Read on Twitter
THREAD: What School Didn't Teach Us
Had a convo with other early-career conservationists, and we came up with a list of lessons and skillsets we learnt through experience, outside of academia, that have also been essential for our work in bio!
#ScienceTwitter #scicomm #wildlife
Had a convo with other early-career conservationists, and we came up with a list of lessons and skillsets we learnt through experience, outside of academia, that have also been essential for our work in bio!
#ScienceTwitter #scicomm #wildlife
Networking is key -think outside job boards. Reach out to individuals who have the jobs you want, or a similar career path, or touch base with organizations and build connections that could lead to future work - Gabi Fleury, @fleurygs
Cold emailing doesn’t always reap rewards, but it can! Just sending a small email about how much you liked someone’s paper or think their work is interesting can lead to some really helpful connections....
....not always in regards to jobs but also in regards to providing helpful information about topics, who to look at for certain research projects, and where to learn skills useful for said projects - Lila Afifi, @LilaAfifi
When you’re researching a specific topic, search the keywords on Twitter as well as on your academic search engine - authors often tweet summaries of their papers, which can help you decide if they’re relevant to your work, and connect with people working in the same area.
Ask questions! It doesn’t come off as annoying as you think it does. Admitting you don’t know, but would like to know, is never a bad thing - Brooke Locascio @secretlyrainbow
What less-traditional skill sets are good for conservationists to know?
Diplomacy, communication with lay-people, public speaking
Graphic design
Grant writing
Coding - especially R, Python
Diplomacy, communication with lay-people, public speaking
Graphic design
Grant writing
Coding - especially R, Python
Conflict management
Program management
Cooperation/Multi-Person Coordination
Driving (manual car), basic car mechanics
How to troubleshoot and fix old mechanical/electronic devices
Program management
Cooperation/Multi-Person Coordination
Driving (manual car), basic car mechanics
How to troubleshoot and fix old mechanical/electronic devices
Speaking with Landowners about projects/conservation
Fundraising
Budgeting (etc. for equipment and travel).
Fundraising
Budgeting (etc. for equipment and travel).
Conservation biology is such a broad field, and there's so much that goes into it, and so many ways to break in and learn. As fantastic as formal education and traditional career advice is, it's always good to be able to think outside the box to forge your own path!
