The Career Field Resource pages describe the more common fields that employ scientists with advanced training, with a short list of websites which will help you understand the field. Each section has:
- at least one or two articles to provide an overview of the field or career paths;
- resources specific to Berkeley (access to opportunities you can pursue while a student or postdoc);
- more general sources of information including professional associations, sites with industry news and career advice, and fellowship/job listings.
Science Education and Outreach
Science education includes teaching in young students, developing public programs to engage society in scientific topics, or improving resources for science educators. The field has some overlap with science communication.
Berkeley Resources
- BASIS – opportunities to gain experience in K-12 settings
- CEO – Coalition for Education and Outreach (CEO) is a community of practice for educators and practitioners working in STEM education and outreach. Regular emailed announcements, with events and occasional job postings.
- CLEAR Project – encourages Berkeley scientists “to develop effective strategies for communicating science to a broad public audience”
- EYH – Expanding Your Horizons is a group of graduate students, post-docs, and undergraduate women from a broad range of STEM departments encouraging younger girls to pursue STEM subjects in their future studies and careers – hosts a conference for middle school students.
- POWER-Bay Area mentoring program for community college students in physical sciences
- PTOP – Postdoc Teaching Opportunities Program – teaching college level courses at community colleges, liberal arts colleges, and universities
- Lawrence Hall of Science – has opportunities for UC students to get involved
- Science at Cal aims to “engage the vast Berkeley STEM community as science communicators and foster creative collaborations among campus and community-based groups”
Careers in K-12 Teaching
- Better Science Teaching article, “Teaching High School Science After a PhD”
- National Science Teachers Association – three professional development conferences and online resources, including Connected Science Learning which offers insights and news about links between in-school and out-of-school education
- U.S. Department of Education – information on credentialing by state and an online certification resource
- Teach-Now – source for online teaching certification
- National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine – STEM Education Collection includes models of STEM education, research on effective STEM education practices, and conditions that promote and limit school success in STEM
- National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS)
- Association of Boarding Schools
- Independent/Private Schools placement firms – Carney Sandoe & Associates (National) and Cal/West Educators Placement (West Coast), Teachers on Reserve (California)
Careers in Science Museums
- From MBoC, “From Bench to Museum an Unlikely Journey”
- From CellPress, “From the museum to the field: The job of a curator of microbiology”
- The Bay Area has several science museums, look for opportunities with the California Academy of Sciences, Chabot Space and Science Center, Exploratorium and Lawrence Hall of Science
- Association of Science – Technology Centers (ASTC)
- Center for Advancement of Informal Science Education (CAISE)
- List of science centers/museums in the USA
- Science History Institute – a nonprofit with a museum in Philadelphia, and office in Berkeley, “committed to telling the compelling stories of the people responsible for extraordinary scientific achievement.”
Smithsonian Institutes- Office of Human Resources and Office of Fellowships and Internships
Additional Resources
Center for Advancing the Societal Impacts of Research (ARIS) – has job listings and more
Science & Health Education Partnership (SEP) at UC San Francisco “aims to advance diversity and inclusivity in science; efforts include facilitating teachers and scientists co-teaching to support science learning in K-12 classrooms”
Center for Scientific Collaboration and Community Engagement – “The goal of CSCCE is to professionalize and institutionalize the role of the community engagement manager within science”