Thursday, October 30, 2014

How to Gain Experience and Employment as an Ecology / Wildlife Biology Field Research Technician

Probably the most frequently-asked question I receive whenever I meet new people or discuss my employment is:

"Where do you find jobs like that?"

The question isn't so much where to find them-- more often than not, it's pretty easy to find job postings for international or domestic field research. The harder part (for most of the people asking, anyway), is getting the basic qualifications that get you in the door.

The primary things that help you get a field research job are:
  • Having already completed a field season of research
  • Good references (professional references that can speak to your experience and your enthusiasm and character are best)
  • Having training in the specific field techniques used in the project
  • Having or working towards a relevant degree (pretty much anything in the natural or environmental sciences, or even statistics or programming, will do as long as you have relevant courses that show your interest and perhaps some practical training)
Helpful attributes to get a position abroad include:
  • Having already lived or worked abroad in the region
  • Having participated in field research abroad
  • Demonstrated your ability to work in particularly harsh and unpredictable conditions
  • Foreign language skills
This is a pretty difficult field to break into for your first few projects-- no one wants to risk their personal research on a technician that might turn out to be moody, sloppy, indifferent, or generally hazardous! The best way to get your foot in the door is:

Volunteer on at least one project doing something that interests you.

If you are an undergraduate-level student, find a professor that does field research. Volunteer your time and effort for a summer. You may miss out on a paying summer job-- whether you can afford to do that is up to you (I couldn't, as an undergrad). If you can swing it, spend your summers helping professors out.

If you can't find a professor at your university (the personal touch is always a good one), try volunteering for a similar position found on a job board.

Study abroad

As an undergrad, I couldn't well afford to take summers off to work unpaid jobs. I could, however, swing a semester abroad where my financial aid still applied. Research your options, talk to your study abroad office. If you want to grow up to do international field research, find a program that specializes in giving undergraduates international field research experience.

I highly recommend Round River Conservation Studies for an immersive, hard-core, research-based study abroad experience. I was able to work on actual conservation projects (see below) in Namibia for a full semester. With the help of a Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship, it cost me and my family less than it would have to keep my at my home university, including airfare. School for Field Studies offers similar (but broader) programs.

Commit for a real period of time to a real project

I see plenty of "volunteer for two weeks and pay our research station $600/week in housing"-type positions. That sounds like a fine vacation if you have the time and money and just want to cuddle orangutans (who doesn't!?), but two weeks isn't going to convince anybody that you're a hard worker, and you could probably spend your money better. Remember that a typical field season lasts 3-4 months, often much longer.

It's quite understandable that a research station might want to recoup some of its expenses on volunteers, but I would expect that a project using me as a volunteer would recoup those costs through my labor and not my money. Be cautious about programs that seem to take volunteers on as a source of income: make sure that you will be trained in the skills you want to acquire and not just treated as a vacationer!

Take note of the skills required for jobs you'd like someday

If you want to work with large mammals, you will need handling and trapping experience, a course in chemical immobilization, possibly some tracking training, and probably some experience with radio telemetry. If you want to work with birds, you will likely need lots and lots of mist-netting extraction and handling experience, experience with visual and sound identification, etc. Pay attention to skills and techniques that you would like to acquire, and select projects where you can be trained in those methods.

List of Job Boards

Here are a list of my favorite sites for seeking jobs and volunteer opportunities in ecology and wildlife biology:
  • Texas A&M Wildlife and Fisheries Job Board -- The biggest wildlife job board around
  • Society for Conservation Biology Job Board -- A lot of overlap with the TAMU job board, but with some preferential and exclusive posts and a more narrow focus
  • AZA Job Board -- Lots of animal husbandry internships, but a research-focused internship or job pops up every once in awhile
  • ECOLOG Listserve -- Academic ecology email list, with lots of graduate research opportunities and some research technician opportunities posted frequently.

Recommended Reading




Wednesday, October 29, 2014

New Adventure on the Horizon

Hello all! It's been awhile since I last updated my poor travel log (which I admittedly neglected a bit during my last project). I'll make an effort to update with  my best photos-- sorting through them all and backing up my favorites has been a very time-consuming task!

My next project is working with herps, a term I'm already informed makes laypersons think of "herpes simplex" before "herpetile" or "herpetofauna." Same greek root, you guys!
Greek: ἑρπετόν, hereton, "creeping animal" [Wikipedia]
Most of my fieldwork thus far has focused on mammals and the herbaceous matrix we find them in, so this will be quite the treat to play with a new taxon! I grew up catching leopard frogs and shuttling garter snakes off the road, so I'll be tapping back into adolescent herp-hunting mode.

And most excitingly, this project is in...
Costa Rica!
Woohoo! This project is a great fit, considering my goals to conduct international fieldwork, work with many taxa, and progress with my passable Spanish skills.

I will be flying out next week (still need to pack and sort out a multitude of details!), and will be back by Christmas. I'm spending this week catching up with friends and family, reformatting and repairing my long-suffering travel netbook, sewing up the holes in my bags, cleaning the family homes, and finalizing my packing list. More updates to come!