Co-op Catalysts: Inspiring Career Stories from UBC Science Co-op

In this episode, Tony Botelho, UBC Career Services Managing Director, discusses how to navigate a challenging job market. 1:27 - Tony's personal background 4:36 - Tony's academic and career background 19:03 - About the UBC Career Centre 24:45 - What is contributing to the current challenging job market 31:00 - Tips for job seekers in this challenging job market 41:15 - How to stay motivate...

In this episode, senior co-op student, Markus Hanson (Environmental Sciences), talks about his personal, academic and co-op background including field work and moving to Edmonton for co-op. 00:42 - Markus's personal and academic background 10:14 - Markus's co-op experiences 20:58 - Pros and cons of field work 27:30 - How co-op impacted Markus's future plans 33:35 - Markus's job application experie...

In this episode, senior co-op student, Jerry Wong (Oceanography & Biology), talks about his personal, academic and co-op background including moving to Singapore for co-op. 00:48 - Jerry's personal and academic background 5:07 - Jerry's co-op experiences 10:48 - Moving to Singapore for a co-op job 21:13 - Fisheries and Oceans Canada co-op experience 25:16 - Applying for next co-op job...

In this episode, senior co-op student, Ashley Zhong (Biochemistry), talks about her personal, academic and co-op background including moving for co-op positions and her experience being an international student. 00:49 - Ashley's personal and academic background 4:21 - What it was like moving to another country as an international student 6:54 - Ashley's co-op experiences 7:50 - Move to Mon...

In this episode neuroscience student and 2025 Co-op Student of the Year Award Winner, Thomas Van Der Sloot, discusses his academic and career journeys, and advice for co-op students. 00:49 – Thomas’s personal and academic background 6:51 – Student of the year award and CEWIL award winner 11:46 – Thomas’s co-op work experience 22:50 – How has co-op impacted Thomas’s future plans 28:34 – Thomas’s co...

This episode compiles all the wonderful advice from our guests for best life advice. 00:31 - Rob Kim, UBC Associate Director of Lifelong Learning 2:06 - Dr. Ben Loosley, Safety and People Manager, Vancouver Coastal Health 3:48 - Dr. Amori Mikami, UBC Psychology Professor 4:01 - Theodor Diederichsen, Mathematics and Economics Student 5:37 - Allan Dias, UBC Accessibility Advisor 7:11 - 2024 Student...

This episode compiles all the wonderful advice from our guests for best career advice. 00:33 - Rob Kim, UBC Associate Director of Lifelong Learning 3:46 - Dr. Ben Loosley, Safety and People Manager, Vancouver Coastal Health 8:24 - Dr. Amori Mikami, UBC Psychology Professor 9:18 - Theodor Diederichsen, Mathematics and Economics Student 11:55 - Allan Dias, UBC Accessibility Advisor 15:45 - 2024 Stud...

This episode compiles all the wonderful advice from our guests for our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health. 00:52 - 2024 Student of the Year - Jennifer Nguyen, Integrated Sciences 3:47 - UBC Dean of Science, Dr. Mark MacLachlan 5:32 - Sanya Sivic, UBC Science Co-op Coordinator and Podcast Host 12:28 - Dr. Chris Murawsky, Director of Research, Amgen 13:56 - Dr. Javed Iqbal, UBC Science...

In this episode alumna, Shubhang Mittal, discusses his academic and career journeys, and advice for co-op students. 00:48 - Shubhang's academic background and fun facts 6:28 - Competitive advantage of being a statistics student 12:42 - Shubhang's co-op job search experience 18:18 - Shubhang's co-op experience 19:29 - About Cisco Systems and Shubhang's position there 24:01 - Things...

In this episode UBC Science Co-op employer, Helen Chan, from the BC Cancer Research Institute discusses her academic and career path and talks about her recruitment process and how to give feedback to employees. 1:01 - Helen's personal background and fun facts 5:44 - Helen's academic background 9:55 - Helen's career background 15:11 - About BC Cancer, BC Cancer Research Institute and T...

In this episode Sanya talks to Gloria Sun, UBC Manager of Nutrition and Wellbeing and Registered Dietitian about various nutrition topics and food security resources for UBC students. 1:18 - Gloria's personal, professional and academic background 6:15 - About Gloria's role and department at UBC 12:48 - What a healthy diet looks like 16:16 - Tips to improve diet for mental and physical heal...

In this episode UBC Science Co-op employer, Dr. Mark Cembrowski, from UBC Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences discusses his academic and career path and talks about hiring co-op student without posting a job. 1:03 - Mark's personal background and fun facts 2:51 - Mark's academic background 7:31 - Mark's career journey 12:30 - Being a scientist in Canada and starting a lab...

In this episode, you will hear about general co-op information for those interested in hiring a student and about being a great co-op supervisor, featuring Dr. Javed Iqbal, Science Co-op Program Director and Physics Professor. 1:02 - Fun facts about Javed 3:17 - General co-op information for employers who are interested in hiring co-op students, including timelines, processes, funding, requirement...

In this episode UBC Science Co-op employer, Dr. Chris Murawsky, from Amgen discusses his academic and career path and gives information about his hiring process. 00:53 - Chris's personal, academic and career background 11:43 - About Amgen 15:58 - Difference between working in academia vs private industry 18:28 - About Chris's role as Director of Research 20:33 - What co-op students do at A...

Vanessa Arianto (Land and Food Systems Student) is the guest host for this special episode where Sanya Sivic (Co-op Coordinator) discusses challenges students face during the job search and on the job and how to overcome them. 00:00 - Guest host, Vanessa Arianto, introduces herself 1:46 - About Sanya and how she started in the career development field 7:09 - Most rewarding part of being a co-op co...

In this episode, Dr. Mark MacLachlan, UBC Faculty of Science Dean and Chemistry Professor, talks about leadership, co-op and his vision for the faculty. 00:53 - Mark's introduction and fun facts 10:30 - Mark's academic background 14:02 - Mark's career and research background 18:56 - Mark's approach to managing the faculty of science 21:04 - Mark's vision and goals for UBC Faculty of Science 27:40...

In this episode, 2024 Student of the Year award winner, Jennifer Nguyen (Integrated Sciences), talks about her academic and co-op journeys and about her favourite and most challenging parts about her co-op experiences. 00:42 - Jennifer's academic and personal background 5:06 - What winning the award means to Jennifer 8:42 - Jennifer's co-op experiences 13:19 - Jennifer's favourite part...

In this episode, Allan Dias, UBC Accessibility Advisor, discusses the services provided by the UBC Accessibility office and workplace accommodations. 1:01 - Allan's inspiring personal, career and academic background 13:25 - About the accessibility office and the type of support they provide for students 17:07 - Reasons why students go to the accessibility office 23:26 - Should you disclose your di...

In this episode, senior co-op student, Theodor Diederichsen (Mathematics and Economics), talks about his personal, academic and co-op background including moving for co-op positions and what it takes to be an actuary. 00:33 - Theo's personal and academic background 3:24 - Theo's co-op experiences in Toronto, Vancouver and Germany 14:36 - The advice Theo would give a younger version of himself befo...

In this episode, Dr. Amori Mikami, Professor at UBC's Department of Psychology, talks about the connection between social media and mental health, importance of social connection, tips for creating meaningful connections and combating loneliness. 00:53 - Amori's academic and career background 3:25 - Why social connection is important 5:04 - Amori's study on social media use and impact on mental he...

In this episode, Dr. Ben Loosley, Health and People Manager at Vancouver Coastal Health, talks about his personal, academic and professional background including his recruitment process and how to make a good impression at work. 00:49 - Ben's personal, professional and academic background 7:05 - About Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) and the occupational health and safety department 12:39 - Advice f...

In this episode, Rob Kim (UBC Associate Director of Lifelong Learning) and Sanya talk about networking and LinkedIn. 2:23 - Rob's academic and career background 12:58 - Rob's personal experience and struggles with networking 16:05 - How to grow your network 18:50 - Networking at work 24:00 - Tips for networking at events and career fairs 29:47 - Rob's LinkedIn journey 37:59 - Social media use, str...

This episode compiles all the wonderful best life advice from season one guests, along with host, Sanya Sivic's, advice at the end as well. 00:42 - Dr. Javed Iqbal, UBC Physics Professor and Science Co-op Program Director 2:42 - Dr. Sanja Rogic, Research Scientist and Lab Manager, UBC Michael Smith Laboratories 3:55 - Chloe Lu, Food Science Alum, Land and Food Systems 7:32 - Geoff Fawkes, Chief Te...

This episode compiles all the wonderful best career advice from season one guests, along with host, Sanya Sivic's, advice at the end as well. 00:45 - Dr. Javed Iqbal, UBC Physics Professor and Science Co-op Program Director 2:18 - Dr. Sanja Rogic, Research Scientist and Lab Manager, UBC Michael Smith Laboratories 5:52 - Chloe Lu, Food Science Alum, Land and Food Systems 9:07 - Geoff Fawkes, Chief...

In this episode, senior co-op student, Courtney Cheung (Biochemistry), talks about her personal, academic and co-op background including challenges during co-op and dealing with rejection. 00:40 - Courtney's personal and academic background 3:30 - Courtney's co-op experiences in biotechnology 8:11 - What Courtney liked about her coop experiences and did it help her deicide what to do after graduat...