Science Career Talks - 2016

Computer Science Career Talk – October 2016

Tim Oram
Software Developer
Bluedrop Performance Learning

Tim Oram obtained his B.Sc. in Computer Science from Memorial University of Newfoundland in 2014. While attending university he held several positions in the Memorial University of Newfoundland Computer Science Society, including President for two years, and worked full-time as a web application developer with Statusfirm and Bluedrop Performance Learning.
Currently, Tim is working as a Software Developer with Bluedrop Performance Learning where he primarily develops backend systems for an integrated skills management system. He is a founding member of the Computer Technology Society of Newfoundland and Labrador and an advocate for the computer technology sector in the province.

Jamie Goodyear
Apache Software Foundation Member, and Computer Systems Analyst
Savoir Technologies
https://opendaylightsummit2016.sched.org/speaker/jamiegoodyear

Lesley Chard
Digital Designer and Front-end Developer
Target Marketing & Communications

After graduating in 2015 with a B.Sc. in Computer Science and Geography from Memorial University, Lesley now works as a digital designer and front-end developer with Target Marketing & Communications. She has helped build online campaigns and digital marketing tools for Newfoundland & Labrador Tourism, College of the North Atlantic, East Port Properties (ScotiaCentre, 351 Water Street), and Health Canada. During her time at MUN, Lesley served as President of the Computer Science Society and still remains active in the computer technology community of St. John’s.

Mark Stacey
Software Developer
Radient 360
Execuitve Director
Code NL
http://codenl.org/#about

Mark is currently a Software Developer with Radient 360. He previously held a position as a Junior Software Developer with Bell Alliant. He was Treasurer and Vice President of the Computer Science Society at Memorial University. He was also a Board Member of the Computer Technology Society of Newfoundland and Labrador. He is Co-Founder of Code NL and is currently an Application Developer with Amec Foster Wheeler.

Code NL lobbies the provincial government to improve computer programming education in Newfoundland and Labrador. Every few weeks, Code NL runs a 2-hour code club where they teach introductory programming. Each lesson, attendees will complete a new project to demonstrate the concepts learned. Code NL communicates with government, educators, and other stakeholders to facilitate the conversation around computer science education. They want to get everyone talking about the beauty and fun of computer science.

Biochemistry, Nutrition and Biology Career Talk - July 2016

Robyn Brockerville
Operational Food Safety Coordinator
Menu Development and Nutritional Consultant
Smoothie Factory, Downtown, St. John's

Roles within the company:
Store manager
- Schedule, train, and monitor/aid staff in daily operation of store.
- Research and evaluate products for store use
- Program and update POS system as needed
- Created and maintain costing for made in-store products
- Other daily duties typical at a management level

Nutritional Consultant
- Serve as a source of nutrition related information for staff and customers
- Knowledgeable on all products carried and produced in-store with regards to nutritional benefits, content and allergen/dietary limitation information.
- Provide and prepare recipes that align with the goals and values of Smoothie Factory as a healthy-option food provider
- Manage all special dietary customer requests (gluten-free, etc.)

Menu Development Consultant
- Created additional menu items for the lunch menu
- Composed menu items and designed physical catering menu,
based on local market research and costing performed

Operational Food Safety Manager
- Analyzed store processes and created HACCP plan for all
relevant store operations
- Created and enforce the use of staff food safety record keeping

*For more information, please see Robyn's LinkedIn profile.

Megan Lafferty
Conservation Biologist
Nature Conservancy of Canada

Megan is a Conservation Biologist with the Nature Conservancy of Canada. Prior to this role, she was the Acting Program Director with the Nature Conservancy of Canada. She also completed her internship with this company. Megan held a position as a Rural, Remote & Aboriginal Outreach Coordinator with Let's Talk Science and was a Biology Lab Demonstrator with Memorial University of Newfoundland.

Kimberly Orren
Executive Director
Fishing for Success at Island Rooms of Petty Harbour

Kimberly has experience as a Graduate Research Assistant, a High School Science Teacher and holds various certificates such as U.S. Coast Guard, License, Professional Educator's Certificate in Biology (grades 6-12) and Chemistry (grades 6-12), Small Vessel Operator Proficiency, and Project Learning Tree, Florida Black Bear & Florida Schoolyard Wildlife Educator. She also has various volunteer experiences such as Board Member of Petty Harbour-Maddox Cove Tourism Association, Member of Gulf of Mexico Alliance Environmental Team and Consult, co-author, co-presenter of Project Learning Tree.

Environmental Careers in Government and Beyond - June 2016

Jennifer Strickland
Environmental Scientist
Government of Newfoundland and Labrador
Bachelor of Science (Major: Biology/ Minor: Psychology)
Bachelor’s Degree, Marine Biology and Biological Oceanography
Advanced Diploma, Integrated Coastal Zone Management, Marine Institute

Jennifer was born and raised in St. John’s. She was selected for the Marine Institute International Internship and worked doing aquaculture research in Bodø, Norway 2005-2006. Jennifer was previously an Environmental Scientist for Engineering and an Environment Consultant with SNC Lavalin Inc. for 5 years; she focused on Environmental Assessment, Environmental Site Assessments, Risk assessment, Socio-cultural studies and Environmental Effects monitoring.

She is currently employed as an Environmental Scientist since 2011 with the Provincial Department of Environment and Conservation (Pollution Prevention Division, Impacted Sites Management Section). Her main duties include review of Human Health and Ecological risk assessment, remediation projects, project management of all site types (industrial, commercial, residential, private and government owned sites), management of consultant contracts and proposals, etc.

Her most recent unique project was Impacted Sites Liability Assessment Program (ISLAP) whereby her section took responsibility for assessing and determining potential environmental liability estimates for all provincially-owned impacted sites (group was nominated for Public Service Award in 2015 for this work). Jennifer enjoys having an important role in the management of NL environmental issues that allow her to make use of her previous academic experience and where she is constantly learning new things and dealing with unique issues! She endeavours to make sure that environmental issues are integrated with efficient governance of our province.

She is hopeful that one day she will pursue her masters or doctoral program……TBD……

Viviana Ramirez-Luna
Biologist
Dillon Consulting
Bachelor Degree (Biology)
Masters (Environmental Science)

Viviana is a Biologist and Environmental Scientist and her passions are Small Scale Fisheries and stakeholder engagement. She started her career as a consultant in 2015 with Dillon Consulting Limited in St. John's. Her tasks have been related to power plants, hydroelectric power generation, forestry, water treatment plants, sanitary sampling, marine oil spills, and active transportation systems.

Previously, as an NGO researcher, she was involved several projects that allowed her to learn about the past and present of fishing communities on the Pacific coast of Colombia. Projects involved fisheries assessments, traditional knowledge, and mapping of fishing grounds used by both male and female fish harvesters. Some projects also involved collecting and preserving biological samples.

Colleen Soulliere
Manager, Policy and Strategic Planning
Government of Newfoundland and Labrador
Bachelor of Science, Honours, Biological Science
Master of Science, Cognitive and Behavioural Ecology

Colleen is a Professional research ecologist with a strong aptitude for management of personnel and resources. She is experienced in producing results for governmental, non-profit and private organizations within multi-stakeholder initiatives. Colleen previously worked as a Senior Biologist, (Caribou Strategy) with Government of Newfoundland and an Ecosystem Management Ecologist. She also held various science related positions as a student at Memorial University of Newfoundland as well as other companies that hire for science backgrounds.

Specialties: research design, research management, field research, research interpretation, writing, coordinating, budgeting, liaison

Biochemistry, Biology and Computer Science Career Talk - March 2016

Douglas Howse
Certified Public Health Inspector
Government of Newfoundland and Labrador

Douglas studied Bachelor of Science (Biochemistry: Nutrition), Sociology with Memorial University, Bachelor of Applied Science, Environmental Health (Public Health) with Ryerson University as well as a Certificate in Health and Safety with Ryerson University. He is a Certified Public Health Inspector (Canada) with experience in environmental health, tobacco control, health promotion, chronic disease management, and policy and program development.
Specialties: Public Health, Environmental Health, Tobacco Control, Nutrition, Health Promotion, Policy and Program Development, Chronic Disease Prevention and Management.

Justin So
Biologist and Science Communicator
Amec Foster Wheeler

Justin studied a Bachelor of Science, Biology with Memorial University, a Master of Science in Marine Biology and a Graduate diploma in Science Communication. Justin is a Biologist in marine and freshwater environmental research with a background in science communications. His diverse experience and education provide him with the tools to collect and analyze data and report results to a variety of stakeholders. He has been involved in writing technical reports on topics including biological, environmental, and socio-environmental studies. His science communications experience includes translating science to the public through exhibits, articles, presentations, and educational programming.

Tim Oram
Software Developer- Tech Professional 2
Amec Foster Wheeler
Bachelor of Science, Computer Science

Forecast Production System
My primary focus was leading a team in the planning, architecture and development of a forecast production system used by meteorologists to view weather data and issue forecasts. This required gathering of requirements from clients, providing a development plan to management, programming and providing weekly status updates to the client.

Developer Tools
When I first started work at the company there was little development support systems in place. There was a basic bug tracker and a monolithic Subversion repository that wasn't universally used by all developers. Not wanting to work in these conditions, I spearheaded the introduction of proper version control practices, peer review, automated testing and issue tracking.

Support Systems
While working on the forecast production system, I occasionally developed systems that supported the processing large amounts of meteorological model data. I also helped administer a small Linux computing cluster and various servers on Amazon AWS.