Saving the Earth as a Career Advice on Becoming a Conservation Professional

Written in an informal and engaging style, Saving the Earth as a Career is an ideal resource for students and professionals pursuing a career in conservation. The book explores the major skills needed to become an effective conservation professional by offering useful advice on a range of topics. Chapters include:

• Is this the right career for you?
• Designing a program of study
• Designing and executing a project
• Attending conferences and making presentations
• Writing papers
• Finding a job
• Making a difference

Saving the Earth as a Career 2e is a friendly, accessible guide with a global perspective for anyone interested in becoming a conservation or environmental professional, and teachers will find this an invaluable resource for university students at all levels.

Malcolm L Hunter is the Libra Professor of Conservation Biology and Professor of Wildlife Ecology at the University of Maine. He is also the former President of the Society for Conservation Biology.

David B Lindenmayer is a Research Professor in Ecology at the Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies at The Australian National University in Canberra, Australia.

Aram J K Calhoun is Associate Professor of Wetland Ecology at the University of Maine, a staff scientist at Maine Audubon Society, and chair of the Student Affairs Committee of the Society for Conservation Biology.

Preface ix

Preface to the second edition xi

Read this road map before you begin xiii

1 Is this the right career for you? 1

What is a conservation professional? 1

Conservation contributors 3

Diverse compensations 6

Location, location, location 8

Your image 10

Talk and experience 11

2 Establishing an undergraduate foundation 14

Universities and degrees 14

Course work 15

Course performance 17

Experiences outside the classroom 18

References 24

Standardized tests 25

Changing course 26

Switching careers 27

Next steps 28

3 Selecting an educational program 30

The key elements: University, topic, degree, and advisor 30

When to begin? 37

Some scenarios 37

4 Applying for admission 46

Making contact 46

Personal essay or letter 49

Initial conversations 50

Application mechanics 50

References 51

Visiting 52

First impressions 54

Interviewing a prospective advisor 55

Interviewing other students 58

Interviewing other faculty 60

Making a decision 60

5 Designing a program of study 62

Your goal 62

A project 64

Course work 65

A balancing act 65

Teaching 67

Internships 68

Comprehensive exam 69

Investing in your department and yourself 70

Extracurricular activities 73

Communicating with your advisor 75

An advisory committee 77

When things go very wrong 79

A final word on work styles 82

6 Designing and executing a project 84

Selecting a topic 84

Setting realistic expectations 85

Framing the problem 87

Writing and presenting a proposal 92

Executing a project 98

Non-completion 111

Writing a thesis or final report 112

Final defense 114

7 Attending conferences and making presentations 116

Which to attend? 116

Conference information 120

Attending talks and other sessions 121

Networking 122

Professional-society activities 124

Presentations 126

8 Writing papers 138

A thesis versus a collection of papers 139

Writing a professional paper 141

Authorship 148

Selecting a journal for your paper 149

Submitting a paper to a journal 152

Your paper comes back from the journal 152

Other kinds of publications 158

9 Finding a job 162

What to seek 162

How to search 165

When to apply 167

How to apply 170

Accepting a job 176

10 Making a difference 179

Savior syndrome 179

Compassion fatigue: The flip side of the savior syndrome 183

Making a difference as a student 184

Making a difference as a conservation professional 188

Life style 193

Conservation ethics 194

Index 199

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