Course structure

BPSC191 (Seminar in Agricultural Careers in the 21st Century) is a new course at University of California, Riverside, designed to introduce undergraduate students to the broad range of career possibilities in agricultural science and biotechnology. Invited speakers who hold jobs in industry, government, or academia discuss their careers and how they got there. The course also provides practical advice and feedback for students on how to find jobs, prepare competitive application materials, and interview successfully. The course is required for U-SPARC fellows, but also welcomes other students in the UCR community. Students work in teams to interview an agricultural scientist and prepare a profile of their career path that will be presented to the class and posted on the U-SPARC webpage. 

Speakers for 2018

• Brent Barnes, PhD (Ornamental Plant Breeder)
• Lindy Allsman (Lab Technician)
• Alex Cortez (Teaching Lab Coordinator)
• Evelyn Hurtado and Leigh Karp (Bureau of Land Management)
• Fortino Morales (R'Garden and current UCR graduate student)
• Cheryl Wilen, PhD (UC-ANR)
• Philippe Rolshausen, PhD (Cooperative Extension Specialist)
• Douglas W. Grant, PhD (USDA-APHIS)
• Colleen Knoth, PhD (Applied Biocode)

Speakers for 2019

• George Natzic (President, Growpod Solutions)
• Claudia Sepulveda (Lab Technician, UC Riverside)
• Lindy Allsman (Lab Technician, UC Riverside)
• Naomi Fraga, PhD (Director of Conservation Programs, Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden)
• Mike Nuccio, PhD (Senior Director of Research and Development, Inari Agriculture)
• Obiel Hernandez (Quality Control Analyst, Illumina)
• Karen Caplan (President and CEO, Frieda's Specialty Produce)
• Aliasghar Montazar, PhD (UC Cooperative Extension)

Speakers for 2020

• Danelle Seymour, PhD (Assistant Professor of Citrus Breeding, UC Riverside)
• Lindy Allsman (Lab Technician, UC Riverside)
• Miguel Estrada (Managing Director of UC Riverside Botanic Garden)
• Carolyn Rasmussen, PhD (Associate Professor of Plant Cell Biology, UC Riverside)
• Tracy Kahn, PhD (Curator of the UC Riverside Citrus Variety Collection and Givaudan Endowed Chair)
• Alejandro Cortez (Lab Coordinator, UC Riverside)
• ​Brent Barnes, PhD (Co-Founder and Plant Breeder at Claybourne Company)

Speakers for 2022

• Clarissa Rodriguez (Restoration Ecologist, UCR)
• Eric Flamme, PhD and Jason Jordan, PhD (Givaudan)
• Janine Almanzor (Curator/Education Coordinator UCR Botanic Garden)
• Allison Weber, PhD (Bayer U.S. - Crop Science)
• Alejandro Cortez (Lab Coordinator, UC Riverside)
• Jorge Ferreira, PhD (USDA Salinity)
• ​Mitch Lucas, PhD (Sun Shrimp)