Kevin, and other undergraduates or recent graduates looking for an internship:
I have mentored quite a few students who have had a similar experience to yours. The problem is not class-work or motivation, it's lack of field experience. I always tell my students to start small. Apply to the short (3-6 months) opportunities, especially near your home base. You should be able to find something that pays a small stipend or housing & living expenses. What you need is for a field-work supervisor to vouch for the things that aren't on your grade transcript or application cover letter: how hard you work, how comfortable your are in the field, how well you are at solving problems, how well you communicate to the research team and the public, how comfortable you are working & living with others, how responsive you are to the directions & criticism of the supervisor, how well you follow protocols, and whether you seek clarification or make suggestions when protocols are unclear or problematic. Sometimes, other skills are relevant (ability to drive a 4-wheel drive, repair a vehicle, navigate, cook). You won't get a dream job studying zebra in Tanzania until you have a lot of experience. But I have seen some of my recent graduate s work up to that level, by starting small and taking progressively longer term and more challenging field research positions. As an annotated links guide to looking for internship and research positions, I humbly suggest this web page: http://people.clarkson.edu/~tlangen/joblinks.htm <http://people.clarkson.edu/~tlangen/joblinks.htm> . Good Luck! Tom Langen Associate Professor Departments of Biology & Psychology Clarkson University Box 5805, Clarkson U., Potsdam NY 13699-5805 Phone: 315 268 7933, Fax: 315 268 7118 www.clarkson.edu/~tlangen <http://www.clarkson.edu/~tlangen> ________________________________ From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news on behalf of Kevin Neal Sent: Wed 12/9/2009 1:14 To: [email protected] Subject: [ECOLOG-L] Advice for a sub-qualified postgrad looking for ecology experience? Hi all, Apologies in advance if this gets long-winded. I'm becoming increasingly anxious as opportunities for field internships/assistantships are posted here and elsewhere. I graduated in May from Brown with a BS in Geology-Biology (one degree); my main focus was geology, but in my senior year I decided to shift focus to ecology/evolutionary biology. With a year left to graduate, and myself already deeply involved in a project in paleoclimatology in Brown's Geology department, I didn't have much opportunity to get field or research experience in ecology. I was able to take a fair amount of coursework, including the intros to ecology and evolutionary biology, a rigorous 5- person seminar in behavioral ecology, plant physiological ecology, and vertebrate comparative biology. Additionally, this summer I took an animal behavior field course at the Southwestern Research Station, and a field conservation biology course through University of Montana. And somewhat related, I did geology field camp last summer, so I am familiar with the rigors of fieldwork in general. But is this enough? After being turned down for a few positions this past summer, I decided to enroll in these latter two courses hoping to fill my assumed gaps in knowledge and field experience. I worry, though, that the gap in experience remains, and that it will prevent me from getting the research exposure I need to get into a strong graduate program. My interest in and motivation to do ecology research and fieldwork, especially in the areas of community ecology, behavioral ecology, and evolutionary ecology, is exceedingly high. But with seemingly so few spots for assistants and interns on projects, it seems all too likely that I'll be overlooked for applicants with more field experience. Of course, there is the option of volunteering, but in this big bad economy as a postgraduate, I don't know if I can realistically do that. I know this is a little nebulous, but I suppose I'm just asking for general advice for applying for fieldwork or graduate school with my credentials, or if anyone knows of any groups, agencies, or programs that would sympathize with my situation and be willing to take on an "untested" young researcher in ecology. Thanks, Kevin
