and&P mentoring program team heard you, Tyler. They're going to find you a mentor. I'm lucky enough to be on, on the team. are you are the so So I've looked through, you know, and currently awaiting, awaiting one, but, um, yeah, it's, it's nice to have that, that input on, and on some of the new, um, mentees that may or mentors that may, may join the group. And I'll just, I'll just give a plug for the older folks.
00:43:12
Speaker
students, ah older older professionals, young professionals, but older ones that have the experience, just a plug for being a mentor. I think like having done it, I didn't know what to expect going into it. Like I said, I you know have a great mentee. We have a great relationship. I look forward to our conversations every month. um And honestly, sometimes I learn as much from her as I think she learns from me. um And I think that's not something that I expected going into it. So anybody that's out there that thinks like, I don't know if I have the time for this, like literally an hour a month. And it's time that I consider extremely well spent. So if you have any interest at all, don't hesitate and sign up. um You can be Tyler's mentor.
00:44:00
Speaker
Yay, definitely. Everything is on the ASBPA website, or you can always send an email to S&P, which is asbpa.snp.gmail.com. So we're getting close to our hour at this point, believe it or not. This has been a great conversation. We always like to kind of leave, or the last question that we ask is, Basically, any advice that you would give to students, young professionals that are looking to kind of get into Coastal, like again, you guys took both took sort of ah a little bit of a circuitous, not circuitous, you just, you didn't know that you wanted to do Coastal when you started, right? So, um any advice that you can give to somebody in terms of how to get into Coastal or to start a career, find a job, whatever whatever advice you have.
00:45:00
Speaker
Yeah, I can go ahead and start off with that. My advice would be really just find all the opportunities you can, whether it be internships, little research projects, you can jump on anything like that. I feel like that has been the most beneficial in my career is just getting to try a little bit of everything before I've even had the chance to know officially enter the job field. You know, I got to experience a little bit of undergrad research. I got to do a couple different internships and then my thesis research and then ultimately I decided, you know, research probably isn't the way I want to go, but I wouldn't have known that unless I tried it. So I'm really glad, you know, I've gotten that opportunity and I've kind of, you know, routed myself towards the consulting way and I'm really excited about that. And I'd also say, you know, just talk to as many people as you can.
00:45:48
Speaker
um I wouldn't have known that there were so many different paths and so many different companies. Also, if I didn't talk to my advisor, talk to my mentors, talk to my friends, um you learn so much about just simply talking about other people's experiences that you would never have known. and Thankfully, that's actually how I kind of got introduced to Dr. Al Browder, also an associate, is by asking Dr. Webb if he had any connections there because I was already interested in the company. and We made the introduction and then you know that's kind of how it led me there. So I think just talking with people is always a good way to go.
00:46:45
Speaker
I would say that getting involved with ASPPA, the Student New Professionals Society, is a great way to get involved. I am kind of a new member. I went to conference in last October and quickly joined the board of directors as the treasurer. And I'll say that I've became very involved very quickly. And I know a lot of people now that I didn't know before. have a lot of great connections, whether it's people who are more experienced or people who are my age. Kind of as Sydney said, it' it's nice to be able to talk to other people that are in your same position who may be graduating soon and are looking for a job or who are in the undergraduate phase and looking to go to grad school. You know, there's just a lot of people who have already done it and can give you good advice and give you resources on, you know,
00:47:42
Speaker
which path to take to be successful. So that's that's my advice, kind of the the alternative route to doing an internship and everything. But if you can do both, I would say it's it's going to be beneficial for you. Yes, create advice, do internships and get involved. Honestly, there are so many associations, different groups out there that can help you expand your network. And as you said, Sydney, you went to conferences where you were able to present your project and that helped you also for your oral defense and like all of this. And you can be part of like these associations or like these special conferences and
00:48:26
Speaker
Yeah, I think that's great advice, honestly. Thank you so much, guys. That's awesome. Well, that brings us basically a to the end of our show. um So first of all, um we'd like to thank our guests today. So Sydney and Tyler, thank you for for joining us. It's been a great show. I've really enjoyed it. I always enjoyed the student research spotlights and learned so much and just enjoyed talking with the students. and And I like talking to the older people too, but the students are like early really kind of cool. um So before we leave you, first of all, we'd like to thank New Jersey Sea Grant for sponsoring today's podcast.
00:49:14
Speaker
We just heard about networking, so in conferences we talked on about a little bit. So we're just going to remind everyone that registration is currently open for the ASBPA National Coastal Conference, which this year is in Galveston in August. So for those of you in Vicksburg, it might actually be a cooler place to go, but everybody else is going to be hot. But it's OK. It's still a cool place to go. See the sea while there. um The poster abstracts and award nominations are due July 15th, so those are still open for another couple of weeks. Registration is also open for the Restore America's Estuaries Coastal and Estuaries Summit, which will be held in Arlington, Virginia from October 6th through October 10th, so conference in the fall for those of you that might be working on living shorelines, those types of projects.
00:50:06
Speaker
Um, and, uh, I guess lastly, um, do you enjoy listening to this podcast? Because if you do, um, you can help support Going Coastal, um, and potentially, uh, provide some sponsored episodes for your company or brand. Um, we're still working on details. I don't know exactly what that looks like yet, but feel free to contact us. Our new email address is podcastgoingcoastalatgmail.com. So thanks everybody for listening and we'll be talking to you again next month. Thanks. Yeah. Thank you guys. That was an an awesome episode. I really enjoyed having both of you here today. Thank you so much. Thank you for having us. Thanks for having us on.