Professional Development Day
Saturday, February 21, 2026 | 9:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m. (PT)
Walker Hall, UC Davis
Explore! Build! Connect!
A full day of career discovery, professional skill-building, and high-impact networking for UC Davis graduate students and postdoctoral scholars interested in careers beyond academia.
Meet campus leaders, industry professionals, and organizations across industry, government, nonprofit, and campus careers.
Limited to first 150 registrants.
What to Expect
- 📸 Professional headshot photos
- ☕ Breakfast and lunch provided
- 🎁 Swag
- 🚗 Free on-campus parking (Saturday)
- 🧭 Career and professional resources to support your next steps
Registration
Registration is required to attend.
Registration is free for all UC Davis graduate students and postdocs. This event will be limited to the first 150 people who sign up.
Please note:
- All day attendance is encouraged and expected
- Dress code is business casual
- We will be operating a wait list, and expecting confirmation of attendance 5 days prior to the event in order to release tickets to those on the wait list. Thank you for understanding.
- A confirmation email will be sent on Friday, 2/13, requiring a response by midnight Monday, 2/16, in order to confirm your spot. Please let us know if you would like to cancel your registration so that we can release the spot to those on the waitlist. Thank you for your understanding.
REGISTRATION FOR THIS EVENT IS NOW CLOSED
Schedule of Events
All times are Pacific. All sessions and rooms are located in Walker Hall.
| Time | Session | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 9:30–10:30 a.m. | Professional Headshots | East Conference Room |
| 10:00–10:20 a.m. | Welcome & Orientation | Gibeling Room |
| 10:30–11:00 a.m. | Building Your CV/Resume & LinkedIn Profile - Eva Marie Meza, Career Center | Gibeling Room |
| 11:10–11:40 a.m. | Networking 101 - Zoe Pestana, Career Center | Gibeling Room |
| 11:40 a.m.–12:50 p.m. | Professional Headshots | East Conference Room |
| 12:00–1:00 p.m. | Lunch & Networking Session I | Commons, Gibeling, Loury & West |
| 1:10–2:00 p.m. | Panel I: Campus Jobs for Advanced Degree Holders - Robb Davis, Ph.D., Assistant Director, Aggie Compass Basic Needs Center - Esther deLozier, Ph.D., Assistant Director of Partnerships and Faculty Engagement, Global Affairs - Erin Kent, Ph.D., Graduate Program Coordinator, Graduate Group in Immunology | Gibeling Room |
| 2:10–3:00 p.m. | Panel II: Government & Nonprofit Careers - Catherine Chiabaut, Ph.D., Associate Director, Davis Humanities Institute - Allie Dumas, M.Ed., Student and Landowner Education and Watershed Stewardship Program Manager, Center for Land-Based Learning - Elyse Freitas, Ph,D., Senior Environmental Scientist, California Department of Fish & Wildlife - Gianmarco Sahragard-Monfared, Aerospace Engineer, NASA Ames Research Center | Gibeling Room |
| 3:10–4:30 p.m. | Panel III: Industry Careers - Gil Keren, Ph.D., Research Scientist, Meta - Heidi Memmott, D.Pharm., Medical Science Director, Pharming Healthcare - Morgen Monfared, MBA, Procurement Contract Specialist, Centene Corporation - Venky Venkateswaran, Senior Director, Client Platform Security Architecture, Intel Corporation | Gibeling Room |
| 4:30–5:30 p.m. | Professional Headshots | East Conference Room |
| 4:30–5:30 p.m. | Networking Session II | Graduate Commons and Patio |
For parking, the most convenient location is Parking Lot 10, located at 1st Street and A Street. There is no charge for parking on Saturdays.
From parking lot 10, you will be able to walk to Walker Hall by heading West on 1st Street/Shields Avenue, a five-minute walk.
Please note the following important details:
● Location & Entry: Please use the North Entrance of Walker Hall on Shields Ave on the day of the event (see map attached).
● Registration & Refreshments: Registration will open at 9:30 a.m., and light refreshments will be available at that time.
● Attendance Requirement: This is an all-day event, and we request that you plan for full-day attendance to truly gain full value from this event.
● Dress Code: The dress code for the event is business casual.