So, as some/many of you know I've been on ECOLOG on and off since about 1993/4 when I was in grad school at Texas A&M studying Wildlife Ecology. That was right about the time Al Gore invented the internet.
I built a freelance science writing career from that time, and have been what I think is wildly successful. Have had lots of fun. Swung from vines in the Amazon rainforest. Dove with sharks in Australia for Shark Week/Discovery Channel. And got paid to do it. Written about everything from endocrine disruptors to Tasmanian devils' contagious cancer. But, alas, my babies are now teenagers about to graduate high school (in a year), and I'm hitting the empty nest/mid-life crisis point, and know 1 thing: I MUST get the hell out of Texas. Where? I don't know. But this brings me to another dilemma for which I am seeking advice/practical info: I have a love/hate relationship with writing. I want to make more of a difference. I miss field biology. I LOVE wildlife and I also feel passionate about helping in some real, practical way hurting/impoverished people. I have no idea how to bring these two passions together. I think I want a more regular job rather than continuing to be self-employed (tough, as a single person) and yet I worry that despite my very strong educational background and resume/writing experience (plus field bio experience, albeit from years ago) that I am not as marketable as I once was. I'm overqualified and under qualified at the same time. What kind of job would have me, that would use my strengths and passions (writing/communications/field bio) but that isn't entry-level? One on hand I'm eligible and had been interviewed for Director positions in the past, but I don't honestly feel qualified because Ive worked for myself for so long. I know I would do fine in a team of people in an office, but don't feel qualified to run it, for sure. Yet. So do I go back to grad school and get a PhD? (I started at Rice, achieved candidacy but left due to my diviorce, and if I went back it would be a different university, starting over)? And in what? I feel drawn back to Ecology/Evolutionary bio, but also to practical things like maybe I should go to Business School to learn how to start a nonprofit. I was/am drawn to Stanford's Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources (https://pangea.stanford.edu/programs/eiper/). Has anyone graduated from there, or work in that program? I also want to travel to Africa have thought of 1. Spending 6 mo to a year in Africa just doing field work to get current experience 2. Buying a small, cheap RV and pimping it out and driving across the US to figure out what to do with the rest of my life 3. Applying to grad school. Am interested in hearing from anyone, wether it's about job opps for the over/underqualified 40-something year old, grad school at this age, etc etc. Wendee (formerly Holtcamp) Wendee Nicole, M.S. Wildlife Ecology ~ Freelance Writer * Photographer * Bohemian Web: [ http://www.wendeenicole.com ] Blog: [ http://bohemianadventures.blogspot.com ] Twitter: twitter.com/bohemianone Email: wendeenic...@nasw.org Online Magazine Writing Class starts Apr 20, 2013 - Ask me!
