Sadegh is a 5th year PhD candidate in the Engineering Systems and Environment Department at the University’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Through his dissertation research, Sadegh attempts to analyze climate adaptation policies at the local level. He is particularly interested in understanding impacts of, as well as influence of policy efforts on, factors like vulnerability. He participated in PhD Plus Consulting and Science Policy modules. He is a Vice President of Projects in the University’s Graduate Consulting Club.
Sadegh was a PhD Plus intern in Center for Coastal Resources Management (CCRM) division of Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences’(VIMS) in Summer of 2020 under mentorship of Dr. Kirk J. Havens, as part of Environment Resilience Summer Internship program.
What are your post-PhD career aspirations?
I would like to pursue careers either in management consulting or policy analysis environments.
Please summarize your PhD Plus internship.
I had done research on environmental policymaking throughout my PhD, and I found the internship at VIMS to be an opportunity to learn more about real-world practices in climate related policies. This was my main reason for choosing this internship. During the internship, I analyzed the correlation of climate risk with vulnerability in coastal Virginia, with a particular focus on northern, middle, and southern peninsulas. This was an endeavor to observe how vulnerable populations are affected by climate risk and how it could be communicated to a policymaker for considerations.
What professional skills did you develop during your internship?
I gained experience working with professionals in natural sciences and learned to communicate socioeconomic factors into their natural science and climate risk paradigms. This is a relatively new trend in research and practice to highlight the underlying vulnerability of communities addressing the climate risk. patterns. This was an instructive experience and made me familiar with scholars in this field and appreciate the value of their perspective in my current research at UVA. Consequently, I invited two professors in CCRM to join my dissertation committee at the end of my internship.
How did the internship support your career development?
It provided me with insights from local managers and policymakers. Also, it enabled me to get in touch with the decision-makers at the local level in order to convey my research and learn about their concerns and priorities when it comes to climate adaptation. This experience will enrich my research as it adds flavors of local communities into the modeling and quantitative analyses I have been doing for my thesis.
What advice would you give peers on utilizing PhD Plus internships for career development?
I believe the internship is an excellent opportunity to get a taste of the gamut of interesting work in real world, for PhD students to make impactful contributions and explore as career options after completing PhD. Furthermore, it provides opportunity to develop and expand your professional networks of people and institutions towards guidance in your research and career after graduation.