{"id":2522,"date":"2021-09-13T16:39:01","date_gmt":"2021-09-13T16:39:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/careerplanning.me.holycross.edu\/?p=2522"},"modified":"2021-09-13T16:39:01","modified_gmt":"2021-09-13T16:39:01","slug":"meet-alumna-dr-kathleen-d-dejwakh-09-nasa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.holycross.edu\/careerplanning\/2021\/09\/13\/meet-alumna-dr-kathleen-d-dejwakh-09-nasa\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet Alumna Dr. Kathleen D. Dejwakh ’09, NASA"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Name:<\/strong>\u00a0 Dr. Kathleen D. Dejwakh<\/p>\n

Class Year<\/strong>: 2009<\/p>\n

Title<\/strong>: Computer Engineer, Data Management Team Lead, CERES Science Team<\/p>\n

Organization<\/strong>:\u00a0 NASA<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

1. In one sentence, what does your job entail?\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

I oversee the production of publicly available data products, generated from data collected by NASA and NOAA Earth observing satellites, that constitute a twenty-year and ongoing climate data record of Earth.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2. What planned and unplanned events connected you to your industry and your first employer after Holy Cross? How did you learn\/decided it was a good fit for you?<\/strong>
\nI suppose that you could say that this is my first \u201creal\u201d job since graduating from Holy Cross, since I was in graduate school and engaged in a brief post-doctoral opportunity for so long (2009-2017). When I think about it, each transition made sense, but it was mostly serendipity that got me here.<\/p>\n

Attending a graduate school so close to a NASA center, (NASA Langley Research Center), was certainly lucky. As I found that I needed supplemental income, I planned on finding an internship type of opportunity, transitioning out of my graduate program in computer graphics. Since I wanted to expand my concept of the types of imagery I could work with, I applied for and obtained a position as a NASA DEVELOP participant, working with Earth observation data. Comparing this more academia-like experience to a previous industry internship that I\u2019d had, I became certain that I wanted to work in a sector that had more direct benefit to humanity and the environment. So, I applied for a civil service position at NASA and was selected.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

3. What were you involved in when you were on campus?\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

I participated in several clubs and activities while on campus: S.P.U.D., liturgical ministry (lector coordinator), Sailing Club, Bishop Healy Multicultural Club, and Math\/C.S. Student Advisory Council.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

4. What was your major and how did it affect your career decisions?\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

I majored in Computer Science simply because I enjoyed the classes. I really didn\u2019t have a career goal in mind, at the time. The part-logic, part-creativity involved in creating programs felt really satisfying. It just so happened that it is a hot market for software engineers out there.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

5. What are one or two skills that you developed at Holy Cross that you use in your work?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

First off, I would say that I employ mindfulness and empathy day-to-day. Practicing the motto and spiritual cultivation at Holy Cross strengthened in me the importance of being kind to myself and understanding of others, and the bigger picture. Secondly, I use those core Computer Science classes of algorithms, data structures, and programming. They\u2019re the backbone of software engineering! What can I say.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

6. What advice do you have for students today?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I think the best career for someone would be not just what they enjoy, but what they\u2019re good at. To figure that out, you probably have to cast a wide net in school. Don\u2019t be afraid to do that, change with time, cross things off of your list, and envision a career-path that may play to multiple strengths at once or in sequence. Sometimes\u2026you even have to create a niche for yourself. There are no rules.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Name:\u00a0 Dr. Kathleen D. Dejwakh Class Year: 2009 Title: Computer Engineer, Data Management Team Lead, CERES Science Team Organization:\u00a0 NASA   1. In one sentence, what does your job entail?\u00a0\u00a0 I oversee the production of publicly available data products, generated from data collected by NASA and NOAA Earth observing satellites, that constitute a twenty-year and … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Meet Alumna Dr. Kathleen D. Dejwakh ’09, NASA”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":460,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[9,48],"class_list":["post-2522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-alum-feature","tag-career-community-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.holycross.edu\/careerplanning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2522","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.holycross.edu\/careerplanning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.holycross.edu\/careerplanning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.holycross.edu\/careerplanning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/460"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.holycross.edu\/careerplanning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2522"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.holycross.edu\/careerplanning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2522\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.holycross.edu\/careerplanning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.holycross.edu\/careerplanning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.holycross.edu\/careerplanning\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}