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Profile: Dr Carolann Wolfgang
Charisma and Science Do Go Together
Over the years in my scientific career, I have often had people talk about my ‘charismatic personality’ in a derogatory way, as though someone with ‘personality – charismatic or otherwise’ just could not do well in the world of science. I agree that this is certainly not a word I would use to describe the majority of scientists that I meet.
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| Dr. Carolann Wolfgang currently works at SAIC Engineering in Santa Barbara, California as a geohydrologist. |
However, it is clear to me from writing this article that my career path over the past 15 years has certainly matched my attributed personality and I’m glad I didn’t change. My career has been mostly linear but sometimes circular, full of exploration, creative, fast-paced and teaming with variety. Since I began my undergraduate studies in environmental science and geology at the University of Pennsylvania (USA), I’ve worked nearly constantly or taken some sort of training. I have no children and only recently married, so I’ve had a lot of time to concentrate on my ‘career’. That said, it hasn’t necessarily been any easier to figure out which directions to take, how to inspire myself with confidence, how to ignore the raised eyebrows by male colleagues when I walk into the meeting room, or to know what would be best for me to do next.
Sandwiched between my undergraduate degree (from 1988) and my Ph.D. in natural resource management completed at the Australian National University in 2001, was work in areas of geology, and the geotechnical and environmental remediation fields. This intermingled with environmental health and safety and quality control/quality assurance management at the field locations of environmental construction projects. Wearing a hard hat frequently had its ups and downs, but this work took me around the United States, the Caribbean, and Micronesia. I love to travel and so this lifestyle suited me perfectly. I was trying out different things, meeting wonderful people, and it seemed to all be going pretty well. But, I was being labeled. Sometimes I was called ‘Multidisciplinary’ or ‘Transdisciplinary’, a ‘Generalist’ or even a ‘Big Picture Person’. And finally, one of my PhD reviewers, upon reading my ‘multidisciplinary’ thesis responded with the question (more or less paraphrased by me here): “well, what the heck do you think you will call yourself after this? What do you want to do?” He said this because my thesis started out with a geological study, which I did as the basis of a hydrogeological study, which I did in turn as the basis of a practical management plan for the geographical area of interest. Each of these areas could have been their own thesis. I began to question what I was doing. Are all of the myriad pathways I’ve chosen robust enough to be the table legs for a solid career future? How do I measure myself against my more ‘stable’ colleagues who stay at one company or at the university for several years having a narrow expertise and in one geographical location?
On top of this, I was becoming more and more aware of how I was interacting with my colleagues. I began to question, if my ‘charismatic’ personality, which I admit bursts out time and again without warning would hinder my ability to be accepted by conservative engineers, lawyers, and scientists?
Despite this pondering I did feel that since the Ph.D. was behind me, the world was my oyster, and at that moment I met my future Dutch husband and decided to move to The Netherlands. My timing was perfect since The Netherlands Organisation for Applied Research (TNO) had an employment opportunity for someone just like me. I became an International Project Manager working on a European Union environmental project. Our project included the development of an integrated management system for complex contaminated sites, such as the Port of Rotterdam, a metal mining area in Poland and a chemical factory in eastern Germany. This work raised the bar for me in terms of my communication and language skills and added to my training in negotiation and mediation. The work involved co-coordinating a multi-million dollar project with twelve collaborators in the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, and Belgium. In addition I was involved in conferences and travel to Italy and Hungary and within a year had a chance to deal with colleagues from all of the western European countries.
I never had to deal with so many cultures in a meeting setting before. My awareness of European issues grew immensely during this time (as did my taste for European chocolates!). My ear became attuned to languages. I had learned Spanish previously, so I was used to the process of learning a language, but with full-time work and new travels and cultural expectations in addition to intensive language learning, my head was swimming. It felt similar to when I was finishing the Ph.D. and had to hold all of the ideas gently together in my head in some lattice framework in order to bring it all to the final conclusion. I learned to deal with the awkward situations when one’s language skills are not perfect. For example, I even accidentally asked a co-worker out for a date during one episode; he was very surprised and then I had to explain I was actually asking for a different type of ‘meeting’…one of those word nuances that I didn’t quite grasp yet. When we lived in Germany my ear had to become accustomed to understanding German and then I would respond in Dutch or a mix of Dutch and German. Sometimes I found that I could not speak English anymore, I would automatically think in Spanish.
For personal reasons my husband and I decided to move from Europe to the U.S. after a period of two years, and once again, this represented a huge career change for me. Being in different countries for almost a decade, I found myself being unsure again about what I could contribute in the U.S. I tentatively joined a large engineering consulting firm, convincing them that my overseas skills were good for communication and handling people. I hadn’t worked with engineers on a day-to-day basis before, so it was something different. They also didn’t need someone who had worked overseas necessarily, so I was in a position of almost being at a disadvantage.
Since then that disadvantage has come full circle, as the company is seeking more and more relevant international environmental work. Suddenly people are knocking on my door, and I am the token ‘international person’. Especially since I have also attended the UNESCO meeting in Morocco this past June (as WISENET’s representative) and as the result of meeting a fellow woman in science there, was subsequently invited to speak at a conference in Beijing at the end of August in an area that was not necessarily my strong point: the public image of scientists in the news media.
Over the past two years I have worked on groundwater projects in California, learning the specific issues for this area, and am also currently involved in an opportunity to work on an Environmental Initiatives Program at the Port of Los Angeles. The former draws from my technical background in the earth sciences; the latter from my keen interest and growing ability in process, strategic planning and management (that ‘Big Picture’ thinking). I’ve even had opportunity to use my ‘charisma’ in marketing our services to potential clients.
One could say that I’m still being distracted and have too many interests and should become more focused. I can honestly say, however, I feel lucky to have done what I have so far. I’m glad I have so many interests and recognize finally that it has taken courage for all the changes I have had to make in my career. Even the lack of confidence that peppered my career was a blessing because it made me question deeply what I wanted to do with my life and how I can help the world in my own way. My personality always seems to shine through, I take risks, and as I get older and more confident, I find that I have the capacity to be even more energetic than I used to be and am getting more comfortable that there will always be something for me to do next. Sometimes I still actually get someone who thinks I’m a secretary or says to me something like, “…you know, Carolann, you will never make it in this field because of your exuberant personality.” Only at this point in my career can I readily dismiss such comments and simply keep moving forward.
In the future I will continue to work
in the environmental sciences and travel and be proud that I have the capacity
to be multidisciplinary. Currently my supervisor calls me a “Renaissance Gal”.
And to tell the truth, I’m quite happy with that.
