"You do what?": An Introduction of Sorts

I know that becoming a biologist is not the most popular career choice for people. In fact, most people probably have (on average) less than one in their family, and/or do not even know one within their 6 degrees of separation. According to a survey published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in May 2012 here are the 10 most-common jobs in America.

Obviously, biologists are not high on the list. However, they are also not the lowest on the list either.

According to StudentScholarships.org (and I am unsure of where they acquired this number) there are 20,000 zoologists and wildlife biologists in the U.S. If we were to then look at the numbers of biologists separated by gender, as UK researchers Kirkup et al. did in 2010, we would find that only 15% of UK biology professors are female. At this point you may be thinking that the odds do not seem to be forever in my favor. And you would be correct. Forbes listed getting a M.Sc. degree in Biology (which I proudly obtained this past August) as the fifth worst M.S. degree for jobs in 2012. And let's not even begin to talk about how underfunded the general sciences, space and technology departments are by the U.S. government (keep in mind, even if you are governmentally funded you can say goodbye to your research freedom). 

Today, more and more researchers are turning to "crowdfunding" sites such as, gofundme or kickstarter, as alternative ways to raise the funds they need to get the research they want to conduct done. Because when it comes down to it, 

the majority of biologists are passionate 

about what they do. 

Even I had toyed with the idea of putting up a table at the front door of the science department and selling cupcakes to raise money for my unfunded M.Sc. project (I mean, it worked with lemonade when I was a kid. Not to mention, my cupcakes are 100% better than any lemonade I could offer you). In the end, my project luckily didn't require the cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars as some projects do. I was able to bribe undergraduates with muffins to help me check rodent traps at dawn, and I scrounged around the other departments borrowing supplies so that I could save the money I did receive from grants for gas and other equipment. Granted, these aren't even extreme degrees that one could go to, but I don't know of any nurses that need to think that perhaps having a bake sale would help them get the necessary supplies in their doctor's office. 

The undergraduates that I will be forever indebted to!

When people learn I am a biologist, I am usually asked, "so, what do you do?" Well, didn't I just tell you? I am a biologist. Just kidding, I don't blame them. I don't think there is another degree where you can have so many options laid out in front of you (here are just 82 possible career choices you can have with a degree in Biology). As this may seem fortunate to some, it is also daunting for people like me who have a hard time making a decision on what they want to have for dinner (when in doubt, Velveeta shells, in case you were wondering). In simple terms, I would consider myself a behavioral ecologist, meaning I study the behaviors of animals in order to understand them better, which will ultimately allow me to better conserve them in the future. If I have my choice for the rest of my career, my research will focus on raptors. 

No, not this kind.

These kinds.

I started down my career path by completing a M.Sc. degree at Arkansas State University, where my thesis was about the foraging behaviors and decision-making strategies of Red-tailed Hawks and American Kestrels that spent their winters in N.E. Arkansas. While presenting my research at a conference at the Peregrine Fund I met Dr. Keith Bildstein who told me about a project he was looking for a PhD student for. He said it involved a type of falcon called the Striated Caracara, at that moment I was pretty much sold. Finding a project that is funded and deals with raptors (that aren't the nation's patriotic symbol) is not the easiest of tasks. He then told me they were found in the Falkland Islands. I nodded politely, smiled really big, and said I was interested. Truth be told, I had never even heard of the Falklands. I will be the first to admit that I am not the best at geography, but I wasn't going to tell him that. I then went to the bathroom, opened up google maps on my phone, typed in "Falkland Islands", and waited for what seemed to be eternity for that little map to zoom out and down to where Antarctica was starting to peek up from the bottom of the screen.  

What did I just sign up for?

However, the promise of researching a near-threatened falcon that little is known about was too enticing to pass up.  Plus, being told that these raptors are unlike any that I have ever encountered interested me immensely.  Long story short, I completed my thesis in July, and in August I was on the first plane of many to the Falklands to meet these charismatic birds. Since this entry is already longer than I anticipated, here is a link to a short recap of my first trip to the islands. And here is a link to a photobook I made documenting it (although, seeing it in person is better).