In the era of information explosion, Ecology is increasingly becoming a data-intensive science. In Ecology, the cornerstone of data collection has been field and lab observations at small-scale or short-term by individuals or small teams of researchers3. Within the past decade the culture and basis of ecological data has changed rapidly. Data analytical skills and computational tools, such programming, have become increasingly critical in ecological research. However, it is still unclear how this trend will affect the job market of early career ecologists who are not traditionally trained with computer programming7. The data culture shift in Ecology suggests that the nature of ecological jobs could have fundamentally changed with implications for how we should train our students. But has a shift occurred? Here we analyzed the skill sets for advertised PhD and Postdoc positions in ecology and quantified the demands of programming skills for those positions over time.
Results/Conclusions
We analyzed over 20,000 job descriptions posted on ecolog listserv between 2006-2018. We found that the percentage of positions require programming skills has steadily increased overtime. Importantly, the demand for programming skills has doubled in 2018 compared to that of 2006. There is no indication that the increase in need for programming and data skills has slowed or will slow anytime soon. The doubled demand in programming skills in the job market not only deserves broad attention, but also provides the foundations for actions to address this increasing need. Early career ecologists should be aware of the shifted expectations in skill sets and the form of work. The training of the desired skillets should be implemented in the education system of colleges and universities. The field of ecology needs to shoulder the responsibility of training the skill sets of ecoinformatics that are demanded by our science. In the face of emerging environmental issues and the rise of big data, the demand in programming skills and data literacy will undoubtedly continue to increase. Therefore, changes in the current ecological education that emphasizes foundations of data science will guarantee that ecological science can address the pressing societal and academic needs in the future.