International Career Panel
Transitions to an International Career
Join us for a panel discussion with some of the industry's finest.
Do you ever wonder what it takes to transition to an international career after you leave
Cornell? What are the crucial steps to take? What experiences should you have?
Transitions to an International Career
Thursday, Nov 8, 2012, 05:00 PM
102 Mann Library
What is it?
We’re bringing together four panelists from different sectors that have worked around the world in places from Zanzibar to Islamabad, and worked for organizations such as the United Nations and the United States Agency for International development, just to name a few. They will join us to share what made them successful and to discuss the options for making the transition from a degree program to an international profession. The tips & tricks that these world-renowned specialists will bring to the table will be invaluable for anyone considering work abroad.
Co-sponsored by:
Cornell Abroad, Cornell Career Services, the Graduate School Office of Inclusion and Professional Development, the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies, and the Peace Corps.
Peter Hobbs; MS, PhD
For the past 30 years, Dr. Hobbs has been a catalyst for accelerating the introduction of innovative technologies to farmers in South Asia in order to improve livelihoods and reduce environmental impacts. He has lead projects while serving as a Wheat Agronomist and Rice Cropping Systems Agronomist for CIMMYT, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, and International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Nepal, Pakistan, Mexico, and Bangladesh. Dr. Hobbs’ focus in agricultural development has led to the increase in incomes and yields to farmers throughout South Asia based on his work in zero-till practices and participatory implementation. Currently Dr. Hobbs is the Associate Director of International Programs (CALS) and an International Professor of Crop & Social Science at Cornell. He continues to consult for various agencies, such as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), International Water Management Institute (IWMI), and the UN Food & Agriculture Organization.
Muna Ndulo; PhD
Originally from Zambia, Dr. Ndulo has worked for various international agencies, including the African Development Bank, World Bank, Economic Commission for Africa, UN Development Program, National Democratic Institute, United States Institute for Peace, and International Development Law Organization. He also has worked on numerous United Nations missions in South Africa, East Timor, Kosovo, and Afghanistan, and has consulted for various countries’ constitutional processes including those of Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Sudan. Dr. Ndulo is currently a consultant to the Somalia Constitution Making Process, a Professor of Law at Cornell, the Director of the Institute for African Development, and an Honorary Professor of Law at the Cape Town Faculty of Law in South Africa.
Abena Sackey Ojetayo; B.S. and M. Eng. (Cornell), LEED AP
Ms. Ojetayo is a licensed engineer with experience in sustainable infrastructural development in the United States, Europe, and Africa. As a project manager for Aloy & Gesare Chife Foundation, Ms. Ojetayo managed a multi-national team for the Anam New City Project, a new eco-friendly and sustainable city in Nigeria that is envisioned to be a model of sustainable and indigenous development in Africa. While studying abroad in Greece as an undergraduate, Ms. Ojetayo interned with the World Institute for Sustainable Humanity, where she worked as an infrastructure planner to create a comprehensive sustainable community redevelopment plan for a small town on the island of Kefalonia.
Ms. Ojetayo is the co-founder and chairman of The Coalition of Pan-African Scholars, a Cornell student organization that aspires to unite scholars and institutions under collaborative programs centered on Pan-African exposure and sustainable development in Sub-Saharan Africa. Through this organization, she partnered with national and international activist and humanitarian agencies, such as the African Youth Foundation and Friends of the Congo International. Ms. Ojetayo is currently a Project Engineer at Cornell, working on the site development, environmental engineering, and sustainability of the CornellNYC Tech Campus.
Sera Young; MA, PhD
Dr. Young is a nutritional anthropologist who works in the areas of maternal and child nutrition and global health. Her academic and personal commitment to public health in low-resource settings stems from more than a decade of first-hand experiences with the devastating consequences of poor maternal and child health. After her BA in cultural anthropology at the University of Michigan, she pursued an MA in medical anthropology at the University of Amsterdam, where she studied maternal anemia in Zanzibar, Tanzania. Her PhD in international nutrition at Cornell University focused on maternal anemia in Tanzania: specifically, a behavior called pica in which anemic women craved earth, raw starch and other non-food substances.During her post-doctoral and faculty positions at University of California (UC) Berkeley, UC Davis, and UC San Francisco, Dr. Young was involved with a number of studies pertaining to HIV in sub-Saharan Africa, including: MAKILIKA, a study in Tanzania examining the feasibility of the reduction of postnatal transmission of HIV through breast milk pasteurization; PROMOTE, a series of linked trials in Uganda investigating the effects of antiretroviral therapy (ARV) on malaria and HIV; and Shamba Maisha, an expanded pilot study in rural Kenya of the effects of a multi-level intervention on food insecurity and HIV.