This quarter the PCC Undergraduate Cohort, UCo, spent time building community, connections with nature, and professional portfolios. As spring sprung, we headed outside on Earth Day with Beautify UDub for a campus clean-up. Joining this event helped build our greater campus presence and connection with undergraduate students and environmental student organizations. We worked together to reduce litter and joined in conversation about the Earth and climate. 

Rounding out Earth Week, UCo hosted a birding and bagels event. After a casual sunny breakfast at Hey Bagel, we took to the swamp in search of birds. Although we may be better at identifying plants than birds, we saw Great Blue Herons, Wood Ducks, Mallards, Hummingbirds, and more. Walking through the Yesler Swamp and Union Bay Natural Area allowed us to share in conversation about our local environments and how they change with the seasons and climate. We discussed the unique carbon systems of swamps and the threats of rising temperatures on native ecosystems.

Further collaborating with campus partners this quarter, we toured the UW Fish Collection, exploring the large archive of preserved fish. This was an interesting analysis of evolution and ecosystem diversity, with a great blend of interactive learning. 

As a culminating professional development event, UCo hosted a workshop geared toward revamping professional portfolios. This session offered dedicated work time on online profiles, resumes, and applications, offering one-on-one and group peer review. We offered free headshot sessions for undergraduate and graduate students affiliated with the PCC. This was facilitated to meet the goal of providing accessible, drop in headshots that would help students feel confident and professional when posting to LinkedIn, student profiles, project slides, announcements, and more. We hoped to help break the access barriers and nuance in professionalism, further supporting students in their futures and careers.

UCo finished off the quarter by planning for the next academic year. This fall, UCo will be hosting a climate trivia event during Dawg Daze to engage with incoming students. If you are interested in supporting UCo activities, we are often looking for guest speakers, panelists, group tours, grad student mentors, career workshop facilitators, and more. Please get in touch with uwpccuco@uw.edu if interested!

Written by Elise Herzfeld, UCo Leadership Team and departing PCC Undergrad Assistant