Contributor Shimi Rii

{credit}Courtesy of Carrie Leonard{/credit}

After 10 years in an academic setting, first as a PhD student, then postdoctoral fellow and finally assistant research professor, Carrie Leonard accepted a job at BAE Systems, Inc., a global defence, security and aerospace company, where she spent more than 12 years. Based in Honolulu, Hawaii, she started as a manager of Applied Sciences and Algorithms and Ethics Officer, becoming a lead on Advanced Concepts in her last 2 years. I first met Carrie in 2003, when we collaborated on a multi-institutional oceanic eddy project. Over time, Carrie became not only my role model (she was the only female PhD that I knew in a leadership industry position at that time) but also a mentor, providing me guidance and multiple career perspectives. A few months ago, I ran into Carrie at the Joint Aquatic Sciences Meeting held at the Oregon Convention Center. As we caught up over beers, she told me about her new position as Director of Science at The Freshwater Trust, a non-profit organization with a mission to preserve and restore Oregon’s freshwater ecosystems. Having now worked in three very different work environments – academia, industry and non-profit – Carrie was full of insight and advice.

What motivated your transition from academia to industry?

I went to work for industry because I could not land a tenure-track academic position. I had a self-funded research faculty position, but was dependent entirely upon my own grant funding. I knew that I was just a few grant rejection letters away from not having a job, and as the main source of income for my family, this situation was not financially acceptable. At this time, I found out about a small technology start-up that was doing ocean remote sensing for the US Navy, and I made the leap into the unknown. What drew me in was continuing to do research in my area of expertise, but with greater job stability, better pay and benefits. The specific employer and workplace was not the driver, but the ability to continue to pay my mortgage and to do research certainly was. Continue reading →