How can we help connect our members to those opportunities much earlier in their careers? I’ve recently joined the board of directors of a large environmental consulting company, and now have a much better sense of both the opportunities and the challenges of ecological perspectives in this work. But this award languished-due, I think, to our lack of understanding of what constitutes effective science-based decision-making in a for-profit business. I served for several years on the Corporate Award subcommittee, which recognized for-profit businesses that were doing an outstanding job of applying ecological science to their core business activities. This is just one example of how a $5 investment in section membership pays off with tangible links to career exploration and guidance.ĮSA has had a tougher time connecting its members with other careers and industries in the private sector.
ECOTONE CONSULTING FULL
ESA’s Policy Section and the Communication and Engagement Section provide a full lively platform of activities, from training sessions and workshops at the Annual Meeting to online profiles of diverse people flourishing in science communication. Interest in communicating effectively with policymakers and with the broader public has ballooned over recent years, and ESA staff and members have supported that interest. Several ecologist friends of mine have applied their scientific training in these settings, pursuing a passion for real-world impacts. These range from large well-established organizations (e.g., the Nature Conservancy) to very small (such as local environmental education organizations). My own experience with these entities has been primarily as a board member – external to the organization but sufficiently aware of the work being done to assist in organizational support and development. Non-governmental organizations (NGO’s) and non-profits can also provide great opportunities for ecologists. No one on the faculty appeared to have any expertise in environmental consulting or the private sector generally. There was no acknowledgment of any business or project management skills being relevant, and no mention that this might actually be a career opportunity. What opportunities might there have been to explore anything different? In graduate school I did do one short-term consulting job (identifying and mapping wetland vegetation on the site of a construction project my university wished to build), but this was construed as a purely technical exercise. It was those personal contacts and experiences, not any systematic education or mentoring, that gave me some insights into the very different roles, challenges, and rewards of various career tracks. And I’ve collaborated with others in those agencies in pursuing my own (or my students’) research projects on federal lands. Others found research or management jobs with NPS, USFS, USGS, or the BLM. Participants frequently use the award as a springboard to other fellowships such as the NOAA Knauss and AAAS Science and Technology fellowships. McCarter Graduate Student Policy Award as an avenue for students to gain real world policy experience by coming to DC for training and to meet with Members of Congress. But the unspoken assumption was that we were all aimed at tenure-track positions at research universities (ignoring even the diversity of possible educational settings).Ĭolleagues who pursued careers as federal employees sometimes landed there after winning Science and Technology Policy fellowships.
ECOTONE CONSULTING PROFESSIONAL
In reality, a number of my peers did pursue other professional venues, most frequently in federal science agencies.
We benefited from good networking and advising for academia by faculty who were themselves in exactly that career setting. In fact, I was unusually fortunate to gain some actual experience and mentoring in teaching (beyond a simple lab teaching assistantship). My doctoral education several decades ago was typical of the time, focused primarily on research experience. But this narrow perspective no longer serves our current membership, much less the wider spectrum of those working with ecological science and those seeking to apply ecology to their own work. Through much of my own professional life, anything outside of college or university settings was labelled an “alternate” career. Like many other life science societies, ESA’s membership has long been dominated by academics. Our ESA members, especially students and early-career professionals, tell us repeatedly how much they value information on possible career paths, including those outside of higher education. Blogpost from ESA President Laura Huenneke
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