SIAM Visiting Lecturer Program

I am a member of SIAM's Visting Lecturer program which offers speakers on various topics in applied mathematics and computing for the use of university groups. SIAM distributes this information to SIAM student chapters as well as posting it on the SIAM web page to encourage institutions to invite speakers of their choice to interact with students and faculty. By reaching students and faculty we try to promote applied mathematics and computing. In addition to the talks listed in my presentations page, the following talks might be of special interest to students - SIAM-VLP talks.

Some places where I've given these talks are:

• University of San Diego Math Department, November, 2007, Host: Prof. Jane Friedman.
• Sonoma State University Math Department, April, 2008, Host: Prof. Brigitte Lahme.

MentorNet Program

I am a member of the MentorNet program, an E-Mentoring Network for Diversity in Engineering and Science that offers mentoring programs and pairs community college, undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, and untenured faculty with professionals in their fields for email-based mentoring. In addition, MentorNet also offers a variety of resources for anybody interested in career advice. I have found this program of great benefit and encourage any student to check it out for both the career resources it provides and for the opportunity to talk with someone in a science and engineering field first-hand.

Communication Skills

I've given various talks and written several papers related to presentation skills, interviewing for jobs, networking, and other aspects of professional life. You may find these useful as you're looking for a job or just in figuring out what research life is all about.

• Giving Talks for Fun and Profit. Invited Presentation for AGEP, Rice University, Houston, Texas, July 27, 2001.
• The Unwritten Rules of Interviewing.Invited Presentation for AGEP, Rice University, Houston, Texas, July 21, 2000.
• I Want to be a (Computational) Mathematician. SACNAS Conference, Portland Oregon, October, 1999.
• Surviving Graduate School. SACNAS Newsletter, November 1997.

Committees

• Member, AAAS Committee on Opportunities in Science, 2005 - Present
• Co-Chair, Richard Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing Conference, 2003.
• Chair, MSRI Human Resources Advisory Committee, 2003-2005
• LBNL Best Practices Diversity Council, 2003-2006
• Chair, Sandia Hispanic Leadership Committee, 1999.
• Member, Sandia National Laboratories Division Diversity Council, 1999.

Professional Organizations

These organizations have many resources that are useful to students.

• SIAM Student Web Pages
• Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in the Sciences (SACNAS)
• Strengthening Underrepresented Minority Mathematics Achievement (SUMMA)
• American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Career Support
• Computational Sciences Graduate Fellowship