It is a fact that the U.S. is producing many more PhDs each year than there are academic positions to accommodate. This includes academic positions in research institutions as well as academic positions in liberal arts institutions, community colleges, and other academic institutions. Gone are the days when an “alternative career path” meant finding a job at a teaching-focused institution instead of a research-focused institution. This means students need to be preparing for many career options, starting as early as possible. This presentation will focus on my personal career journey as an ecosystem ecologist. I have worked at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, been an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science and Technology Policy fellow, been a contractor for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), been an Assistant Research Scientist and an Associate Research Professor at the University of Maryland, and am now Director of Science for the MD/DC Chapter of the Nature Conservancy. I will provide advice based on my experience and examples from discussions with other colleagues.
Results/Conclusions
For those still in school or in a postdoc, it is useful to consider options for additional training beyond research skills that will facilitate finding a job such as policy fellowships, on camera training, and additional communications training. There are lots of fellowship opportunities including the AAAS one, the Sea Grant fellowship, and ORISE fellowships, to name a few. There are also opportunities to do research in a government agency such as NOAA. There are also a great deal of opportunities to do important research or apply scientific research skills in other positions in non-profits, think tanks, and industry. In order to be successful in these opportunities, it is critical to develop skills beyond the traditional research skills acquired in grad school and this presentation will cover some of these opportunities and suggest ways to build these additional skills.