A recent experience: Dr. Tracy Clarke

1
A recent experience Dr. Tracy Clarke Dr.
Henrique Schmitt

• Dual-career couple, both astronomers
• Met while postdocs at NRAO-Socorro
• Tracys Fellowship finished first. She had
  several job options
• Chose an option to go to Charlottesville, VA
• Henrique was able to transfer his Jansky there
• Then applied for 4 positions together where
  multiple positions were advertised. (Open from
  the start about dual-careers.) None worked for
  them.
• Tracy was offered a position at NRL. Her group
  head worked with them to get Henrique contacts at
  several nearby universities, as well as NRL

2
A recent experience Dr. Tracy Clark Dr.
Henrique Schmitt (cont.)

• A NRL group interviewed Henrique, and offered him
  a position as well. Henrique was required to
  change the focus of his research to enable this.
• Henrique and Tracy are also both foreign
  nationals. NRL used their cases to help clarify
  a law about capped visas, and both are now
  working on obtaining green cards
• Lessons
• Flexibility, both in location AND career focus
• Areas with several options to explore are good
• But most important was having supervisors and
  colleagues willing to work with both parties to
  find a satisfactory solution.