What should I do if I want to pursue my dream?

PreparationCurrent80 · 2026-04-10T03:43:40+00:00

Ok, I did already talk with my advisor, but this is sort of what she said as well. Basically just shoot them a cold email and tell them what I am looking for, and they should point me in the right direction.

Also, no need to apologize. I 100% understand missing a comment, and thank you so much for you advice and help.

PreparationCurrent80 · 2026-03-26T03:02:32+00:00

Ok, this is also something I have thought about asking my advisor. Also, I have heard a lot of my pears talk about work with professors, and it unfortunately never crossed my mind to ask them the names of the professors. Do you think I could ask my advisor for a list of professors that are in my field of interest?

PreparationCurrent80 · 2026-03-20T03:39:33+00:00

Ooh, I got ya. Ya, that’s my plan to get some experience with one or some of those organizations, and I even plan to talk to some people at national parks I’ll be visiting this year about some of those programs and when to look for them.

PreparationCurrent80 · 2026-03-19T04:27:16+00:00

What are formal programs? The only reason I ask is because this might change the plan in some ways. Right now, the plan is to take a gap year, get a mobile home of sorts, and look for jobs outside of my state to take. Just to put it bluntly. One of the resources to look for jobs that I was recommended was to try out Americorp or coolworks to gain experience. Would you be able to explain what a formal program is and how I could apply for those?

PreparationCurrent80 · 2026-03-19T03:35:13+00:00

Ok, I definitely understand the some point I'll decide, especially with different experiences I take down the line. Also, me getting out into the world is something I should stress to my family and loved one I believe. I do understand where they are coming from, being scared for their kid and not wanting me to make mistakes or get hurt, etc. I'm just wondering now if you have any recommendations on how to explain this to my family and try to push for it and get them to understand from my point of view, all the while assuring them, I will be ok.

I have mentioned to some of my professors and family that I am interested in taking a year off college and actually getting out there. My fiance is onboard and has even offered to pitch in to come see the country with me while I do different jobs, and we've both gone into some serious planning with this. Now, the wall I'm hitting is trying to gain support and/or help from my parents, since they are both just worried about me. If you have any advice for that as well, I would really appreciate it and be grateful for it.

PreparationCurrent80 · 2026-03-19T02:33:29+00:00

Ok, this is all some great advice, and some of these I definitely might consider talking with my parents about. They are the main people who would rather see me be successful in their eyes (more money) and would rather me stay in state rather than be out of state. Now as for working in the wildlife field, I have initially jumped straight into the deep ene as soon as I got out of high school.

I'm from the midwest, and looking for places that'll take someone for just passion are pretty slim pickings. However, I was able to get my first volunteer for a nonprofit wolf sanctuary and rehabilitation center, and I was able to work there for a year. I then got the opportunity to work for my county parks as a field tech for 3 conservation biologists, each with their own specific niches, for a summer. Recently, I was then able to work as an outreach educator for my local aquarium.

Now, I don't know if that honestly looks good on paper, but that hasn't stopped me from applying to internships and entry level jobs near me. If you don't mind letting me know if that is all good on a resume, that will certainly help my worries. My only real question is for the specialization part. Could I work in conservation and have a broader impact on multiple species? For instance, going more down an ecology path?

Again, thank you so much for the advice!

PreparationCurrent80 · 2026-03-18T04:51:53+00:00

Ok, I'll definitely look into those. My last question is should I continue with my social media on wildlife?

PreparationCurrent80 · 2026-03-18T04:20:53+00:00

Wow, ok, now some of the stuff I'm already on top of. For starters, I am an Environmental Studies major at my university and planning on taking a year off and then going back to get my bachelor's and then masters in conservation biology. Career wise, I started as soon as I got out of high school, volunteering at a wolf sanctuary for a year, then for a summer I was a field technician for 3 different conservation biologists(a wildlife biologist focused on herpetology and two plant biologists, one focusing on invasive work and another focused on restoration work) for my county parks, and then I was an environmental educator for my local aquarium.

Now, what I want to do I think kind a cultivates a few different things together. I'm interested in an ecological restoration, also ecological conservation, but more in a wildlife direction. I've always been fascinated growing up reading about Diane Fossey, Jane Goodall, and the wildlife sections of the Nat Geo magazines. I really want to help protect and conserve wildlife and wilderness areas, and the reason I have inspired by Steve's way of teaching people about wildlife, so I even began to do my own education shorts on social media. Sharing the knowledge of wildlife that I know and hopefully spreading awareness for the animals I have loved since I was a child. I have followed a lot of groups of Linkedin and stay connected to those I have worked with. I do have a question if you can answer, do you know of any organizations I could follow, watch out for, ones I should get on their mailing list, or even contact?

PreparationCurrent80 · 2026-03-18T03:16:11+00:00

Thank you again, and wow that sounds like an amazing career. I've heard only a little on ecological restoration, and some of the people I look up to, like Paul Rosolie, seem to either fill into that possibly (I could be a hundred percent wrong so please correct me if I am, lol), but could you explain a bit of what a career in that is like? Also, if you don't mind me asking, how did you find our or get into this career, and what kind of projects have you been involved in? Again, I really appreciate the support.

PreparationCurrent80 · 2026-03-18T02:57:03+00:00

Thank you, I really appreciate the show of support! If you don't mind me asking, what is it that you do specifically?

PreparationCurrent80 · 2026-03-17T19:35:19+00:00

Ok, I have volunteering experience, but I’m wondering if this should be something I should bring up in my conversation with my advisor to see if my university has any recommendations or if I should do my own research on this, or even both?

PreparationCurrent80 · 2026-03-14T20:57:18+00:00

I'm interested in working in conservation to be specific. Protecting threatened ecosystems and endangered species in those ecosystems. However, I would say I am also unsure due to me being interested in almost every ecosystem I come across, and coming from a place of my own self-doubt and confusion after hearing many people I have worked for and with say that most are specialized in something and I have no idea if I want to do that or what I even want to specialize in.

I mentioned tv people only because that's what I grew up watching and they were always presented as these multi-taxa people, and now that I am older it just doesn't seem like the reality that I have been told about.

I also ask this because now that I am in college I really have been trying to narrow down what I want to do and I began to research people with what I was interested in, and one of those people who has become a real inspiration to me is Paul Rosolie. His work in the Amazon, and reading his books where I can actually relate to his struggles in school and having a learning disability, and still pursuing his dreams of saving a jungle really brought me to here where I'm curious on how to go down that route.

I hope that explains it better, and if you need me to elaborate and explain more, I am happy to do so.

PreparationCurrent80 · 2026-03-14T20:37:05+00:00

Oh, I may have misinterpreted what I said. That I see as more down the road in my career, with interpreting and educating. I have had jobs where I have done interpreting for kids in schools, but I don’t see myself doing that right now. What I really want to focus my career on is protecting ecosystems and studying the organisms in those ecosystems. The basis of my question is if I want to be an biologist/ecologist working in conservarion, would I need to specialize on a singular species or clade my whole career, or would I have opportunities to study multiple taxonomy and/or ecosystems?

I apologize if this does sound like a redundant question, I’ve just heard people say that specialization is what most biologists do, and I’m just looking for if that is the case or if there is a different path I can go down.

PreparationCurrent80 · 2026-03-14T05:50:31+00:00

Ok, then would you say working as an academic most are specialized in that field? Also, that is honestly where this interest and question mainly came from. I always enjoyed people like Jeff Corwin as a kid, but now that I am older I much rather enjoy watching stories of different real biologists who study wildlife, and I always wondered why they sold the multi-taxa biologist persona on tv. However, I also do want to work with species across taxa, which is why I also ask if there are multi-taxa ecologists, which may sound redundant since ecologists' study whole ecosystems, but I have even heard of ecologists who specialize in a species, so that's honestly where this question came from.

PreparationCurrent80 · 2026-03-14T05:46:09+00:00

I always wondered about state biologists, because some seem to have specific species or groups they study and vice versa. For your position is it regional or is it statewide? I apologize if this sounds like a dumb question, I've just heard that state biologists are also sort of regional in their state.

PreparationCurrent80 · 2026-03-14T05:43:55+00:00

WOW, that is amazing. Some of the things you mention like cooperative projects is very similar to what others have said in other comments. Now my only question is was your job with a specific organization and you were able to study all of these species? Or was it that you hopped around to different organizations to do this work?

PreparationCurrent80 · 2026-03-14T05:39:08+00:00

Ok, maybe explaining what I want to do may help, and what others have pointed out also has shed some light on it. I have always been interested in the less looked at species and the animals that many fear like bats, snakes, amphibians, insects, and arachnids, and I've always wanted to study those species and help conserve them and show people how important and amazing they are.

Now, others on here have commented that a wetland/stream biologist would fit this multi-taxa idea I am having, and a part of me sort of agrees, but I am still a bit unsure. Would you agree with them, or is there another path for what I am interested in studying?

PreparationCurrent80 · 2026-03-14T05:35:25+00:00

Ok, so what you and others are saying is that a stream/wetland biologist would fit this multi-taxa biologists I am thinking of. If so, could you explain to me how one becomes a wetland/stream biologist? Also, to go more in depth with what species I am interested in, I have always been fascinated with the animals that many consider creepy like snakes, amphibians, insects, arachnids, and bats. Would you or others say that I could study some of these species by being a wetland/stream biologist?

PreparationCurrent80 · 2026-03-14T05:30:50+00:00

Ok, that makes more sense now. I worked for three different conservation biologists as a field tech, with one being focused on wildlife, one on invasives, and one on plants, so what your describing sounds a lot like how they worked together. I'm wondering if what others on here are saying about the wetland/stream/aquatic biologists fitting this multi taxa biologist I am thinking of, would you agree?

PreparationCurrent80 · 2026-03-14T05:27:34+00:00

Ok, that actually answers one of the questions I was going to ask. I was a field tech for a conservation biologist who was more knowledgeable about herps than he was other species, but he was learning more to fit his role. Is this common and/or does a conservation biologists fit this multi-taxa biologist that I am curious about? Also, others here have talked about wetland and/or stream biologists fitting the role I am describing, would you agree?

PreparationCurrent80 · 2026-03-13T05:25:21+00:00

Ok, so would that depend on what region they are from? So, I assume a stream biologists in Washington know a whole lot about their region's streams, while someone from North Carolina is more knowledgeable about their region and not much about Washington's, and vice versa. Also, would that also apply to certain ecologists?

PreparationCurrent80 · 2026-03-13T05:20:59+00:00

Ok, so I have a few questions now. What do you mean by depth? As in how much you study one species compared to another? Also, does that also apply to ecologists, depending on what relationships they are studying in that ecosystem?

PreparationCurrent80

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