Alumni Stories
Gwen Ottinger
I graduated from GA Tech in 1997, with a degree in Aerospace Engineering as well as in STaC. Since then, I have been a graduate student in the Energy and Resources Group at the University of California, Berkeley. I received my M.A. in 1999 and expect to receive my Ph.D. this May. In my graduate study, I am working on the same things that I enjoyed studying in STaC. My dissertation is about how science is used in decision-making in our democratic society. STaC was a very useful preparation in the field of STS--and one graduate programs in STS found very attractive because at the time there were very few undergraduate degrees in the area (that is changing)--and I consider my work to be squarely within that academic field, although I also now consider myself an anthropologist. I am in the process of applying for academic positions; this year for post-docs in STS and interdisciplinary social science positions, next year for faculty positions. I do enjoy academic research thus far and expect that I will enjoy the combination of research and teaching that faculty members do.