Advice & Mentoring in the Wildlife Ecology Field

I am working to create a more inclusive environment within the wildlife ecology community, especially because I know what it’s like to not have people who look like me in my field. I had no idea this career path was an option growing up and I would have loved to have had the opportunity to talk to someone about it. I recognize that this is not an easy field to get started in - the low pay and temporary nature of many field tech positions is a huge barrier. And the amount of field tech jobs that you apply to that you never hear back from can be very demoralizing - I remember one round of seasonal field tech jobs where I applied to about 80 positions and only heard back from three people. Unfortunately, that is the typical experience people face in this field. That’s why I believe having the opportunity to talk to someone who’s been through this process can be help and reinvigorating! One of my favorite things about my PhD experience was having the opportunity to work with people early in their wildlife career and supporting them - from Berkeley undergrads in my Conservation Biology class to my amazing field techs, and others who have reached out to me. I am always open mentoring new people and talking to folks about the many different paths you can take to working in the field of wildlife ecology, grad school advice, and dealing with imposter syndrome and mental health struggles.

Whether you just want to ask a few questions, schedule a time for a call, have someone look over you CV/cover letter, or need a cheerleader to support you in you early career -
please feel free to reach out to me at any time!

How to get into the field of wildlife ecology?

There are many different careers in the wildlife ecology field and numerous pathways to get there. Several of the students in my lab had completely different careers before getting into the wildlife field. So if you didn’t study wildlife in undergrad, you can still do it! My advisor and labmate were both English majors in undergrad. Getting a wildlife job can be tough and my first three field tech jobs out of undergrad were actually vegetation jobs. However, experience working with wildlife isn’t always the most important thing employers look for - showing you are proactive, independently motivated, a fast learner, and work well in a team are all great traits. Having strong recommendation/reference letters from employers is key! Making sure to highlight your skills in your cover letter and CV/resume is also extremely important. For more specifics, such as where to find wildlife jobs, I recommend checking out this awesome resource “Becoming a Wildlife Biologist” by Gael Sanchez.

Interested in wildlife ecology research? Advice on going to grad school for wildlife ecology

If the path you’re interested in taking is to do wildlife ecology research by getting a graduate degree, I know how confusing figuring out how to do that can be. Unlike law, medical, or business school there aren’t straightforward ways to apply to grad school and unless you know someone who has done it, the process can be very unclear. For most research-oriented grad school programs in wildlife ecology, you will receive some sort of stipend, either through a research or teaching assistantship, and tuition is waved. I remember not knowing that and almost did not consider applying because I was still paying undergraduate student loans (andddd still am). The stipend usually is not much, so figuring out costs of living in the area is important when considering universities.

One of the most important things you need to figure out before going to grad school to research wildlife ecology is to figure out your research interests. A lot of people get drawn into the field because of experience or interest in certain taxa. This is totally fine - but when thinking about research, knowing more than just the taxa you want to study is important. What about that species drives your curiosity? Are you interested in it’s physical characteristics? What it eats or what eats it? How it moves through the landscape? How its populations are being impacted by humans? Being able to have a research question will not only help you narrow down what subject within the wildlife world to research (e.g, physiology, community ecology, behavioral ecology, spatial ecology, urban ecology etc.), but will also show potential graduate school advisors (i.e., professors or PIs) that you have potential as a researcher!

Another big question that folks interested in graduate school need to ask themselves is whether they want to do a Masters or go straight into a PhD. For me, my work experience in after undergrad was crucial in helping me figure out my research interests and also seeing how wildlife management and conservation is done on the ground. I knew that I was passionate about learning the ecological aspects of wolf-livestock conflict and was ready to commit 5+ years (turned out to be 7 years!) of my life to a very big research project. Another question you should ask yourself is what kind of job do you want, and whether it will require a Masters or PhD. For example, many wildlife management jobs such as working for an agency as a biologist don’t require a PhD. But, if you wanted to conduct, and especially lead research as part of an agency, then a PhD might be better. From my experience of skipping a Masters and going straight into a PhD, I found the learning curve to be very steep and experienced more imposter syndrome than many of my peers who had done a Masters. It also took me 7 years, which is often how much time it takes people to complete a Masters and a PhD!

I strongly recommend checking out Dr. Justin Brashares’ website page with Advice on becoming a graduate student or Dr. Justine Smith’s website page with resources on graduate funding. If you have a good idea of what you want to research, there are fellowships you can apply for before applying to graduate school. If you get one of those fellowships, then your application will be highly competitive because you’re coming in with your own funding and proposed research project!