The Cal-IPC Students & Emerging Professionals Section is dedicated to expanding opportunities for students and emerging professions interested in invasive plant research and management.
We serve as a voice for individuals early in their stewardship career and work to connect them with each other as well as with other professionals. As a part of Cal-IPC’s mission to protect California’s wildlands from invasive plants now and in the future, we need the next generation of weed workers to get involved!
Whether you’re a current student, recent graduate or early career professional, if you are interested in land management and invasive species, join our student mailing list to hear about internship opportunities, student funding, and symposium-related events!
Check out our brand new Cal-IPC blog which provides career resources for students and early career professionals. We created this blog to be place for community college, undergraduate, and graduate students, as well as early-career professionals to connect with each other, share best practices, provide professional resources and talk about all things invasive species. Join the community and start networking in the community forum!
Congratulations, 2024 Cal-IPC Symposium Student Contest Winners!
We are honored to recognize these student speakers contributions.
- Full Length Talk Winner: Rebecca Nelson, UC Davis, “The effects of invasive goatgrass control on serpentine wildflowers and pollinators.”
- Lightning Talks First Place Winners: Sophie Zeng (left) and Grace Yao (right), Project Arise, “Today’s technology for today’s environment: Constructing a CNN to enhance invasive plant identification and removal.”
- Lightning Talks Second Place Winner: Joanna Tang, UC Santa Barbara, “Evaluating intraspecific variation to restore climate-resilient populations.”
- Lightning Talks Third Place Winner: Tessa Hospod, University of Connecticut, “Pesticide application and its effects on soil decomposition and microbial communities.”
We look forward to hearing updates on the great work you are doing to move forward the field of invasive plant management and research.
Most of our events take place at the annual Cal-IPC Symposium. Each year, we organize a variety of networking events including a Career Panel for students to learn more about careers in weed management with representatives from a variety of fields including non-profits, academia, consulting and the government.
Student sharing her work on the invasive Stinknet at the 2019 Cal-IPC symposium
We also kick off every symposium with a Student Mixer to bring together all the students at the conference.
In addition to these events, there are also various funding opportunities and awards available to our student members. We started offering Student Travel Awards in 2017 to help offset travel and registration fees. Thanks to funding from the John H. Anderson Land Steward Training Fund, Cal-IPC can offer annual scholarships for the Symposium and for other training events. Students can also compete for cash prizes at the Symposium by participating in the annual Student Paper and Poster contests.
If you have questions about school options, careers in invasive plant science and management, are interested in participating in the Students & Emerging Professionals Section, or simply have questions about invasive species, please don’t hesitate to contact us at calipcstudents [at] gmail.com. We are happy to answers any questions you may have!
Get to know the Cal-IPC student liaisons
Job, Internship, and Funding Resources
Cal-IPC Student Section Job and Internship Board
Looking for research opportunities, seasonal work, internships, or more permanent opportunities in the field of invasive species and restoration? Check out current opportunities across California now on our Job and Internship Board, updated weekly!
Other Useful Resources
- Texas A & M Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Science Job Board: well-organized and frequently updated job board with seasonal jobs, internships, volunteer opportunities, permanent positions, and graduate student positions across the US and beyond in a variety of ecology, wildlife, and conservation fields
- San Francisco Bay Joint Venture Job Board: positions located specifically in the SF/Bay region of California
- San Diego Management and Monitoring Program Job Board: positions located specifically in the San Diego region of California
- Ecolog Listserv: grab bag of position announcements, discussions, event announcements, funding opportunities etc. organized by week
- Dr. Marissa Baskett’s Grant & Job Resources Webpage: Baskett, a faculty member at UC Davis, maintains this awesome page mainly aimed at academic careers, but with tons of great advice and information about grants, fellowships, and the academic job search
- ESA Physiological Ecology Job Board: much more than just physiology, includes jobs, internships, and graduate opportunities of all kinds in broad ecology and conservation fields as well as lists of other job sites and tons of other online resources
Past Student Liaisons
- Noah Teller, UC Riverside (2017 – 2021)
- Marina LaForgia, UC Davis (2014-2018),
- Marlee Antill, Cal Poly Pomona (2018 – 2019)
- Guy Gabriel Hernandez, Cal Poly Pomona (2018 – 2019)
- Amanda Swanson, UC Riverside (2016 – 2017), Postdoctoral Researcher at University of Wyoming
- Justin Valliere, UC Riverside (2014 – 2016), Postdoctoral Researcher at UCLA
- Bridget Hilbig, UC Riverside (2012 – 2014), Assistant Professor at Weber State University
- Meghan Skaer Thomasen, UC Davis (2012 – 2014), Resident Ecology, Exotic and Invasive Weeds Research, USDA
- Kai Palenscar, UC Riverside, US Fish and Wildlife
- Chelsea Carey, UC Merced, Senior Soil Ecologist for Point Blue
- Heather Schneider, UC Riverside, Rare Plant Biologist at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden
- Sara Jo Dickens, UC Riverside, Ecologist and Science Communicator at Ecology Bridge LLC
- Mike Bell, UC Riverside, Postdoctoral Researcher at UC Irvine
