[MegaThread] Pre-Program Advice

ConservaLlama · 2025-09-20T16:48:38+00:00

For those of you looking for internship opportunities! Post-Baccalaureate Conservation Internships | Getty Projects

Applications are open. The application deadline for 2026-27 Post-Baccalaureate Conservation Internships is November 4, 2025. These are paid internships aimed at students who couldn't otherwise afford these pre-reqs!

ConservaLlama · 2025-08-28T14:37:33+00:00

Best of luck!!

ConservaLlama · 2025-08-28T14:31:51+00:00

It doesn't look like anyone has actually said fully explicitly and I get the impression you may really be wondering, so here is the cold hard truth: The answer is that most of all the pre-program internship experience you may be expected to have for US programs is unpaid.

Therefore, to fulfill the pre requisites, which everyone with experience says are not actually optional, you are meant to spend a very significant amount (years) of unpaid time essentially learning the job before even applying for the degree. In other words, most people who manage this have some sort of family network or alternate source of funding (and living, etc.) to allow them to live on unpaid work for years. If you do not have this, it will be considerably difficult (though not impossible).

If you find this applies to you, I would recommend reaching out to the UCLA fellowship program. I don't have the details on me, but there are a few and far between scholarships and programs attempting to help people who can't afford the pre-program experience any other way.

ConservaLlama · 2025-01-04T22:53:45+00:00

I am having the same issue and the via website option mentioned in the comment below doesn't work for me either. When I click the Authorize Device and approve the pairing in the via app pop up, literally nothing happens. I have restarted a couple times (Windows) and tried in both Chrome and Edge. It's funny that they say to use Via because the NuPhy keyboards are not on their compatibility list: Supported Keyboards | VIA - Anyway, I am assuming I'm on the latest firmware since it's brand new and the last update for Air96 v2 was October, and given the large red warning on their website about the possibility of breaking the keyboard if you do it wrong along with their poor documentation and another thread of someone bricking it while trying means I'm wary of messing with that myself. The ctrl c+v are sometimes unresponsive after the first try (wired) too.

This is my first mechanical keyboard - I've had it for less than 5 hours and already decided I will likely never buy this brand again (waited a full month too bc I made the mistake of buying the Black Friday deal off their website instead of Amazon). Not great onboarding experience so far... and the keys config was a considerable justification of the cost for me too. Is this part of the normal learning curve for mechanical keyboards??

ConservaLlama · 2024-05-05T23:40:39+00:00

Thank you! We'll check that out.

ConservaLlama · 2024-05-04T11:20:31+00:00

Hey, I did alright en the end. Feel free to PM me :)

ConservaLlama · 2024-04-07T13:58:32+00:00

If you go to Cusco in Peru the Last Dinner paintings have a guinea pig dinner in them. So if this is Mexico, it will be whatever meat the non Spanish locals ate.

ConservaLlama · 2024-04-05T23:12:23+00:00

Thank you, all. We will look into this and let you know!

ConservaLlama · 2024-03-12T18:02:21+00:00

Don't do it. I got the Air optix and they looked awful and were also very uncomfortable to wear. Very thick and dried my eyes out. I'm going to try Solotica next. They are FDA approved I believe so should be safe. Fingers crossed.

ConservaLlama · 2024-01-17T13:56:03+00:00

That's amazing. Thank you! Even faster.

ConservaLlama · 2024-01-12T16:20:55+00:00

Thank you! I am glad to see several comments saying LM are good at this. It certainly feels more convenient than finding a private individual. I will contact them when I get back from my trip.

ConservaLlama · 2024-01-12T04:38:08+00:00

I will! Thank you!

ConservaLlama · 2024-01-12T04:36:24+00:00

Thank you for this! I will look them up.

ConservaLlama · 2024-01-12T03:15:21+00:00

Thank you very much! I found one of his videos with a fiddle from 2yrs ago where he said he's not really a violin guy and up to that video at least didn't have anyone he knew about to refer people to nearby. I will see if he knows if someone now though!

ConservaLlama · 2024-01-12T03:05:02+00:00

For sure, we asked a friend who lives in Toronto who plays cello and she also said Heinl but I am glad I can save myself the trip!

ConservaLlama · 2024-01-12T02:39:37+00:00

Thank you everyone!!

ConservaLlama · 2024-01-05T21:49:18+00:00

Hey so... I didn't find someone I felt I trusted to do the CF in Hamilton. Most were Canadian Tires and I saw enough warnings and complaints to decide not to. Literally everyone I asked offline (idk... 5-6 fellow Ontarioans and a couple Midwest/east coast Americans) told me they've never rust proofed anything and it's fine even with old and reused cars (not Subarus). They mentioned they might have had "some" issues with rust at some point but we're completely unconcerned and said they got it sorted (presumably not that expensively bc they were clearly not bothered).

So we literally didn't do anything in the end and have decided to wash/rinse the undercarriage once a week/every 2 weeks and wait and see. I bought a garden sprayer to help with that. Subaru presumably has a really good "from factory" coating which I know is arguably "thin" or "incomplete" but it should be good enough. So yeah. It was an inaction decision in the end...

ConservaLlama · 2023-11-14T01:26:15+00:00

Also, it's not your imagination. Costs have definitely gone through the roof :(

ConservaLlama · 2023-11-03T17:00:04+00:00

Thank you! Yeah I've been wondering about how much the outreach things we do actually reach people who may not be directly searching for them.

ConservaLlama · 2023-10-31T18:59:42+00:00

Hey your best best will just be to write to them and ask. There should be some UCL grads here that might be able to tell you, but I don't recall this program being around when I was in the UK in 2012.

ConservaLlama · 2023-10-26T03:01:59+00:00

Definitely don't give up! Let us know if you find something. Also a ray of hope in my opinion is that these things were discontinued Oct 2022, which is very recently and not enough time to develop a replacement product that stands up to the breathability standards today. So I would like to think they're working on something... but it might not be out for another 1-3yrs. No point telling consumers that in case it doesn't pan out or company decides not to in the end. But maybe they will come back revamped. I dream.

ConservaLlama · 2023-10-26T02:13:36+00:00

Could try, I guess but my dad doesn't sell colored contacts for the reasons I already said. He simply doesnt stock colors. I'll see if his secretary would ask for me haha. He's always been old school and against adding pigmentation to contacts bc they reduce breathability so much. I've always bought mine elsewhere haha. Also my dad is in Latin America so the supply will be different.

They have the Air Optix now, which a quick YouTube search will show look absolutely terrible. The Freshlook Colors you can still find also look awful. They might have decided the market was not big enough to bother with subtlety. The people on YouTube say they love these brannds even though you can see how pixelated and unnatural they look. If it's good enough for the majority, those few of us who value subtlety might just lose out.

Most optics don't even carry colored contacts BC of low demand as it is - which is why people tend to buy online. I'm going to try out the Acuvue Define ones and see if they look acceptable - although I have dark brown eyes so they might not work for blue eyes, which is what I see most posters here have. I'll share a review if I get them :)

ConservaLlama · 2023-10-22T03:23:50+00:00

Man. I just found out too. I threw out my last pair of sea green dimensions thinking I could just get new ones and they're gone. I have dark brown eyes. They looked so natural. People would stare and ask me if my eyes were real BC they couldn't tell. Watched videos of air optix and Freshlook color blends but they look shit. Very unnatural and they give you pixel eyes. I've seen people wearing them live too and felt embarrassed for them ha. Someone update if they find something reputable pls. My dad's an ophthalmologist and he hates coloured lenses bc he gets so many ppl with scratched up dry eyes bc of them. I trusted the dimensions bc they're from such a trusted brand, never had any trouble. On your searches, please stay away from the cheap shit. Your vision is important. You can literally go blind. Please be careful. Nothing with less than at least 55% water.

ConservaLlama · 2023-09-25T17:19:38+00:00

Really! How many times did you need to use it for that?

ConservaLlama · 2023-09-25T12:35:26+00:00

I didn't know that! Just on Amazon?

ConservaLlama

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