Ryan, Perhaps, your experience is very typical. Looking at the ESA website on Ecology career, http://www.esa.org/education_diversity/webDocs/undergraduate.php The website sites ecologist jobs for BS degree: Intern, field/research technician, research assistant: majority of those are temp/seasonal job. MS degree: community college prof, research assistant, environmental manager/consultant, natural resource manager, field ecologist, wildlife biologist: Decent positions.
Many state/federal government agencies (Fish & Game, Fish & wildlife) hire people that focus primarily on fieldwork and reporting such as baseline ecological evaluations, species identification (though many of them could be seasonal). However, from an employer's perspective, graduates from ecology degree are competing with graduates from fishery and wildlife management degrees who are more trained with practical fieldworks and understandings of resource management. Many graduates from those degrees also have already worked with the agency through school-agency tied internship/co-op programs. Private sector is also the same story. They are looking for people with practical experiences and skills. Unfortunately, it is often the case that ecology graduates don't have practical skills and experiences. You can see the clear differences by comparing job postings at Ecological Society of America, where 18 positions are posted, most of which are academic with phD required. http://www.esa.org/careers_certification/jobLists.php and American Fisheries Society, where 120 positions are posted, from BS degree to phD, from agencies, academics, privates. http://www.fisheries.org/afs/jobpage.php Toshihide "Hamachan" Hamazaki, 濱崎俊秀PhD Alaska Department of Fish and Game: アラスカ州漁業野生動物課 Division of Commercial Fisheries: 商業漁業部 333 Raspberry Rd. Anchorage, AK 99518 Phone: (907)267-2158 Cell: (907)440-9934 -----Original Message----- From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news [mailto:ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU] On Behalf Of Ryan Metz Sent: Tuesday, February 14, 2012 10:08 AM To: ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU Subject: [ECOLOG-L] Best way to jump start a career in ecology After graduating in 2009 I have bounced around a number of jobs, some of which were in my career field (ecology), some were not. So I took the advice of my former professors and volunteered. Since returning from France this summer as a volunteer ecologist for A Rocha international (due to intense competition and few opportunities) I have been largely unable to find a suitable position as an ecologist in the NYC area. I have since decided to broaden my search (nation wide), but have run into new difficulties. The first problem is the wide distribution of information scattered about the web. There seem to be any number of websites with ecological job postings which makes it very difficult to search for openings. So many of these sites are inadequate to say the least in terms of ease of use, search options, job descriptions, contact information, salary, etc. Most of these small sites are updated infrequently as well. The larger sites such as Monster, are much easier to search and use, but do not list the same positions as the smaller sites. The second problem is the apparent lack of information and direction available concerning ecological work outside of academia. I am well aware of the great number of private companies that hire scientists for any variety of work in the private sector, yet there seems to be very little anyone can tell me about these companies or the general kinds of work available to an ecologist. I've been able to contact a few people through linked in about the companies they work for, but outside of direct contact with employees, there is little to be found out about the private sector. The third issue that comes to mind are the postings on this list-serve. Most postings for job opportunities are for grad students, or research assistants with advanced degrees. I have seen a few postings for work in the public sector, but to my knowledge there has not been any mention of opportunities within the private sector. The thought occurred to me that there must be other list-serves geared towards job ops in general, yet I haven't come across any. To clarify, the jobs that I have been looking for are those that focus primarily on fieldwork and reporting such as baseline ecological evaluations, species identification, etc, and less on permitting and phase I and phase II assessments. I am hoping that some of you will be able to address these issues and/or respond with some helpful information in regard to finding a job in the private sector that will be worthwhile in terms of gaining knowledge and experience in the practical application of ecological principles. Ryan Metz
