Name: Beth Ellison
Family: Been together with fellow-UWEC Geography Alum, Blake
Christenson for 3.5 years and we are expecting our first little one this July!
Major & Minor: Comprehensive Geography Major in
International Studies
Year Graduated: 2008
Current Employer: Southern Illinois University - Carbondale
Length of Employment: 2 years
Interests and Hobbies: What aren't I interested in? Down in Southern Illinois there is fabulous
hiking (believe it or now we are VERY hilly down here - we are approximately 12
hours from Eau Claire), wineries (30+ within 30 miles of my house), and
biking. Basically if I can get outside,
I will (at least on the days where we are not 100+ heat index).
What helped you decide what route to take after graduation
(i.e. graduate school or type of job)?
Immediately after graduation I attended Miami University
(OH). I had a research assistantship
(RA) with MU- Geography Dept. and the Ohio Department of Natural
Resources. For my RA, I developed a
historical flow synthesis for Ohio Reservoirs to understand fish
populations. This work was heavily
GIS-based and hydraulic modeling, currently a paper is in review for
publication. Currently, I work for
Southern Illinois University as a Staff Researcher and Project Manager. I work specifically in hazards, more or less
flooding. I have the fortune of working
with some fantastic individuals across the state: from local community members,
state politicians, the US Army Corps of Engineers and with some of the heads of
FEMA in DC. My current project is working
on proactive flood mitigation activities in Alexander County after the 2011
Mississippi River flooding.
What do you think gave you to edge to get your current
position? My expansive research history, both undergraduate and graduate
work. Also, my willingness to network
and ask questions.
Describe your typical day at work: Depends on the season and
the current projects. Right now, our
focus is proactive mitigation on the Mississippi River. I am project manager for a major flood
recovery effort to relocate residents off the floodplain and determine
best-practices for floodplain management within this given community. Check out our project website at
https://sites.google.com/site/alexcomitigation2011/. When I'm not working on this project, I'm
busy working on Hazard Mitigation Grants across the state and doing various
research/consulting on the side.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Good question. During my time at SIUC, I will be working on
my PhD in Environmental Resources & Policy.
After we finish, Blake and I hope to find great post-doctoral
opportunities and eventually find a school, similar to UWEC to begin teaching
and research. (Blake is working on his
PhD in Criminology and Criminal Justice focusing on spatial analysis of crime
and how to effectively use this information for policing, etc.)
What advice can you give to those who are still in
school? Get in all the opportunities you
can, including some level of student research.
The experience is fantastic and it is amazing how those skills will help
you in any career path. My biggest tip
would be to have exceptional communication skills. The varieties of mass-communication sometimes
can confuse and halt the progress of work-related tasks. Make sure you can use these various
communication lines to efficiently and effectively communicate what you want to
say.
Please feel free to contact me at the information
below. We are also always looking for
graduate students. Please shoot me an
e-mail if you are interested!
Beth Ellison
Staff Researcher and Project Manager
Southern Illinois University
(618) 453-7349
beth.ellison@siu.edu
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