Actually, a lot of federal seasonal jobs already closed. But all the state jobs are getting flown soon.

Higher education and student advisors must be really letting their students down, because I swear every day I see another "I graduate tomorrow, should I apply for jobs" post. It's killing me!

Undergrads, the best thing you can do to set yourself up for success upon graduation is work NOW. Doesn't matter what year of school you are in, you need to be working seasonal gigs in the summer. Your school mandated internship is not enough, and since your advisors aren't telling you apparently I feel the need to. Resume building should not wait until graduation looms, if you want to set yourself up for success you need to get started now.

State jobs usually start getting posted around February. Don't wait until April.

some examples to prove my point, large ecological topics influenced by parasites include:

Competitive exclusion of species (deer example)

Deer and Moose (elk and caribou, too), have nearly no overlap in their distributions, this is not so much do to complete niche exclusion, no its actually because a parasite of deer which is benign in white tail deer, causes fatal paralysis in Moose, elk and caribou. so the larger animals are excluded from deer.

https://www.saskatchewan.ca/residents/environment-public-health-and-safety/wildlife-issues/fish-and-wildlife-diseases/brainworm-or-moose-sickness#:~:text=Brainworm%20does%20not%20affect%20white,subsequent%20death%20of%20the%20animal.

population cycles (red grouse)

In Red Grouse (ground bird), these birds are known to have highly fluctuating population cycles that are cyclic, with strong population years followed by low population years which is then followed by high population years. well these birds are known to be infected conistently with a nematode worm. So researchers did an experiment in which bird were dewormed, and they found that the intensity of population cycles (peaks and troughs of population density) were proportional to parasite deworming intensity. They observed that the fewer parasites the less oscillations in population density, to the point that the population level stayed nearly consistent ( no oscillation) in heavily treated hosts ( fewest worms)

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.282.5397.2256#:~:text=Red%20grouse%20populations%20in%20Britain,reducing%20parasite%20burdens%20in%20grouse.

allowance for coexistence of species with niche (lizards)

on many Caribbean islands there are two species of anolis lizard, now these lizard have high competition due to limited resources. Now one species(call it A) is significantly more fit, and without outside forces will always outcompete species B. however, species A is highly susceptible to Malaria parasites, in that where as B is not. so some of these islands have lizard malaria, and on these island both species coexist, however on islands without malaria, Species B is not present because it is out competed.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00317262

These are just a few of the large examples there are countless smaller scale examples of really cool dynamics. i think parasites are a great way to learn about an ecosystem as you are forced to learn about the host/hosts biology, the behavior and the interconnectedness of species through unseen transmission between different hosts

yes, i am the mod of r/Parasitology

Does someone have this book "Why big Fierce Animals Are Rare: An Ecologist's Perspective" wrote by Paul Colinvaux in ebook or pdf format? It is impossible to find it on the web, even under payment.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/vultures-prevent-tens-of-millions-of-metric-tons-of-carbon-emissions-each-year/

I couldn't comprehend this. We, as humans, are doing the same thing, right? We consume carbon and release it through breathing, defecation, or dying. In the end, it goes back to the earth. So, what’s so different about vultures? I would agree with you if their population keeps growing. What do you think?

I work for a small non-for-profit environmental organization that does monthly water quality sampling with a YSI meter. We use a 30ft long cable as some of the sites we access are from high suspension bridges and so the long cord allows us to sample safely without having to climb down anywhere. My issue is the cord keeps on becoming damaged and needs replacing (which is expensive!) We tried using the YSI cable wrap to keep it tidy between sampling but it seems to cause kinks in the cable especially near the hand held device causing the readings to be come skewed. What are other people doing to keep their YSI cables organized without causing damage to the cord?

https://www.reading.ac.uk/news/2024/Research-News/Reading-researchers-demonstrate-power-of-practical-conservation

I am doing my thesis on UK biodiversity and would love to talk to ecologists to gain insights. Hmu if anybody’s interested:)

What are the most common causes of wildfires that have been discovered so far?

So far I have applied the very few Summer internships that have paid internships and provide housing and I might as well go for everything all at once. Any websites that are providing internships over the summer for me and other people who are also looking for summer internships?

Hello, colleagues. I am studying for a bachelor's degree in ecology and engineering. I wonder if there will be a sharp increase in demand for ecology and nature specialists, since we, as a humanity, are reaching a dead end in the current global situation. Ecology has never been my passion, but I have a feeling that now it is a need, not just a desire

I'm a grad student in a forest ecology lab and had a niche question. Our lab does some pretty intense field work over the summer, and our food budget is tight. I wanted to try reach out to a few snack companies and see if they were interested in sponsoring the lab, sending free food (protein bars, candy, etc) in exchange for repping the brand (maybe hats, or shirts or something). Does anyone know if this crosses any lines? I'll obviously be clearing this with the lab PI before sending anything out to companies.

Hi! Im a freshman in college, 18f, and want to work with conservation corps this summer. Any advice or recs?

Hey!

I'm an ecology phd candidate that has, due to health concerns, stalled out with my statistical analyses. I am facing down a deadline, and while my committee no longer has the time/interest to provide support, they have given me the OK to obtain help elsewhere (consulting, etc.). All the methods are embarrassingly basic - frequentist, inference-based, using one form of linear regression or another. I've cleaned the data and coded out the majority of the analysis in R but I stumble when I try to understand the gaps I'm missing (either with assumption violation and next steps).

I'm going to pay and offer authorship as fits the required level of support but am interested in advice on best ways to go about looking for stats folks that would fit this description? I'm primarily looking for relatively recent MS/PhD graduates or even folks that are still in school that could help, want some cash and another pub to add to their cv. I've searched online, reached out to friends and am considering going to other nearby Uni's and posting an ad on departmental community boards.

I know this sounds ridiculous and pathetic, especially for someone who should be achieving at the graduate level, but the health issues have made life incredibly difficult at the moment. I'm ashamed and embarrassed about it but it's gotten to where I need to accept/pay for help or accept that I will have to walk away from years of work, research, and grad school. I can take tough love/constructive criticism but would prefer not get rinsed for a condition most people don't understand.

I really appreciate the advice!

Doing my thesis on biodiversity offset and multispecies thinking . Looking to connect with people from ecology background:) hmu if interested.

I have ALWAYS wanted to "save the earth" as 6 year old me would have said it. So, now as a 25 year old trying to co back to school, I have 4 prospective majors and I need to narrow it down.

They are: Ecology, Environmental Science, Conservation Biology, and Environmental Biology.

I love Ecology, but I'm not sure what aspect of it I'd prefer or if I should keep it general in Ecology. Originally, my plans were Conservation law/Wildlife conservation.

I am not amazing at math in the standards of US education, it takes me a bit to figure out more than public school would help with if that counts for anything. Just looking for advice/tips/testimonials before I pick a major and a college (also accepting online college reccomendations!!)

Hello, in my country there is hunting tourism for certain animal species. Sometimes it is said to be for nature conservation purposes. The most common ones I come across are herbivorous species like deer and mountain goats and they are usually old and male. People argue that this is good for nature because the old males prevent the young males from reproducing and the population is endangered because reporduction ability of old males is weak.This doesn't seem right to me. If I list my reasons:

1- I remember a study, I think it was a genetic study in deer, and it was concluded that males outside the herd could find chance to reproduce despite the older males in the herd. Even if I remember it wrong, I don't think that older males can completely prevent young males from reproducing.

2- Aren't older males important for genetic diversity because they have more mutations in their sperm?

3- If young males have the chance to reproduce freely, they will spend more time than they should chasing females, fighting, breeding and will not be able to store enough fat for the winter. Isn't the presence of older males important for young males to survive the winter?

(p.s. also posted on r/conservation) Hi! I am a senior in college with a biology major, a GIS minor, and lab experience! I want to be a plant biologist for the NPS, USFS, or BLM one day. I So far I have worked as a biology tutor and lab assistant for 3 years and participated in leadership roles in our biology association. I have also spent my summer working for a conservation corps to build early career experience on public lands.

I am planning what I want to do next summer and am interviewing for several different types of jobs. Some examples are a crew lead for the Rocky Mountain Conservancy, a plant ecology technician for the University of Oregon, a wilderness ranger fellowship, and I am also waiting to hear back about hopefully getting an interview with some GS-3/GS-4 seasonal positions with the NPS and BLM. Should I go into the technician world, continue my journey in the corps, or dip my toe into a governmental seasonal position. What job would be the smartest to take if offered in y'alls opinion?

I want to travel and meet more like minded people interested in conservation but also gain more contacts and skills in the public land management world! I also want to work fun, outdoor, memorable jobs while I am single and young but not waste my time. I plan on eventually getting my masters after doing fieldwork for a few seasons and just would like some more opinions on what experiences are worthwhile. Thank you!

What do you think are the most important ecological fields nowadays? And also in the future which ones will dominate?

I recently graduated with a b.s. in chemistry. I was never really that into chemistry, but the school I was attending didn't have another option I was interested in, and I couldn't transfer for financial reasons.

I've always had a passion for ecology, and I was wondering if there's a possibility of going into a master's program in ecology with a background in chemistry.

Also, I do still love chemistry, is there a branch of ecology that uses a lot of chemistry?

Hi! I run an online non-profit organization focused on animal cognition and conservation. We have members internationally (aged 13-22) that contribute to podcasts, articles and blogs and we also host local events as well.

My question is, does anyone have any tips on how we can grow our social media presence and where we can share our nonprofit org? Our page has 1.1k followers on Instagram, but I would like to organically grow it more, so I would like to find how I can find the students to share it with. Any FB/Reddit groups or any other community group recs would also be very appreciated!

Thank you <3

Hi there! I was hoping to find any fire ecologists who got into wildland fire fighting to begin with? I'm currently in undergrad with a decent job to cover tuition costs, but it has nothing to do with my career goals. WFF, due to the labor shortage, would allow me to get a foot in the door.

Any thoughts and opinions would be great. Thank-you!

Hi all,

I have a BS in environmental science. I am almost 40 and have been a PM in major pharma for a while now. I work from home and it’s fine, but i would love to apply what im doing currently but for the ecology field with maybe some mix of field work. I’m 40 and I don’t see myself being able to be in the field as much as when I was in my 20’s.

Is this attainable? Would this be a very hard transition to even find?