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"How did you get to be a wildlife biologist?" It's a question I hear pretty often in one form or another. Sometimes it's from a kid who only knows I get to work with wild animals, which sounds pretty cool. Other times it's from an adult, perhaps wondering how to escape the cubicle and set off on a new path working for Mother Nature. Like many other fields, a master's degree is becoming increasingly important in Wildlife Biology, but there are more ways than one to follow your dream. Whether you want to save the world, or just advance science a step or two, the system can be short-circuited and you can have a pretty good adventure along the way.

I came about my career through the back door, so to speak, although I admit that I had a pretty good head start because of my background. I grew up with animals, got a B.S. in Animal Science (which is targeted more at farming than wildlife) and somehow ended up as a zookeeper, which is another story. That certainly put me ahead of some of the competition when I decided to change horses in midstream and become a wildlife biologist.

Search the Web
The first challenge is to find out what possibilities are out there. There are a number of free websites that offer current job openings in the environment, wildlife or conservation biology fields. They list full-time, temporary, internship and volunteer opportunities as well as graduate-school positions.  Many of these positions can be found on EcoHearth’s Eco Jobs page.

Perusing the job listings is like a whirlwind trip to the most amazing places: dolphin research in Florida, studying birds in Panama, a PhD scholarship in New Zealand or a wildlife-safari internship in South Africa. For me, it was inspirational to learn that these opportunities exist and I still love to skim the ads, just to see what's going on. The ad that made me jump into wildlife biology was a summer job studying bears in Virginia.

Dream Big, Start Small
The really popular jobs are very competitive. Don't expect to land a full-time job as a wolf-biologist if your experience consists of volunteering at a dog shelter. It may be easier to get a temporary job surveying for prairie chickens in Texas, which would go a long way toward padding your resume. Working with an endangered species is always good experience. Showing that you can manage in rough field conditions—hot, dry, cold, wet, buggy, snake-infested, whatever they are—shows your commitment to the job.

Temporary jobs often offer housing, sometimes food, and a small stipend to pay for incidentals; only a few pay actual wages. You won't get rich in these jobs, but you will learn about being a biologist, see new places and meet interesting people, no matter what position you find. The key here is to get experience, whether you land a job with snails, sparrows, sloths or spider monkeys.

The obvious question at this point is, "What am I supposed to do, just drop my career and head across the country for a temporary job that doesn't pay?" Exactly. In my next post, I'll explain how I did it and offer some advice so you can, too.

Go to Escape the Cubicle for an Eco Career, Part 2

Additional resources:
EcoHearth Eco Jobs Section
Society for Conservation Biology Job Database
Texas A&M Wildlife Department Job Board
The Wildlife Society Career Center
Stop Dodo Job Board
Student Conservation Association Employment Opportunities

Updated 7/3/10; originally posted 4/20/09.

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