Alex Jih-Pai Lin earned his MS from SES in 2003 and his PhD from SES in 2007. Alex is now an Associate Professor at National Taiwan University.
Contact: xyloplax1@gmail.com
"Taiwan is beautiful country and you are welcome to visit us anytime. We have summer internships and postdoc positions available for those who are interested."
Where has your degree taken you?
After graduation I went to Yale University for a two-year postdoc position working with Professor Derek Briggs. Then, I took a position as a research scientist at the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology Chinese Academy of Sciences: Nanjing, Jiangsu, China. In 2015, I joined the Department of Geosciences, National Taiwan University for a tenure-tracked position.
How do you feel that your experience, specifically as an SES/geology student at OSU, prepared you for your career or life in general?
I have learned a lot from the classes I took during the graduate school at OSU. It is a large university with a lot of resources. I was enjoying taking classes taught by experts in their fields.
What is your favorite memory as a student?
Field camp led by Professor David Elliot, field trip to San Salvador led by William Ausich, chemostratigraphy taught by Mat Saltzman, paleo-courses offered by Stig Bergstrom, Peter Webb, Loren Babcock, William Ausich, meeting the Academician Ken Hsu, and the Orton Hall were the most memorable things I had as an OSU student. My MS and PhD works cannot be completed with funding support from the Paleontological Society Student Research Grant, Ohio State University Graduate Student International Dissertation/MA Thesis Research Travel Grant, Friends of Orton Hall Fund (Ohio State University), NSF East Asia Summer Research Fellowship, and Geological Society of America Graduate Student Research Grant.
What advice do you have for current and future students?
Try new things and take classes offered by new faculty members to broaden the basic knowledge. Get some grant writing experiences/ summer internship opportunities as stepping stones for a successful career. Go Buckeyes!