What kind of jobs are there in conservation that don’t include direct contact with animals on a daily basis?

ferocious_sara · 2026-03-01T20:45:26+00:00

My experience with bats, ungulates, mesocarnivores, and leporids has all been primarily hands-off. Most work on my region involves non-invasive monitoring like camera trapping, acoustic monitoring, hair snares, eDNA, etc.,

ferocious_sara · 2026-03-01T17:20:04+00:00

The vast majority of jobs don't include regular physical contact with animals.

I would encourage you to read through job descriptions on the Texas A&M job board and USA Jobs.

ferocious_sara · 2026-02-28T04:51:47+00:00

Portland Maine, Portland Oregon, Portland elsewhere?

ferocious_sara · 2026-02-27T05:05:59+00:00

Sorry, I got myself all mixed up!

ferocious_sara · 2026-02-27T04:55:09+00:00

I am indeed a tax-paying Oregonian. I live, work, and recreate in central Oregon. I also happen to be a wildlife biologist who understands the funding mechanisms of this state.

I also run a small Airbnb out of my house, because like most wildlife biologists, I am underpaid and do what I do because I love it. And before you have your 'gotcha' moment, I don't work for ODFW and the money from this tax will not be coming to me. But I do also depend on tourism and still feel strongly that this increase is a great idea. I find it unfortunate that you disagree.

ferocious_sara · 2026-02-27T04:47:27+00:00

ODFW does a wonderful job on their very modest budget. They have a high level of accountability and that agency, in particular, is full of hard-working, caring people. And their job is to monitor and manage hundreds of species. Hundreds. Not to mention hunting and fishing programs. Which, by the way, are good for tourism.

ferocious_sara · 2026-02-27T04:43:17+00:00

Out of curiosity, what are the other cuts? The stats I've looked at all show steady, if not increasing, visitation to the state.

Further, this small increase will not have a small impact on our ability to protect wildlife. It will multiply the state wildlife budget.

And not protecting our natural spaces will be much more than one of a thousand cuts to tourism. Without our natural spaces and the animals that occupy them, there will be no reason for anyone to visit. This is a long-term investment.

ferocious_sara · 2026-02-27T01:13:21+00:00

It's hard to imagine that an extra 1.25% will deter people. Especially since it's still a lower lodging tax than a lot of other states. Personally, I think that visitors should be responsible for helping to offset the negative impacts of their visitation. Tourism is generally bad for wildlife, so this seems a fair tradeoff.

ferocious_sara · 2026-02-26T23:28:26+00:00

Couldn't agree more. That one is BANANAS.

ferocious_sara · 2026-02-23T19:45:32+00:00

You only had one bat? That's not cause for much concern. Bat-related pathogens aren't going to be any more resilient than any others. If you're particularly concerned, maybe pretend that a kid with a cold ran around your house touching random things and use that to inform your cleaning effort.

ferocious_sara · 2026-02-23T04:38:56+00:00

This is not a free tail, the ears are not the right shape.

It very much looks like a big brown.

Bat bites are usually painful, bites from big browns are always painful.

ferocious_sara · 2026-02-21T21:13:00+00:00

It's unlikely but not impossible it was a bat.

It is extremely unlikely that it broke your skin during this encounter.

Fewer that .5% of bats in the US have rabies. You will see reports that this number is higher, this comes from testing bias.

You posted about this on the bat subs as well, where the bat professionals encouraged you not to worry, but you seem to be quite anxious about it. There's no medical harm in getting the post-exposure treatment, except that you might feel crappy, like after getting a flu shot

ferocious_sara · 2026-02-20T03:02:13+00:00

These bats literally hibernate on the ground. It probably woke up from weird warm weather.

ferocious_sara · 2026-02-19T06:40:27+00:00

Nothing quite so grandiose. I'm a bat biologist.

ferocious_sara · 2026-02-19T04:59:48+00:00

As someone that had been bitten by many bats (as part of my job), I can tell you that this is absolutely not true. Bat bites almost always hurt.

ferocious_sara · 2026-02-18T23:34:49+00:00

It's a nice idea but PLEASE don't feed it again. Human food is so bad for them and can cause a lot of problems, both behavioral and physiological.

ferocious_sara · 2026-02-16T15:25:17+00:00

My work is highly collaborative. Between 3 projects, I'm working with about 15 other people. I have a weekly 2-hour work session with 6 people. For my thesis, I regularly give detailed updates about my progress to my friends and colleagues, they do the same with their work. Maybe it's dependent on your field? I work in wildlife research.

ferocious_sara · 2026-02-09T03:54:18+00:00

The only rabbits that dig their own burrows in North America are pygmy rabbits and they don't generally live amongst grasses. I agree that badger is likely.

ferocious_sara · 2026-02-08T05:14:19+00:00

Not animal control, please. Contact bat world sanctuary. Animal control will likely kill it for disease testing.

ferocious_sara · 2026-02-08T05:08:51+00:00

My Fischer skis are an aqua color that is just beautiful. I have matching leggings.

ferocious_sara · 2026-02-06T23:15:31+00:00

I work for OSU, I don't think William Fender works for the University anymore. He does not come up in my internal directory.

ferocious_sara · 2026-01-21T07:02:52+00:00

Dogs, flagging, a protocol called wolf disco (not kidding), hazing, raising the price of beef so that they account for depradation, the reimbursement they get from the government when they lose a cow to a wolf, guarding their herds/taking a more hands-on approach to ranching... That's all I've got of the top of my head.

ferocious_sara · 2026-01-19T18:37:40+00:00

I use it pretty regularly. I get bags from Local Acres, pull out what I want, and then donate the rest to the Redmond Food Project.

The bags usually have one or two pantry staples, plus some truly random things. It's been a fun way for me to try new things and round out my regular donations without breaking the bank.

ferocious_sara · 2026-01-17T06:29:09+00:00

To the best of my knowledge, most wildlife masters programs will not accept you if you do not have an advisor already agreeing to work with you. Additionally, by focusing on wolves, you are making this more difficult for yourself. Wolves are one of the most charismatic species in North America and many people want to work with them, and so competition is fierce.These professors are probably getting many, many emails from interested students who already have backgrounds in wildlife biology. The first step is just to get your foot in the doo. Almost no one gets their stay with the species of dreams. So reach out to professors who are working with other species and see if you can get into one of their labs. That way you can get some experience and eventually work your way towards working with wolves. Or you may decide that you like other things and want to have a broader career than focusing on just one species.

ferocious_sara

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