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| UCLA undergraduates helping monitor kangaroo rats |
Recently I've been talking to high school students and undergrads who are excited about science but don't really know what their options are in terms of careers or graduate school. Many students think that medical or veterinary school are the only professional options in the sciences, so I figured I could put this out there.
Here in the US, we have quite a few options for higher
education. Typically, after high school, students will go to four years of
college, take classes, and earn a Bachelors degree (an undergraduate degree).
With this diploma you can enter the working world in almost any profession. If
you decide that more education is necessary, the next option is a Masters
degree. In the sciences, this is typically 2 more years and includes both
classes and independent research. If you decide to pursue a Ph.D. (or
doctorate) this is an additional 5+ years of education- mostly independent
research with some classwork required. You can do the Ph.D. after a Masters, or
skip the Masters and go straight to the Ph.D. It depends on what your interests
are, how much experience you have (a Masters program is a great place to get
more research experience), and financial packages.
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| Recent graduate Dalia showing off a rattlesnake rattle during pocket mouse trapping |
A super important fact that not enough students know about-
while you typically pay for your undergraduate education, graduate degrees in
the sciences are often paid for. In fact, they pay you to be a student in the
program! This makes it feasible to spend these extra 5+ years of your life as a
student. You won’t get paid a lot, but you also won’t have to go into huge
amounts of debt. Professional programs, like to become a medical doctor or
veterinarian, are not funded and most students take out loans to cover these.
The expectation is you will make enough money when you start your career to pay
back these loans. In reality, I don’t think I will ever make a ton of money,
but I’m ok with that because I get a lot of satisfaction out of what I do.
However, if I had hundreds of thousands of dollars in loans, this would be a
much tougher field to be in.
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| Spider monkey during the field biology quarter in Nicaragua |
How you spend your years in grad school varies widely across
different fields, schools, departments, and mentors. In almost any program,
grad students spend time working as teaching assistants (TAs) for undergraduate
courses at their university. There is usually a full professor who teaches the
course, but TAs lead discussions, lab sections, grade essays and exams, and
hold office hours for students to drop in and get help. I’ve been really lucky
and got to TA a field biology course in Nicaragua. I helped students design
research projects, collect and analyze data, and present their findings in
written and oral reports. It was a great learning experience for everyone
involved!
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| Presenting my Masters research at an Animal Behavior Society meeting |
There are also classes you have to take, and other ones you
can chose to take to fill in gaps in your knowledge. Mostly grad students spend
time working on their independent research, whether it is field based (like my
Pacific pocket mouse studies are), laboratory based, computer modeling, or some
combination. Almost all scientists spend a significant amount of time preparing
their research results for publication and presenting at meetings- and applying
for grants and other support to fund future research projects.
If you are a student now and are interested in science or
passionate about conservation, it’s always a good idea to start thinking about
what kind of job you would like to have. Find out about the people doing that
job now- did the go to graduate school? What sorts of topics did they study? If
you do think graduate school sounds great, start talking to graduate students.
If you are in college, your TAs are a great resource. Most of us are more than
happy to chat about our path to graduate school. Find out what they majored in,
what kinds of internships and jobs they had before becoming a grad student. It
is also a great idea to start getting research experience.
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| Graduate students Erin and Stacey weigh a pronghorn fawn |
As you gain experience you will also figure out what you
like (and don’t like!) and this will help guide your decisions about grad
school or career paths. Do you love working in a lab? On a computer? In the
field? There are so many different options, the more you know about yourself
the easier it will be to navigate them. Also, getting experience is a big
advantage in applying for MORE experience- and often cooler opportunities!
Again, if you are in college there are often opportunities to assist a
professor or grad student with their research, sometimes for course credit.
Many schools offer field biology quarters, which are much more hands on than
traditional lab courses. Search the web for job boards in a field you are
interested in and browse them regularly. Even if you aren’t qualified or ready
to look for a job yet, it’s a great way to find out what is out there. There
are also often posts for seasonal field assistants. Some of these are unpaid,
but it can be a great way to get some experience. I spent a summer helping
catch pronghorn fawns on the National Bison Range in Montana. I lived in a 1
bedroom cabin with 5 other people and slept on the floor for a month and a
half- but I spent my days in a gorgeous place with fascinating animals. This
certainly doesn’t appeal to everyone, but if it does to you, it’s amazing.
It’s never an easy process figuring out what you want to do
when you grow up, but you can be in a much better position to make those decisions
with a little more knowledge of what is available! I took 3 years between my
Masters and beginning my Ph.D. to really figure out what I wanted to do.
There’s nothing that says you need to know right now where you want to go, and
there is always a way to change your course if you find something new you love.
Graduate school- and research biology- is not an easy path to take. But if you
love what you are doing, it is totally worth it.
