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Whatup thread. I do fish squeezing on big rivers in Colorado and Utah. Managed to make a career out of it, and I've worked for GBI/USFWS, state of Arkansas, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, USGS, and a couple universities. I hire a crew of (mostly) university students every summer, so I may have some insight on getting jobs or can at least say "Yeah that fuckin sucks," depending on how the job market is.
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Jul 30, 2020 22:43
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| # ¿ May 15, 2024 09:02 |
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Meaty Ore posted:I could use some job advice. I just finished my anthropology degree this past spring semester, had been looking into a career in CRM and was going to sign up for an archaeology field school, which I understand is a prerequisite for the job everywhere. Problem is, due to COVID-19, all the field schools I had been considering got canceled (I hadn't done one prior to graduation due to the job I had at the time; I had been using all my PTO to attend classes during the school year). I'm at a bit of a loss as to what I sort of jobs I could look for in the mean time that would contribute to a career focused on cultural/environmental preservation. The thing I’ve found about a lot of employers of technicians in natural resource disciplines (myself included), is that an ability to do field work in lovely conditions, live in relative discomfort a lot of the time, work independently and manage a project successfully, and not need babysitting from a supervisor is more important than a specific kind of scientific knowledge or schooling. My wife managed a bird survey project for about 5 years, and she screened for backpackers, through hikers, and fit people who lived in the wilderness for fun, because that’s basically what the field work was. Probably fewer than half her crew of 12-14 was ever a bird person. I mostly hire fish people, but that’s because I have access to a lot of them and my field work is attractive to them. But I will always choose someone with the aforementioned skills before a nerdy fisheries student with no experience living alone in a tent because that’s more important to my projects being completed. Every NR agency working in the Colorado river basin hires a bunch of whitewater rafters and guides because it’s easier to teach a boat operator to catch and identify fish than it is to teach a biologist to row big rivers. So I guess my point is to do a good assessment of the skills you have adjacent to your focus and look for jobs that need that foundation. What do you do for fun? I assume most people in NR/cultural/environmental work are in it because they like being outside, and have some kind of recreation that builds a familiarity and comfort in it. Most biological survey work entails some amount of hiking, camping, four wheeling, etc, so if you can do all that, there are researchers that need you. Flexibility and a relatively broad view of the work you’re willing to do are always necessary in these fields, but especially in these weird times. National wildlife refuges, state parks, and probably some national parks like having people with cultural resource experience, because there’s usually some element of interpretive focus there. Especially if you are open to stuff like groundskeeping and equipment operation. USAJobs and the Texas A&M wildlife and fisheries job board (wfsc.tamu.edu/jobboard or something like that) are the best job lists that I know of. HenryJLittlefinger fucked around with this message at 05:27 on Aug 3, 2020 |
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Aug 3, 2020 05:21
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treat posted:Or, I tie it to the back of the UTV and try to drive faster than the wind. Wind farm mortality surveys?
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Aug 4, 2020 01:52
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gently caress bald eagles. The level of “oh poo poo, must not disturb at all costs!!” that managers, legislators, and the public go to when one is around, or god forbid, nesting, is obnoxious. They’re lazy trashy scavengers that will nest anywhere there’s water and a big tree. Maybe expend some of that effort on riparian habitat so we can have actual cool raptors like Cooper’s hawks and ospreys around.
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Aug 5, 2020 02:45
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My field season has soft started, and my techs are finally in the field and mostly out of my hair for a bit. I'll get to go run an electrofishing raft for a few days here in a couple weeks. Can't wait to be back out in western Colorado.
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Apr 8, 2023 20:08
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| # ¿ May 15, 2024 09:02 |
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This is my first ever season almost entirely out of the field since I started field work as a junior in high school. I have a new baby and a five year old and my wife does night shift work. I'm hoping it's not the beginning of the end because field work is still where I feel most myself. I'm a little worried about my depression as I sit at home in the lab coordinating my crews while they travel to my favorite places to be.
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Apr 5, 2024 05:06
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