I recently moved into academia after spending 15 years working for non-profit and state government. I have been on many search committees for both permanent positions and seasonal positions. So, I may have a somewhat unique perspective on this question. Without a doubt, in order of importance, the four skills considered most are:
1) Excellent writing skills (not necessarily technical writing) 2) Working knowledge and experience in GIS 3) Field experience (not just an occasional lab but rigorous outdoor experience) even if the current position in question is not primarily field oriented. 4) Proficiency in basic statistics (i.e., able to interpret results presented in papers even if the precise statistical methods are unknown) Number 3 has become increasingly more difficult to find. For students with only a BS, that experience is obtained through seasonal field jobs after graduation. In fact, I can't recall a single situation where we hired a permanent employee at an entry level position that came directly from an undergraduate degree program without some type of professional field experience outside of academia. Even graduate students often must obtain field experience via seasonal jobs before landing a permanent position. I think that shows our universities are generally doing a poor job preparing students for careers in ecology outside of academia. Also, it's far more likely to find a student that can explain ecological processes on African savannas than a student that can describe local ecosystems and natural communities. Two more comments: Ecological modeling is of very little or no interest yet many recent graduates I have interviewed emphasize that experience. Finally, the degree or concentration area is the least important (e. g., wildlife biology vs. ecology vs. environmental science vs. natural resource management). The specific degree program is of little interest - or inconsequential -- if the student possesses skills 1 - 4 above. Of course, this is my personal experience and I'm sure others might disagree with my list. Christopher Heckscher Delaware State University ________________________________________ From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news [ecolo...@listserv.umd.edu] On Behalf Of Aimee Phillippi [aphilli...@unity.edu] Sent: Friday, November 12, 2010 7:14 AM To: ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] what makes a biology program good? Being at a school that is currently revising its biology program, I'm interested in folks' opinions on this. I'm especially interested in perspectives on Malcolm's first list item. Specifically, what coursework and/or curricular experiences have people seen that best prepare students for moving into "good" biology-related jobs. ________________________________________ From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news [ecolo...@listserv.umd.edu] On Behalf Of malcolm McCallum [malcolm.mccal...@herpconbio.org] Sent: Thursday, November 11, 2010 10:16 PM To: ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] what makes a biology program good? I didn't really have anything specific in mind regarding what you listed. In fact, though most general bio programs are divided up in tracts of the programs you listed. I guess I wasn't really looking at specialized programs when I posed the question but graduate or undergraduate, generalized or specialized should not really matter all that much. I hear all of the time people say "That school has a good program" or "that school's program is weak." But really, what makes it good vs weak? I felt it basically boiled down to the following, but wanted to see if others had different or refined views: 1) Coursework is sufficiently rigorous for students to move on into good jobs or postgraduate study. 2) students leaving the program succeed in later pursuits. 3) faculty are trained in the subjects they teach 4) courses have sufficient facilities and resources to be effective 5) courses from other disciplines (chemistry/physics/math, &c) provide suffienct depth for biologists. This is just off the top of my head and pretty open-ended. Malcolm
