Hi all,
I also never usually respond to these threads, but I thought I’d chime in since I’m one of the young biologists who “made it” as a tropical ecologist/conservationist and since several people asked for stories. I’ll be 30 next week, and for the past few years I’ve been the Director of Research for a small conservation non-profit based in coastal Ecuador. Many of you will have already seen emails from me on this listserv or elsewhere since we’re typically hiring at least once or twice a year, but also because we are one of those orgs offering a pay-to-play “internship” (which several of you think should be avoided – more on that later), and Ecolog is one place we advertise. Anyway, I’ll give a summary of my background and how I got here, then I’ll share my advice. Apologies in advance since this is a *long* email, but if it helps at least one person out there then I’ll consider it time well spent. *My Story* I think I should start out by saying I agree with everything John said, as well as with a number of ideas the rest of you presented. John’s point of avoiding debt and the Mongabay article he linked really resonate with me. It’s not the easiest pill to swallow, but I have to admit one of the reasons I’ve likely made it this far in my career is because I’m fairly privileged. Though my family is far from being part of the 1%, I grew up in one of the top school districts in Pennsylvania and received a great education. Thanks to some scholarships, good investing on my parents’ part, and a number of deceased relatives who contributed to my college education, I was fortunate enough to come out of undergrad debt-free. As a result, I feel I had more opportunities to travel and take on unpaid internships, or even internships I paid to participate in. That said, I believe I only had two of those sorts of experiences while I had something like 6-7 paid internships, teaching positions, and research/field assistantships by the time I was 23. So, while those two unpaid experiences certainly helped build my résumé, I likely would have been alright without them. On the other hand, the unpaid positions were some of the most formative of my career. The first was in the Peruvian Amazon, and it got me hooked on the tropics. The second was with the organization I work for today, and it got my foot in the door. My trajectory was fairly standard, I think, apart from maybe landing more résumé building experiences than most, but I’ll give advice on that in a bit. I went to a small liberal arts college, double majored in Biology and Environmental Studies, worked construction my first summer to make money, then took internships or research jobs every summer thereafter. During the school year I tutored in biology and writing and worked as a tech for an experiment station. As a junior, I studied abroad in Ecuador and Peru, which I credit with opening my eyes to the world and helping me develop as a person more than anything else. After graduating and working a few more short-term education/research jobs, I spent essentially all my savings to fly back to Peru and volunteer for four months, after which I returned to the U.S. and spent the better part of a year working construction and trying to figure out what to do with myself. As my construction gig was winding down for the winter, I received an email from a professor friend who mentored me as an undergrad. The email was an Ecolog post for a two-month pay-to-play reforestation internship in Ecuador with the organization I currently work for. I decided it could help me figure out what I wanted in life, so I took it and flew down. In my spare time, I’d go birding in the forest and started to compile a decent species list. I noticed, however, that I seemed to be recording a fair number of range extensions based off of the old Ridgely and Greenfield “Birds of Ecuador” field guide. I also started to find quite a few threatened species the organization had no idea were in the area. I looked into it and learned no one had ever studied birds in the region outside of an R.A.P. conducted by Ted Parker in the ‘90s and a quick survey by an Ecuadorian biologist named Luis Madrid. That got my gears spinning, so towards the end of my two months with the organization, I made a pitch to the founders – if they would let me live and work in their reserve free of charge, I’d put together a more solid bird list and write some research grants (which I had never attempted before). Unsurprisingly, I didn’t win any grants since I didn’t really know what I was doing in the beginning, but I did discover 16 IUCN Red List bird species in the reserve. That piece of information ended up being a critical component of a grant the organization would later win through IUCN Netherlands, which itself was a positive turning point for the organization. In total I spent 12 months working with our organization in Ecuador. By the end of that time, I’d burned through the rest of my savings and decided it was time to head home. I spent 3.5 months sending out dozens of job applications trying to find work with birds and/or conservation in the U.S. with no luck. Mostly what I received were responses saying I “had an incredibly interesting skillset and a lot of amazing experiences, but unfortunately, we’re looking to hire someone with previous experience working with [insert North American bird species].” I got this same response from projects working with Marbled Murrelets, Spotted Owls, Snowy Plovers, and a number of community-level bird surveys and environmental education programs. Since clearly my tropical experience and skillsets weren’t doing me many favors, I reached out to my old undergrad advisor who was able to get me a short-term gig as a data entry technician at the Braddock Bay Bird Observatory, where I hoped I could get enough banding experience to convince someone to hire me. While working there, I received a call from the only MSc. program I had applied to. I wasn’t keen on going back to school to be honest, but it was a paid research assistantship in Oregon, and I figured it couldn’t hurt to get another degree if someone’s going to pay me to do it, especially since I’d always wanted to experience life out west. To wrap up an already long story, I went about finishing my degree, all the while maintaining contact with the organization in Ecuador, mostly just by identifying bird photos they’d send me. Then, several months before I defended, the organization reached out and asked if I’d be interested in coming back down to work for them. They wanted to hire a new director, and I was the first person who came to mind. I defended my thesis in April 2016, and five days later I was back in Ecuador. I’m happy to say I love my job. It’s not at all what I expected, but it’s fantastic nonetheless. I’m now about to take the next step in my professional development by starting a Ph.D., which I’m sure will make me an even better Director of Research. *My advice – what I’ve learned along the way* In no particular order. Some of these will echo what others have already mentioned. *1. **Find your passion.* Experiment. Before I realized how much I loved working with birds, I worked on apples, various berries, fungi, plankton, aquatic plants, environmental education, sustainability, savanna mammals, ecotourism, etc. Once I landed on birds, work became something I love doing, and now it’s easier to commit time to it and make sacrifices for it. Every aspect of what I do is improved because of it. When I teach, my passion for birds is obvious and, I hope, infectious. Same with when I write grants! *2. **Be prepared to make sacrifices.* Working in ecology and conservation, especially in the tropics, requires sacrifices. I live in Ecuador, far from my family. I work longer hours than I should, and I make less money than I would like, but every day I get to do something that makes me happy. If you’re not willing to do that, remember that there’s someone else waiting in the wings who is. *3. **Develop skills to make yourself stand out.* First and foremost, learn how to write. The best way to do that is to learn how to read and to read voraciously, but you should also take the time to ask for help and talk about writing with successful conservationists from previous generations. I recently had the opportunity to spend some time with one of the all-time greats in conservation, who also happened to be an editor for a number of big-name journals. It was eye-opening. Almost as eye-opening as having papers get rejected, which is another great learning experience. Apart from writing, think about diving into GIS, R, highly technical field skills like bird-banding, and the statistics that scare even seasoned researchers. If you become an expert, you’ll be rewarded as an expert, so take classes, volunteer, do what it takes. You’ll learn a lot about writing in grad school, but ideally, you’ll want to be a strong writer before you get there. *4. *I’ll say it again – *don’t go into debt* if you can help it. If you can’t help it, you’re going to have to make even more sacrifices to succeed in conservation because it’s not a lucrative career. The only reason I can continue to do my job (below poverty level pay in the U.S., middle class in Ecuador) is because I don’t have student loans. This is a bit harsh, but if you can’t get paid to go to graduate school, you need to consider the fact you’re either not ready for graduate school in the eyes of those who make the ultimate decisions, or you may not be right for it altogether. Paying for grad school in this field is a gigantic financial risk. As others have said, the market is already saturated. Accept it. It means you’ll either have to fight like hell to stand out, settle for something that’s not quite what you’re looking for, or move on entirely. And honestly, you might be happier moving on than struggling or settling for the rest of your life! *5. **Seek out knowledge and experiences you won’t receive as a biology student. *There are a number of great articles out there about how scientists are people who have to wear a lot of hats. That’s even more true if you’re trying to conduct research in the non-profit conservation sector. I trained as a biologist, but now I find myself juggling administration, fundraising, networking, team management, politics, student education, community outreach, finances, and more on top of your typical scientific research duties. Unfortunately, you never learn about any of those things as a biology undergrad, and you get very little of that training in grad school. There are courses out there, though, so look outside of your discipline. Read books. Volunteer. Aaron had some good advice on this front as well. Again, all related to making yourself stand out in the crowd. *6. **Perfect your résumé/CV and interview skills.* This one gets repeated time and again for good reason. Universities have offices to help you with this. Take advantage of it. If you’re already out of school, look for professional help on this front. Share your résumé with friends and family to get feedback. Do mock interviews. If I see someone with all the experiences mentioned above on their résumé in addition to scientific training, then they’re 100% getting an interview. But if those experiences aren’t laid out in an organized, easy-to-read fashion, then you may as well not apply at all. On the other hand, even if you don’t have all the experience/skills I’m looking for in an applicant, if you can write a great cover letter and résumé, it demonstrates you can think critically, write well, and express yourself well, so as an employer I’d give you a chance. *7. **Improve yourself as a person and as a leader.* Now that I find myself co-running an organization, I realize just how critical this is, and it’s something I wish I understood when I was younger. I want my organization to succeed, and for our conservation projects to succeed, but if you’re not all shuttered up in an ivory tower (and really it does apply there too), then you need to work on your people skills to make that happen. Remember, conservation doesn’t happen in a vacuum. You’re going to have to deal with people. It’s fine to be introverted, but I find being personable, compassionate, empathetic, warm, open-minded, confident and communicative makes all the difference in the world. It helps me find donors, engage students, manage employees, work with communities, forge partnerships, etc. A lot of this is attitude, but that’s something that can be incredibly difficult to change if you’re unwilling to make an honest effort. Even if you think you’re good on this front, there’s room for improvement and a lot of things you won’t know or understand, so look into it. Often when I read nowadays, I read what people sometimes sneeringly refer to as self-help books, but they can be powerful tools. Books like “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” have truly helped me learn how to interact in a more positive way with the world and people around me. You should also seek out experiences managing field teams or leading volunteer efforts, even if it’s something you put together yourself like a charity drive or beach clean-up in your local community. Until you’ve spent a lot of time managing people, you may not really grasp how important personality and leadership traits are. This attitude stuff permeates every aspect of your life, but especially when it comes to work. When I’m interviewing people for a position, my final decision comes down to personality and attitude. At the end of the day, are you someone I’ll be able to trust with our students, communities, partners, and employees? Are you someone I’d want to spend time around? *8. **Recognize your limitations, own them and find ways to compensate, including asking for help.* No one is perfect; we all have faults that hold us back to one degree or another. The trick is finding ways to cope and be productive. When I was in grad school, I experienced anxiety for the first time, and it ruined me for months. When I hit rock bottom, I realized I simply needed to ask for help, which wasn’t something I was previously comfortable doing. My university had a great program I was able to take advantage of, I was honest with my advisors who were understanding and supportive, and I found new work and coping strategies that have gotten me further than I ever was before. Similarly, the best field technician I ever had struggled with pretty bad dyslexia, so data entry and collection were a challenge for him, but he more than made up for that with his passion, attitude, and work ethic. (Also, I hired him knowing about the dyslexia because he interviewed like a champ). There will be things in life that will always be a challenge for him, but he recognized that and planned accordingly. He might never be a great writer or researcher, but the guy would make one hell of an educator or non-profit director because he has a personality that inspires people, and he’s capable of surrounding himself with a team to make up for his shortcomings. *9. **Be selective about your résumé building experiences if you can. *A lot of times we have to take what’s offered for lack of better alternatives, but even before applying, you can weed out some options. For instance, several people have expressed distaste for experiences you have to pay to participate in for various reasons. I agree the vast majority of these are not worth it (and there are A LOT of them out there), but there are exceptions. When I started this job, I inherited the kind of internship I would nowadays caution people to avoid. You essentially paid to goof around in the forest for a couple months and work on some lackluster conservation projects, but the skills and knowledge you got in return – the stuff that goes on your résumé and should help you get a job – were not worth it in my opinion. So, we made a shift. Now we offer an incredibly technical and intensive learning experience focused around bird banding, avian conservation and monitoring, and all the data collected goes to meaningful projects. Plus, you get to have fun in the tropics at the same time. You still have to pay to participate, but for people with zero prior banding experience who want a taste of the equator, it’s a good fit. It’s also a good fit for experienced banders who want to see and handle new tropical birds. Of course, having personally come up in this system of needing endless internship and volunteer experiences to qualify for an entry-level job, I’m not thrilled about having to charge people because it means those who are less privileged financially won’t be able to participate. We’re working on changing that by seeking corporate sponsors to subsidize the program and getting our “internships” accredited so they can be paid for with financial aid (and provide students with more rewards in the form of course, research, and/or internship credits). Unfortunately, the sad reality is that these sorts of pay-to-play internship experiences are something of a necessary evil that you may not fully understand until you’ve tried to run a small conservation non-profit in a developing country. The money these types of orgs get from the privileged people who can afford to participate is often the only thing keeping conservation in motion. If you’re one of those privileged people, there’s no reason to be ashamed of that. Rather, you should feel good and proud about contributing to conservation in a way that not many others are able to. You can think of it like a donation to your favorite charity, only you get a positive life experience out of it in addition to knowing you’re promoting meaningful conservation. But I digress. The point is, if you’re a budding ecologist trying to break into the field, look very critically at the programs you’re participating in and do a cost-benefit analysis. Who’s leading the program? How experienced is the organization in this particular field? Is the project you’d be working on something that will help you both personally and professionally? How? Are there paid internships/jobs or unpaid volunteering opportunities you could participate in that offer similar benefits and experiences? *10. **Do your undergrad at a small school if you can afford it. *I imagine this isn’t super helpful for most people on this listserv since the majority are likely out of undergrad already, but for those few of you who are looking into it or considering going back to school, here’s my two cents: Small schools are great! They may be more expensive, but they provide you with a few key benefits. First, class sizes are smaller, so you’re much more likely to stand out. Second, you’ll have less people to compete with for internships, jobs, and research positions through the school itself. Third, faculty won’t be dealing with as many students, and you’ll interact less with teaching assistants, so you’ll be able to get more face time, which is critical for helping you win those coveted internships/jobs and winning over the people who will serve as important references for you over the next few years. This was my experience, and I still consider many of my professors to be friends to this day. After graduating, they continued to send me job opportunities, provide support, and now that I’m running a tropical conservation non-profit, we’ll start thinking about bringing study abroad trips down to our reserve! Finally, regardless of whether you go to a big school or a small school (but even more so for big schools), go to office hours even if you don’t feel you need it! Get to know your faculty and let them get to know you. It pays. *11. **Study beneath your means (again for undergrads).* This is going to be a really weird, and potentially controversial, concept for a lot of people, and again one that probably won’t be too helpful since most of us are out of college, but it comes from the concept of living beneath your means – the idea that if you never spend more than you make and avoid getting into debt, then you’ll be able to save more, you’ll be prepared for emergencies, and you’ll have more money to participate in more experiences with less stress. When it comes to studying beneath your means, what I mean is I think we need to break from this run-away trend of selecting our schools based off of name recognition, reputation and cultural status. Take a bigger scholarship to go to a cheaper school. For a long time now, we’ve been encouraging people to shoot for the Ivy Leagues due to a belief that it would land you a better education, and eventually, a better job. But I think that’s bologna. I’ve worked with a lot of Ivy Leaguers who had awful personalities, couldn’t write, or lacked the experiences I want to see on a résumé. I’ve also worked with a lot of kids from no-name schools who were absolute rock stars, and I’d give them a better reference or choose them for a job any day. Furthermore, with the market as saturated as it is right now, there’s an endless number of truly amazing professors out there taking jobs in no-name schools. Many of them are young and came up in the same system as you. They’ve been jaded by the old guard, by the endless rat race, by the ivory tower, and/or by the lack of focus on education, so they get what it means to be in your shoes. These are the people who are more likely to look out for you, and I feel confident saying this because I went to grad school with them! They’re more likely to be personally invested in your education, in mentoring you, and in helping you succeed than, say, someone at a Tier 1 research institution or Ivy League school who’s fighting to keep their publication rate up and bring in more and more grant money. At least, this has been my experience. It’s not to say this is a universal rule because there are some stellar people at just about every university. However, even if you’re good enough to get into Harvard, is it worth it? What if you could get a massive scholarship to go to a small, poorly-known college where you’ll get more one-on-one face time with your professors and more internship opportunities? If you’re a Harvard candidate, you’re likely going to be one of the most competitive people at the smaller school. You’d be saving an awful lot of money at the very least, which in my opinion would set you up for success more than if you came out of Harvard drowning in debt. I think this is especially true if you want to get into the field of tropical conservation, where you’ll have to make sacrifices and where you’re unlikely to ever see a major payday. I suppose one addendum to this idea would be to consider a school’s faculty very carefully. If you’re offered a full-ride by a no-name school but the faculty you’d be working with have shit personalities or no active research projects, meanwhile a more expensive school has amazing people who would deeply care about your personal and professional development, then I think that’s an easier choice to make. Another caveat would be that this is really only my advice for undergrads. When it comes to grad school, you're looking for a different type of education and development, and then those Tier 1 research schools are likely your best bet. *12. **Lastly, look for organizations that need you.* I got to where I am through a mixture of passion, hard work, and luck. The last piece was pretty critical for me, but now that I know how I got lucky, hopefully I can share the key so others don’t have to rely on luck. When I say I was lucky, I mean I stumbled into an organization that needed my help. Right place, right time. It was a small conservation non-profit that had big dreams but needed more experienced and passionate personnel to achieve those dreams. I made myself into an asset for the organization, demonstrated my passion, and when they were ready to think about growth, I was already there. The takeaway is when you’re looking for internships and volunteer positions, or even temporary jobs, you should research the organization, how they are run, and who is running it. Are they poised for growth? Is it led by someone who’s passionate, open-minded, and full of vision? Are there voids in the organization you could fill? What is their financial situation? If all of those things are positive, then go for it! And once you're done, stay in touch. Worst case scenario, you have a great experience. Best case scenario, you’ve secured yourself a career :) Well, that was a ton, so congratulations if you made it this far! To close, I’ll again echo John’s words. Conservation is tough. There’s no money in it, and not as many people appreciate it as we need. Even those who do appreciate conservation as an *idea* often fail to appreciate the fact conservation is driven by *people* who have lives and needs. For all of those reasons, trying to break into the scene as a young biologist is rough. I feel if we want to change our career prospects, we need to change how society values the environment. Moreover, whenever we do get around to valuing the natural world a bit more, we need to remember to value the people who protect it better than we currently do. All that obviously is going to require a huge cultural shift, but it’s something that must happen eventually because if it doesn’t, then this little rock we live on isn’t going to be habitable for too much longer. Fortunately, one of the many hats we scientists/conservationists wear is that of the educator. We have the power to instigate change by working with and for future generations. If you’re one of those scientists who’s also comfortable wearing the hat of the advocate, then more power to you. I think the world needs more of you. Keep fighting the good fight. Best, Mike Ellis Director of Research Third Millennium Alliance Reserva Jama-Coaque Cantón de Jama, Manabí, Ecuador [email protected] | (+593) 98-612-0800 www.tmalliance.org On Tue, Jul 3, 2018 at 12:59 PM, John Perrine <[email protected]> wrote: > I'm surprised no one has posted a link to this 2017 article from MongaBay > yet (and apologies if someone already has and I missed it): > > https://news.mongabay.com/2017/08/a-rich-persons-profession-young- > conservationists-struggle-to-make-it/ > > If I have any advice it is: > > a) do NOT go into debt to find your dream job in conservation. There's > just > not much money in this field. Better to volunteer and work your way up > locally than to start your career $50,000 in the red. > > b) try to become a known quantity and get any experience you can. Yes, > this > may mean volunteering, which is problematic. But organizations hire known > quantities. Most technical training isn't rocket science, at least at the > entry level (I'm not talking about highly specialized study design and data > analysis). It's more important to become known as a good worker and team > player, who can learn new skills as needed. > > c) For many conservation careers (primarily in the US), a Master's degree > has now become the necessary entry point, similar to what an undergrad > degree was 25 years ago. And this is unfortunate, because a MS doesn't > necessarily give greater pre-professional training. So that implies that > the job market is pretty saturated. Most MS programs train in research > specialities - which is somewhat of a problem if you don't want to be a > professional researcher (see below). And see my first point above: don't > go > into debt. > > d) PhD's are for future researchers. If you don't want to be a researcher, > don't get a PhD. Otherwise, you may overspecialize yourself right out of a > job. The tenured job market is tight, and being a part-time lecturer or > "at > will" faculty is often a trap that will crush you. > > I too am deeply concerned about professional prospects in conservation. > Even as an undergrad, I wondered "If this line of work is so important, why > can't I get a paying job doing it?" > > We really need a better "pipeline" for getting new professionals started in > this field. Compared to the pre-med pipeline, we have instead what I call > the "Dandelion Model": we train up thousands of eager young > pre-professionals, and then scatter them randomly across the landscape, and > those few that find fertile prospects survive and flourish, but most don't > and often wither and die (professionally). I guess it's because there's > just no money in conservation, especially as compared to human health. An > ugly truth, but truth nonetheless. > > my 2 cents > > - John Perrine, PhD > > Associate Professor / Curator of Mammals and Birds > Biological Sciences Department > California Polytechnic State University > San Luis Obispo, California USA >
