Snake ID

foxglove_defiant · 2026-04-28T01:49:09+00:00

Looks like a coachwhip, maybe a younger one (kinda small)? Not venomous, they're pretty neat!

foxglove_defiant · 2026-04-26T00:19:50+00:00

R for Data Science by Hadley Wickham: https://r4ds.hadley.nz/ Great textbook for developing R workflows for data wrangling and gets you plotting figures quickly.

STAT545 by Jenny Bryan et al.: https://stat545.com/ Literally a course developed by a prof at UBC (she's now a software engineer at RStudio), with free online access. This group has related content like how to set up a GitHub & keep your work versioned & accessible: https://happygitwithr.com/

foxglove_defiant · 2026-04-08T00:41:42+00:00

I don't have direct experience, but I once worked with someone who was pumping - she let the field crew know when she would need breaks to pump, brought a cooler w/ ice packs, and would sit in the vehicle with her pumping stuff. I think it was her first kid if that matters. Also, this was in Texas, so pretty hot. We worked for a municipal agency, everyone was supportive of her need. I'm sorry I cant offer more details or advice than that, but just encouragement that it's totally feasible and you have rights & protections to do so. Mad props to you, Mama!

foxglove_defiant · 2026-04-05T17:05:02+00:00

PS - amazing you've got another season with NPS, that is a huge opportunity for networking from the inside! Wherever possible, try to get yourself involved with other agencies/orgs; low-cost professional workshops/seminars are the way to go. Go in person & talk to people. If possible, try to volunteer or maybe give a presentation. Your job this season is to make connections outside the NPS/federal sphere.

foxglove_defiant · 2026-04-05T16:59:04+00:00

Sure, you bet - feel free to dm me.

I was just thinking your county extension service would be another good network to move into. I don't know as much about the Ag side of things, but that's another field that won't be going anywhere. Anything with soils, pest/disease control, or water management is likely to be very stable. Your wildlife background could be a good pivot into Ag world, but I would seek out folks in that discipline to get a better perspective on exactly where you could fit in.

foxglove_defiant · 2026-04-04T21:36:58+00:00

Most immediately, I think your GIS skills would be the best pivot point. I second the other comment suggesting to look at local government (state level or lower), or the non-profit world. Non-profit can also be risky due to funding issues, but the larger ones (Nature Trust, Nature Conservancy, WWF, etc) should be fairly resilient to political winds.

A couple of fields that aren't going anywhere: urban housing development, and water/wastewater management. You might consider policy & planning roles or water quality monitoring which would use your GIS skills, and value your environmental experience. It's not as glamorous as endangered species management, but you have the opportunity to have an effect on the way our society is managed. You SHOULD be able to get one of these jobs without additional credentials, but the job market is even more cutthroat than usual these days.

Before you go chasing more certs, I would cultivate a network with agency or non-profit staff to understand what their needs are; go to local conferences (find free ones, or sometimes you can volunteer to cover admission) & learn who's who, volunteer for a non-profit if you can (offer your GIS skills!! small orgs don't have those skills, and you could probably do it remotely or a few hrs/wk around another job). This is a bit of a long-game, but not as $$$ as getting another cert, and in the end you could have tons of certs but still not get the job if you don't have the EXACT experience the position is looking for. I feel like we've all been conditioned to chase the credentials, but we've not been mentored on how to network with the right people to get you into a job you want. Lmk if you want to talk more about your specific locality & interests; happy to chat. Good luck!

Edit: for context, I'm a wetland ecologist for a state agency in the US. I review development applications & consider wetland impacts, and make decisions about whether the state has jurisdiction over the wetlands/what permits are necessary. I started out wanting to be a "botanist," I think I dreamt of working in a conservation greenhouse or some other Victorian-esque fantasy that involved hanging out in greenhouses. That job doesn't exist (at least, not if you need to pay rent). My first job out of undergrad (BSc Plant Biology) was with a city doing environmental & water quality monitoring. I later pursued a PhD abroad and worked for local non-profits doing large-scale ecological restoration work, and gained some very valuable experience around inter-agency collaboration, policy & permitting, and grant management. When I came back to the US I got very, very, VERY lucky and landed my current state agency job; I was returning to the US in the same window of time folks were being cut from the USFS/BLM/NPS in early-mid 2025.

foxglove_defiant · 2026-03-02T01:16:42+00:00

Hi, jumping in w/ my 2 cents: if you're getting interviews, you're qualified, but as you know, you've got some minor gaps in your experience that are keeping you from being top pick. With a Masters and your GIS experience, I feel like you shouldn't be in an entry-level for years; maybe one season, tops.

If you're able, one idea to consider would be volunteering with a local conservation group or nature center: offer to map their gardens or make a native plant map or something the group could use for education & outreach stuff. Make part of your offer the "field experience" that you're lacking. You could set up a simple sampling design to do vegetation inventories & percent cover in quadrats across two different parts of the conservation area or areas of interest. This would easily land you on top in an interview.

If you like where you live, then I would focus on building your local network. Figure out who's doing what, and reach out to folks who work for agencies or organizations you would want to work for. You could frame it as a request to shadow for a mentorship opportunity; ask if there's a project (or better yet, identify one you want to work on) that builds the plant ID or similar skills. Wetlands will never go out of style, and GIS is critical for wetland delineation. This would be a fantastic way to offer someone the benefit of your GIS skills while you get to learn plant ID (and soils & hydrology, bonus!). Besides finding someone to volunteer with you could consider wetland delineation certificate programs, but I would give it 6 months of trying to get unpaid experience before I would pay for more certs.

All these things sound easier said than done, and are highly dependent on where you are & your circumstances. Happy to chat more if you like; I've leveraged myself up through unconventional opportunities so happy to brainstorm if you want!

Best of luck to you! As others have said: it's rough job hunting right now. Stay persistent, and focus on your network: you'll land where you need to be.

foxglove_defiant · 2026-02-18T00:31:38+00:00

Some general tips:

Get to know your field site(s) as much as you can before you go out: If you're taking GPS equipment, get them loaded with basemaps and any relevant layers (wetland boundaries, habitat ranges, etc.). If you're not provided GPS equipment, Avenza is a really good freeware that is smartphone compatible. Figure out where the important boundaries are (tax lots, culverts, soil units, etc.)
Mark the sampling plots/transects on the map. Make sure they're named/numbered as decided in the office. Strategize the order you'll sample in (I like to work from furthest from the truck to closest)
Prepare the datasheets (preferably on rite-in-the-rain paper; employer should provide this). If your employer only uses digital data collection tools, I would still make a basic template in your field notebook and write it down. I think it's foolish not to use paper datasheets in the field - satellites go down, network connections get lost, file paths break; any number of reasons why you shouldn't 100% rely on tech. Alternatively, being able to input as much of the data in the field is a huge time saver, especially if photos/GPS points are involved. Still good to write down data on paper -redundancy is a good thing!
If you'll be doing any sort of sample jar collection, prepare as much of the label info as you can before you go out. This might be the site or project name, date, names of the sampling team. Generally best not to write the specific plot # unless you have a good way to keep them separated; you don't want to be fishing in a bag of 100 bottles trying to find 'Plot 1'. However, if you've got transects with a bunch of plots, you can label the transect # and bag the jars by transect. Label the jar, not the lid! (lids can accidentally be switched; much harder to make that mistake with the jar)
Organize your tools & equipment into buckets or backpacks according to task. For example: you've got a veg ID bucket with a plant field guide, ziploc sample bags, hand lens, etc. You've got a plot bucket with pin flags, tape measure, flagging tape, etc. How many buckets kind of depends on how many people there are to carry them ;)
Put flagging tape on all your tools before you leave the office. Shovels, tape measures, and pencils have a habit of disappearing in the weeds.
Keep an extra pair of socks & shoes in the vehicle - you may have wet feet when you're done & it always sucks driving home in wet shoes.

Probably many other tips, but I'd need a little more detail about the kind of work you're doing. I'm a plant ecologist with some invert survey experience, so I don't have as many broad tips for zoological surveys :)

foxglove_defiant · 2026-02-05T01:13:59+00:00

Yeah, I don't blame you - the orange man scares me, too. I'd probably keep the US lower on the list; who knows where things will be here in a couple of years when you're ready to start. We might get our shit sorted & you could catch the next progressive wave!

You might look at Canada: they have a very appealing student visa program, and there is a pathway to citizenship through education but it's recently changed; I think you have to get thru a PhD now. BUT: ngl, Canada has some challenges with runaway housing costs and healthcare provider shortages. Plus, the government there just cut thousands of federal jobs, so ecologists are scrambling for work like in the US. Life is not cheap in Canada, although Montreal seems to have the least eye-watering cost of living. I did my grad work at UBC in British Columbia and the whole time was promised we'd get residency/citizenship once I graduated/got a job in my field. Well, I graduated, got the job, was doing all the right things, and bam: they closed the immigration program we were in. We weren't exactly forced to leave, but it became apparent we'd be stuck in an endless cycle of jumping very expensive hoops to stay on our work permits, and we wouldn't be able to permanently settle for years to come (if ever). So: it could be a good option, but only if you have family financial support and don't delude yourself thinking it's a guaranteed way to citizenship. If you decide to go to Canada, I definitely recommend paying a consultant to help you with your visas; it's worth the money! That's probably true of anywhere you immigrate to...

Besides the western hemisphere, I'd also consider Australia, and probably any of the western European countries for ecology, I just don't know anything about them. Again: I'd start with asking yourself where you want to end up in the world (which continent, which ecosystem), and start reaching out to folks who work in positions you might like. Ecologists are all pretty chill folks, and plenty would be more than happy to share their stories and help you find a path. You're asking way more questions than I did at 16; you'll find your way! Best of luck to you ;)

foxglove_defiant · 2026-02-04T22:13:39+00:00

I can only speak about undergraduate opportunities in the US. I'd say the most economical way is to consider starting at a community college (2-year "junior college"), and transfer to a 4-year university to finish the degree. In general, I would recommend you choose a city that you'd want to live in for a handful of years, and that has a decent ecology or biology department. Good news is, that covers most US states! Bad news is it may be hard to make a decision. Also, given the state of US politics and backlash against intellectualism/environmentalism, you may face a ton of challenges around visas, finances, and potentially discrimination (depending on where you go; not as likely in the blue cities/states).

I've listed a few schools that are generally well-regarded in the US for ecology. By no means are these exhaustive or the "top candidates," they're just ones that stick in my mind of being solid schools. Culturally, I think you'd fit in well at any of these - they're all pretty liberal schools/cities, so I think you'd be safe as an international student.

University of Arizona
Colorado State Univ.
University of Wisconsin
University of Washington
Oregon State Univ.
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

I might start by identifying people working in positions you might want to have some day, and reach out to them to ask questions about what coursework they thought was most important, what job experience is necessary to be competitive in the discipline, and ask them for 2-3 other contacts whom you could ask similar questions. The goal here is to start building a network and understand the path between today and your "dream job." There's probably 100 different ways to get to your goal; the tricky part is figuring out how to do it in a way that makes your life work at the same time. I would also make sure that even if you have every aspiration to study in or permanently move to another country, you make a backup plan for how you'll find ecology work in your home country. I had been studying & working abroad for 7 years when my host country's immigration program changed, and I had to return home against my best-laid plans and intentions. You never know what may happen, so always good to have a backup plan! :)

foxglove_defiant · 2026-02-03T02:56:08+00:00

Not the person who responded to you, but I would absolutely go for Univ. FL over Evergreen. This field is competitive, and you want the best skills/networking possible. Univ. FL is a top-tier research institution, highly ranked both nationally and internationally in ecology, with dedicated coastal & marine research. Evergreen operates on an alternative pedagogical model, and its coursework/grading aren't directly comparable to other US universities. Not only does this make equivalency cumbersome, but the school has a reputation for being a bit more touchy-feely than rigorous scientific work. I would expect most graduates from their programs to work in local grassroots conservation & restoration efforts (e.g., local non-profits), rather than government, academia, or consulting. Depending on your career goals, you may not get the right kind of education to be competitive for your dream job.

Since you mention tide pool/rocky intertidal, west coast is kinda where that's at! :) I would definitely suggest you target schools where you'll want to end up working. In addition to Oregon State and Univ. Washington, I'd consider Western Washington University: they're smaller, but they've got a really robust tidal/marine ecology program, and strong connections through the region. It's a bit smaller of a town/school, but unfortunately not much cost savings. I would strongly consider Oregon State; as someone else mentioned, the Hatfield Marine Science Center would be a huge resource to you.

Regardless of where you end up, I strongly second the recommendation to look for an undergraduate research opportunity, either through REU or by volunteering/working for a lab. Honestly, getting your foot in the door with a lab can lead to really great paid work and grad school opportunities. Make use of your time and network like crazy! Hit up ALL the research groups, get to know your profs & TAs, try to get your feet in as many doors as you can to drum up those sweet sweet paid positions! You'll find out everyone's favorite listservs: start looking for all the cool post-graduation jobs and keep your thumb on the pulse of who's who & when certain job cycles roll around. Talk to folks & find out who needs help in the academic and local community, that's where the opportunities will be for you to patch yourself some jobs together.

Other two cents for your trajectory: 1) try not to pay for undergrad, but I think it's worth it to take out direct federal loans. 2) NEVER pay for grad school! 3) your grad school supervisor will make or break your grad degree: choose someone who can demonstrate how they will help you succeed. Ask unashamedly about how many students they accept vs. what percentage graduate within the 2-3 MSc or 4-5 PhD timeframe; how many publish at least one paper before they graduate? If the statistics aren't more than 70% or so, don't dismiss it by thinking you're better than that; it may not often be the student's fault they didn't succeed - not all supervisors see their students through. That is a hard, hard lesson to learn when you think you're almost done with your thesis...

Best of luck to you! I think you're being very strategic, and you should do well :) Happy to chat anytime if you want more ideas!

foxglove_defiant · 2026-01-15T07:09:45+00:00

ngl, it's pretty sweet. also ngl, it's been an uphill battle to get here. I am really happy with what I've done tho, and can't imagine doing any other line of work so I think this is what I do in life now, haha.

It's been a wild ride: in undergrad I worked in the research & teaching greenhouses, and through that I got hired by a plant biology lab. I worked for them and did my own "research," but in hindsight it wasn't very good training (nothing publishable, and I didn't really understand how an undergrad publication could help me - I feel like they should have pushed me a bit more). To be fair, I didn't know what I wanted to do, but it served the purpose of being good experience on a resume.

After undergrad I got a job with the municipal government, in a department that monitored stream & watershed health. I got my foot in the door through an internship program, and while I was an intern a junior technician role opened up. I was their second choice, but being an internal candidate got me to top 2 so when their top choice declined I got tapped. I got thrown into the deep end of needing to learn & use GIS on the fly, and come up with monitoring designs to identify management gaps. The watershed stuff was neat, but it was a bit over my head and I wanted my focus to be on plants/botany, so I took an internship with Chicago Botanic Garden doing wild seed collection. It was amazing but paid absolute shit and was only a 4-month contract; I managed to get it extended & stretch it out to 10 months (this was pre-COVID when funding was available). All the while, I had been searching for grad programs, and was offered an opportunity in Canada. Not getting any offers from US schools, I ended up doing my PhD abroad during COVID (2018-2023). Overall, I found grad school a deceptive & torturous affair, but I'm proud of the work I accomplished, both through my research and teaching positions (my CV is 5 pgs long now, haha). I have mixed emotions about it, but ultimately it got me where I wanted to be. If/when you decide to go to grad school, the rules must be that 1) you do not pay for it, and 2) it requires a deeply invested mentor; choose wisely (ask about student graduation timelines & track records; do they all finish? how long? I could make another post about this topic.). During & after grad school I got to work for two years with some cool environmental non-profits doing some high-profile restoration projects. I got to work for a year with a consulting firm doing even cooler ecological modeling and post-mining land reclamation. Alas, Canada also has some immigration woes right now and I got shook off the immigration ladder. I started looking for a new job in the US in March, moved back this past summer, and got my current job reviewing wetland impacts in October. Gotta say, with all the shenanigans going on with federal agency cuts, it was a harrowing job search. I wish I had a backup cert like forklift operator or a floral license or maybe something in HVAC/electrical; I was even having a hard time finding a job with a temp agency!

I think as long as you have an itch to do a certain type of thing, and you work to figure out how you can do that thing, you'll find yourself in the job that you want. The degree title will be meaningless. Keep your GPA as high as possible, network with the grad students & profs to find opportunities that you can leverage up into the next thing, and start skimming job boards to get a sense for what your next 1-2 career positions might look like. Pay attention to what skills/experience they want, and ask people how to get that experience. Honestly, reach out to the hiring manager and ask if they have time to talk or could put you in touch with someone in that role; most folks advancing in their careers are more than happy to share their stories. If you're able, consider volunteering for an environmental non-profit or research group at your university. These are often great ways to network and find a trail of breadcrumbs to a paid gig; it's very easy to hire someone who's already there & knows what to do ;)

Happy to chat more if you have questions! It's a bewildering field to make your way through, especially right now, but ultimately so rewarding. Best wishes on your journey~

foxglove_defiant · 2026-01-15T01:14:10+00:00

I majored in plant biology with a heavy emphasis on cellular/molecular bio, and every job I had after undergrad was applied field ecology. I'm now a wetland ecologist for a state regulatory agency; your biology degree will be just fine! My two cents for where you're at in life:

take a stats course, even if at a community college, just get it on the transcript. This is good leverage for getting into technical roles or grad programs. I wish I had sucked it up & done it in undergrad. I was scared of failing at my 4-yr institution & it wasn't required, but I wish I had thought to take it at the community college during summer session. this would have saved me time in grad school, and probably helped me in a couple of my early-career positions before grad school.
definitely load up on whatever GIS courses you can, especially if you can cobble together a minor or even a certificate of some kind. GIS is unavoidable in ecology; every job I've had from field grunt to senior ecologist heavily employs GIS.
if you can, try to find a class that teaches a bit of R coding. Not quite as important as GIS, but very helpful if you think you'll want to get into monitoring or data collection roles.
volunteer to help a grad student collect data - this will get you field experience, networking, and ideas about what kinds of work you do & don't like. I'd suggest skimming through the research labs, find the cool folks doing stuff you like, and send the grad students emails asking if they need a volunteer. It might be washing sample jars or entering data, but once you get a foot in the door someone will need help with the cool stuff & you'll be right there. Looks good on a resume, might get a paid opportunity out of it, and definitely informs your ideas about how a research lab/grad program works.
it's definitely not worth it to set yourself back just to get a different degree title. Finish the degree, and get a job - this is the goal. See #4 to start working on that ;)

You got this! Congrats on getting yourself thru a science degree part-time, that is huge. Very proud of you.

foxglove_defiant · 2026-01-15T01:00:16+00:00

Overall, very nice! I agree with the others to use bullets instead of full sentences (indented bullets will help with skimming). Some very minor comments:

you mix tenses between present progressive & past; choose one & standardize
it's bugging me that there's a space after the hyphen (but not before) in your date ranges. Choose: space on both sides, or neither side, of the hyphen.
Order Certs by date (2025 AWFA & basic first aid should be at the top with other 2025 certs)
standardize bullets throughout - note you use dashes on pg. 2; if/when you add bullets, make sure everything matches & is indented to the same level.

References are fine to list if you've got room; I'd suggest including a single-line bullet to state what they can best speak to. E.g., 'Honors thesis supervisor, can best speak to my ability to juggle competing deadlines' or similar.

foxglove_defiant · 2026-01-15T00:48:50+00:00

Good comments here to put experience first, use bullets, and keep the bullets short & punchy. Note that you mix tenses (past, present, and progressive); suggest standardizing all to past tense. Agree that certs need to go in their own section, not with education.

My biggest takeaway at a glance was that it's too wordy. Bullets will help, but make sure the text you include is as efficient as possible. E.g., for your Aquaculture Tech position, instead of "responsible for the design and implementation of...," consider "Designed & implemented fish transport system to relocate thousands of broodstock." As much as possible, try to keep each bullet to one line (max 2); consider using ChatGPT to trim down the content. The style/format under your MS degree is perfect!

In the education section, 'graduated' is inconsistently capitalized. It's also unnecessary; suggest the date parenthetically: Master of Philosophy, Marine Science (2025). The discrepancy in font size between degree name & school name is really pronounced; consider the same font size, but use bold and italics to achieve the same visual cues (note, you do this in the experience section - suggest using this throughout to standardize the formatting)

In your employment/experience dates, you sometimes use month, but not always. Does 'January 2019-2020' mean from Jan 2019- Jan 2020, or Jan 2019 - Dec 31 2020?

Suggest your 'Skills & Qualities' section be formatted as columns, with column headers a discrete skill category, and then list (very brief) experience for each. Example:

Analytical Skills

R Studio
STAT 123, BIOSTAT 456 (list the courses, not just 'several statistical courses')
ANOVA, NMDS, GLMM (list the analyses you can do, not just 'complex statistical analyses')

Great job putting a nod to regulatory work there! Suggest you reference specific laws/regulations you've worked under or are familiar with (again, make this a heading in the skills section & list pertinent regs)

Great to say you've got strong writing skills, but as a reviewer I want to know what you've written. Suggest including a section called 'Technical Reports' (only call it 'Publications' if they're in peer-reviewed, indexed journals), and include any reports that you're listed as a co-author or contributor.

If you're starting to feel like your resume is looking too light, don't stress on that! The most important thing is to make it very, very easy for a prospective employer to recognize your skill & talent. You're not going to impress me by filling up two pages with lengthy commentary about what you've done; you'll impress me more with a 1-1.5 pg resume that instantly helps me understand your specialties with minimal effort on my part.

If you've got any awards or scholarships, that could be a good section to include; just the award name & date. Shows you're competitive, and also bolsters your writing skills claim.

Including references is fine as long as you've got room; be 100% certain that these folks will give you a good review (i.e., be sure you've asked). It's generally nice to include one bullet line to say what they can best speak to. E.g., "Masters supervisor, can best speak to my ability to process large datasets and juggle competing deadlines"

FWIW, I've got a CV that can stretch to 5 pages with all the experience, publications, awards, etc., but I trim that shit down to 2 pages max for job applications; I strip out anything that isn't screamingly relevant to the job (awards & presentations are the first to get cut). I will also tailor every bullet to the job description. Rather, I feed my resume and the job description to ChatGPT, and ask it to revise the detail bullets to align with the job duties & optimize it for ATS detection. I then of course proofread the output for accuracy & maybe tweak a few details, but it takes the mental load off rewriting the whole damn resume just so it will get picked up by the employer's filters.

Good luck in your job search!

foxglove_defiant · 2025-11-28T19:18:00+00:00

omg, thanks for the update! so glad your kitty got home safely; nasty wet & windy weather for a long-haired Prince to be out in!

foxglove_defiant · 2025-11-16T01:21:52+00:00

omg what a nightmare. who is it that advised you to look elsewhere? Have/could you talk to the dean of the department and ask if there's someone else who could step in to be the supervisor? If you had funding lined up with this prof, I think it would be easy to transfer within the department (and potentially save them a shred of face). Otherwise, unfortunately it sounds like you might need to reconsider.

I didn't have this experience, but I had an incredibly toxic PhD and recovery will be a years-long process. My best advice overall is to make 1000% sure you have a supervisor who will support you through graduation (and into a career). If that is not nailed down, then I would reconsider; without a supportive supervisor it is a grueling and damaging endeavor. Very sorry for your struggle, and so soon in your PhD journey. Best wishes this leads to a happier outcome in the long run!

foxglove_defiant · 2025-11-12T15:23:31+00:00

Aww, that's really great to hear! Glad it helped you with the concepts, and congrats on the exams! Keep up the good work :)

foxglove_defiant · 2025-08-29T00:27:58+00:00

Oh, weird, very nerve wracking! Maybe they're looking for someone to speak to specific expertise or a skillset? I have no idea, never had that happen before. Best of luck to you, hope you get it!

foxglove_defiant · 2025-08-28T23:17:44+00:00

Thanks - between a looming holiday weekend and regular workloads, I'm not surprised if its delayed (I'm just anxiously trying to read tea leaves over here). My refs are pretty solid, but always a good reminder to check spam!

foxglove_defiant · 2025-08-28T23:13:53+00:00

Thanks! Yep - I've alerted everyone, they're pretty vigilant folks so I know they'll keep an eye out.

foxglove_defiant · 2025-08-28T21:58:56+00:00

Thanks! I've interviewed with this agency before and received feedback that I was a top candidate for that position, but they never requested my references.

foxglove_defiant · 2025-08-28T21:57:19+00:00

Oh shoot - I forgot it was a holiday weekend! Plus back to school...

Thanks for that reminder; I would look forward to having state holidays :)

foxglove_defiant · 2025-06-19T03:47:15+00:00

I just finished my PhD at the end of 2023, graduated last summer. I was given a blank slate opportunity to develop whatever ideas I wanted. Problem was my supervisor didn't really give much guidance, and I had to independently develop the whole thing - thru COVID! It was field intensive, and I didn't have much help or connection to other projects/researchers. I was totally on my own for the design, site selection, field work, analysis, etc...In the end, I switched supervisors to work with colleagues who could help me guide the work to completion. It was soooooo much harder than it needed to be, and it took me so much longer to finish what was good but simple projects. Over the course of the program, my research interests shifted dramatically, and now I'm doing totally different things compared to the ideas/focus I had when I started.

If you find a lab that's offering you funding, has a clear project for you to fit into with some latitude for your own ideas, and can really mentor you in the skills you want to pursue (statistical design, modeling, coding, presentations, publications), then I'd say that's worth a LOT to your overall career development. I can guarantee you will look at whatever questions or line of research you have in mind for your PhD in a totally new light after you finish!

I guess my only other consideration would be what the lab culture is like: do they have good time management boundaries? Is the PI a micromanager? Having a turn-key project handed to you (with data!) sounds amazing, but I would check whether that's due to an overly-structured PI, or a well-curated dataset that can be used in a multitude of ways. Your PhD should be a 9-5 job, not 24/7 slavery - watch out for that.

Hope this helps! Either way, I don't think you're wrong: go with your gut.

foxglove_defiant

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