I live in texas and we’re in the middle of “Trout season”, where every weekend thousands of trout are released into the local rivers and lakes for people to fish for a few days. The thing I don’t understand is how the Texas Parks and Wildlife is all about conserving nature and restoring the endemic species, yet every year this is done. The trout I assume eat a lot of food that the local species would usually eat, and then die when the water gets hot. How does this get approved even though it seems to go against everything they preach?

So lately i found myself interested in envirionmental science, however I'm more of a humanities person, i do well in history but i also do well in climate change and policies. how hard it is to learn all the data-driven subjects at college? also what is the job market like? what should i expect?

Hi all! Please let me know if this isn’t allowed here but I don’t think r/jobs is going to give me the right advice as this is a specialised field.

I applied for a trainee/internship role a week or two ago for a Field Ecologist. It’s a 6-week job, but I should get all the basics and very valuable experience from this. It’s a paid role, and I absolutely want it so that when I’ve finished my studies, I have more valuable experience to offer employers.

So, I have some questions!

What will they ask me / What shall I ask them? Most of the general questions I’ve covered in a cover letter - like if I can use GIS, if I can carry heavy stuff while walking, but I really need to stand out, as only 2 applicants will be hired.

What shall I wear? It’s mentioned in the email that there won’t be a practical demonstration, so I do think it’s a sit-down interview, so I could probably go looking quite smart.

Seriously - Need all the advice I can get. Any more advice you can offer PLEASE send it my way!!! I really really want this!!!!

Is there a good study of the skull size amongst predators based on prey selection ie lions that mainly hunt Buffalo vs those that hunt mainly say wildebeast or gazelle or wolves that mainly hunt moose as opposed to white tail ?

So I decided to take a look on NSF REU to search for some internships and I have found some good ones, but going into their websites, there is no where you can apply on their websites. Do I send my stuff on their emails? Can someone help me get around NSF REU?

I'm a PhD student with a background in computation, though my domain of study is Ecology! I'm trying to source the following data for future climate scenarios (the exact years aren't all that important though somewhere between 2040-2050 would be nice) in order to use them for some analysis:

- Monthly maximum temperature (from daily means)

- Monthly minimum temperature (from daily means)

- Monthly total precipitation

- Monthly amount of sunlight

- Yearly average wind speed

- Yearly forested age

And to help, my area of study is Canada (the boreal region in particular) and my desired resolution is 1km (I can sample if needed). I see that the first 3 in my list are covered by CMIP6, though I still need to figure out which GCM to run with. I can also use some historical data to estimate forested age. Wind speed and daylight are my primary issues that I can't find a source for.

Thank you :)

Hi everyone,

I recently read about a water treatment plant in Melbourne, AUS (Western Treatment Plant) that has a thriving wetland ecosystem for birds and other wildlife. Originally, they were attracted to the site due to all the nutrients in the effluent going out into the bay from the cities sewage and now it's a haven for tens of thousands of birds. I thought this was quite ironic since this ecosystem, this 'natural' and 'serene' landscape came about from the sewage of a city of 5 million people.

I'm interested in if there are any other similar instances where an ecosystem has unintentionally arisen out of something that is inherently apart of modern human technology or anthropogenic functions. I read about the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge which was a chemical weapons site, too toxic for human use so is now a nature refuge in the city of Denver. Is there any ecosystems that are 'unintentional' rather than caused from an accident?

Keen to hear your thoughts and examples :)

Thank you

Hi everyone, I'm interested in forest restoration and ecology and am in New England. I've been learning about restoration ecology so I can manage my parents wooded property to promote wildlife and the health of the forest. Throughout my readings I have come across two ideas that seem to be really conflicting. For one I have read extensively about the benefits of wild fires and prescribed fires and how our forests are denser and have a different species composition now, partly due to the lack of fire on our landscapes. A lot of sources say that it is beneficial for wildfire to burn away the duff layer and other fuel on the forest floor as it can reduce the intensity wildfire damage as well as promote habitat for fire tolerant plants. I also read the removal of the duff layer can reduce tick populations which is definitely needed where I live. Now where I feel conflicts with this is information about non native earthworms in New England. While reading about non native earthworms' impact on New England forests I came across the idea multiple times that plant species in our forests have evolved to have a thick layer of duff and leaf litter that helps seedlings germinate. Since there were no worms in New England due to glaciers advancing and receeding in the past, non native earthworms that were introduced are removing most of the duff layer on the forest floor. I don't see how that could be if wildfire was present in the past were already burning away that duff layer periodically. I'm not discounting that non native worms are impacting our ecosystem's, this just doesn't make sense to me. In a way, could the earthworms be seen as somewhat mimicking the effect that fire would of had on our landscape by removing the duff layer? I've always heard forests today are more mesic while forests in the past were xeric due to the presence of wildfire and as a result there wasn't much leaf litter or other fuels on the ground. If anyone can clarify these ideas for me that'd be great cause they seem conflicting to me. Thanks!

What are your opinions on the proposed planning reforms? I'm trying not to be too pessimistic but it sounds to me potentially disastrous for both wildlife and our industry.

My understanding is essentially they want to apply the great crested newt DLL model to all protected species. So populations will be destroyed and habitat lost, with some trees planted and ponds dug hundreds of miles away to compensate.

Keen to hear other people's thoughts, and maybe it won't be as bad as I think...

Hi everyone, I'm graduating with my BS in Biology w/ focus in ecology, and a minor in applied statistics in May. I'm applying to jobs, and have been seeing some skills that I don't have currently, like master banding permits, scientific permits, ecological surveying, etc. Here's my list of skills that I have from either university or from previous jobs:

• R and additional stats courses because of my minor
• ArcGIS and GPS devices
• Phylogenetic systematics via Linux programs (IQTree, BEAST, etc.)
• Reproducible research projects (one relating to just stat methods, the other is ecology-focused)
• Herpetology / endemic species in US

I have found a bit of research jobs at local universities in my home area that only need a bachelor's but I'm hoping to see if anyone has additional job searching techniques (I've just been using Indeed so far, but know my way around USAjobs and state job board).

Thank you in advance!

I'm currently looking for inspiration to find an interesting and feasible topic for my geography Master's thesis. My focus is on climate change, global health, and development. So somewhere in this realm would be nice. Maybe you have some suggestions or topics you can point me to!

Hi all, few questions down below that I’ve sent to a few different subreddits so don’t feel the need to answer all or any at all. I graduated last year from a UK university with a 2:1 in BSc environmental biology (ecology + environmental science) and after a year out living in a UK city independently in a dead end admin job (though excelling) I’ve decided to move to Australia.

Firstly, has anyone had experiences with recruitment agencies in the above fields, how were they and did they allow you to temp or move around the country? If not, are there any full time perm positions that do?

I was more interested in the environmental sector in the UK because of the progression and opportunity compared to practical ecology work, though I’d be much more inclined to explore practical fieldwork (ecology, conservation) should it pay high enough because it’s a completely different ball park. No salary target (see q4) as I have no idea what the economy is like there, the only request is that the job is a hybrid of outdoors and indoors, or purely outdoors. I’m honestly fine with any subfield of ecology. I have a huge range of skills that I’d be happy to finally make use of rather than sitting on a computer.

I’m a very experienced DJ, years of experience so I would be very interested in building a career out of this in aus as I have done in the UK (more of a side hustle career though), are any major cities a good start including info from above or are there some in particular where opportunities/partying is higher? No genre preference as I mix and produce all.

What’s the COL like over there? What is the minimum salary I would be able to put money aside with? Or at the very least explore to the fullest extent, or travel to SEA with.

Lastly, I’m going completely solo as I want a fresh start, I’ve heard great things about aus people but I imagine the jobs further outback or in less major cities will make it more difficult to make new friends, so this is a key one for me.

I frequently see posts on here from students and recent grads that have to do with the job market for ecologists. Instead of decided to make this post to share the strategy that worked for me when I was just starting out. I’m in Canada if that matters.

When I was just getting started I met with a government-funded career coach who told me that 80% of jobs are never advertised. After helping me with my resume, he advised me to make a list of 5 companies in the area that I might want to work for. By the way, I put down my student projects, volunteer work, etc. as experience in my resume at this point.

I made a script and started cold-calling. “Good day, my name is lovethebee_bethebee. I am wondering if you are currently hiring any ecologists, and if not, is there someone whom I may send my resume to in case a position opens up in the future?”

Most times I would be told to apply online but I only needed one email of someone in case a position opens up in the future. I send them my resume and ask them for an informational interview to talk about the industry. I only needed one person to say yes. We meet for coffee and talk about the industry and afterwards I ask them if they have any contacts I can send my resume to. I only needed one person to give me a list of contacts. I contact everyone on the list. I only need one person to say yes to an informational interview to talk about the industry.

I keep repeating this process until I get called back by someone in the grapevine for a real interview. I tell them that I actually applied to the job online already. They haven’t even looked at the online applications by the time I get an offer. Most people are going to reject you, but some will be happy to talk to you about the industry because they were where you are once.

Some tips:

Ask lots of questions. People love to talk about themselves.

Be persistent but not aggressive. Respect people’s time.

Roll with the punches. Most of the time you will be ignored or rejected. Just keep on keeping on. Find every opportunity to network. Volunteer while you’re looking if you can afford to.

Getting a job that’s not quite what you want but is in an adjacent field is a great way to get your foot in the door.

Act and dress professionally.

I just recently graduated with my B.S. in Biology- Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology. I’ve applied for so many jobs for almost 6 months now. And every job wants many years of experience and/or higher level degrees. I’m just lost and don’t know what to do right now. It kind of feels like I wasted my time in college because nobody will hire me and now with the hiring freeze and Trump admin stuff going on it just seems even more hopeless.

Other than consultancies and field work, is therw anything else?

I’m oddly good at recognizing them and people are very willing to admit the contents to me without any suspicion, is there a customs job or idk, online market item identifier position where I could put this to use? So far I’ve annoyed websites into taking down: a sawfish jaw, a liger rug, chiru antelope horns, a helmeted hornbill skull, and various raptor bird things.

It's getting a bit difficult finding work in the US (particularly in the northeast). Have expanded my search beyond plant ecology, to remediation, comsulting, conservation, among other positions. So now I'm

My question which I hope is applicable to this sub is what is the most prominent limiting factor that that retards the growth of deciduous trees I.E. oaks maples in places that are temperate such as Central Asia western China and Canadian Shield is it mostly low precipitation poor soil or just a combination of these factors ?

To those interested in searching for the Ecological Society of America.

DO NOT quickly and accidentally search the acronym ESA.

You will never stop getting targeted ads for emotional support animals. It will be persistent and endless.

This has been a public service announcement for the world wide web.

Nine months from now, I'll be graduating with my degree in ecology, and I have no idea what to do next. I'm not particularly passionate about anything—not in ecology or any other field. I chose ecology because I liked it more than any other conventional career path, but I can't think of anything within ecology (or outside of it, really) that I feel strongly enough about to devote my life to.

Currently, I live in Colombia, but for personal reasons, I’m looking to move elsewhere (you could say that’s my main goal right now). Pursuing a Master’s degree might be the easiest way to achieve this, but since I’m not passionate about any particular area, I’m hesitant to commit to a path that might not be right for me.

"I’m skilled in GIS, statistics, and I enjoy the analytical and quantitative aspects of ecology, particularly as they relate to landscape ecology. The idea of conservation ecology fascinates me the most within this career, and I find the concept of involving local communities in conservation efforts very interesting. However, I wouldn’t say I’m deeply passionate about these areas either."

At this point, financial stability is my main priority. Since there’s nothing I feel compelled to dedicate my life to, I want to pursue a career that will give me the time and money to enjoy my hobbies. That said, like most people, I wouldn’t want to work a job I hate just because it pays well.

Has anyone here faced a similar situation? What advice would you give? It feels like I’m putting too much pressure on myself, but if I don’t take the next step, I’ll never know what’s right or wrong for me. I’d really appreciate hearing your thoughts—whether it’s program recommendations based on my skills and interests, or insights into your own career paths and why you chose them.

Sorry for the long post, but I think this shows how confused and desperate I feel right now.

this is for my ecology class and this confused me bc half the graph is a limit cycle.