Over-educated and Underfunded
Weird, wacky and wonderful stories and sketches from biologists in the field.
By Vincent DiringerLeadership in conservation biology is a topic that, while rather taboo, needs to be discussed. Thousands of young people are entering the extremely tight job market every year eager to make a difference, but are left at the whims of a select few individuals in leadership. As this new generation of environmentalists age, can they step up to the challenge of improving leadership in conservation? Or will they burnout even before they get there? This series is meant to open up frank and honest discussions on how to make our workplaces as enjoyable as the wildlife that we work with. I vividly remember being in a meeting discussing the latest round of applicants for a low-paid field internship position, there were applicants from several different backgrounds and from all over the world - one even had a PhD. However management wasn’t too keen on hiring anyone just yet, I was a bit puzzled “Wouldn’t we want to hire someone with experience?” I asked, “The more experience they have, the more money they expect,” one of the directors pointed out, “let's wait and see what other candidates present themselves.” It's a fairly disturbing reality that you’re more likely to be ghosted by a HR rep than last week’s date. Keen on finding additional biologists to fill out our already overworked staff but also trying to work with management’s demands, I pressed them further, “If we don’t want to hire experienced personnel from overseas, why not try and start a grassroots program here - or at least reach out to local institutions so we can see if we can work with more local staff?” Despite being based in South East Asia, our company hadn’t been particularly good at integrating local biologists into our operations, a vast majority of the staff hailed from the United Kingdom and we had very little interaction with local entities. The company’s founder leaned forward in their chair, “No, we’ll wait to see who else applies, there are a lot of internationals looking for work in this sector and they’ll take what they can get,” they paused, “We should gauge interest in whether or not we could make these internships a paid experience, it works for other organizations!” I stared back at them silently, not entirely sure I’d heard them right, they continued, “People are willing to pay for experience. We can do that. Won’t have to worry about paying interns, and I’ve heard how companies in the Caribbean have had to turn down people who offered to pay to work for them. I definitely think this is an option worth looking into.” And that was that. Meeting over. We walked out of the office without even discussing the stack of resumes on the desk or further exploring what a grassroots program could have even looked like. As much as I hated to admit it, the founder was right. When I’d applied for the internship position myself I was six months removed from graduating, I had received an innumerable amount of rejection letters and was set to move back in with my parents with no certainty of ever breaking into the environmental science sector. I was desperate. I was ready to take anything thrown my way, whatever the hours, whatever the pay, just as long as it was experience. A line I had drawn with myself though was not to pay for this experience. While I understood that many NGOs rely on the income from paying volunteers to fund their programmes, I couldn’t justify spending money for experience - it didn’t seem like the ‘right’ thing, it certainly didn’t seem like a very fair concept, and certain entities were definitely going to exploit it. I guess the company I was working for was ready to become one that was going to further exploit the system. And what a system it is. Young graduates unable to find work because their Bachelors aren’t enough to qualify them for entry-level positions. Candidates with several years of professional experience being turned down for not having a sufficient academic level. Scientific projects that do not recognize previous experience and aren’t always supportive of volunteers. Unpaid internships that require an MSc as a minimum requirement. Gatekeeping within academia that denigrates certain majors and does a good job of sweeping inequality issues under the rug. Unless you have the means and network connections to keep yourself in the sector, you very quickly find yourself staring at a brick wall. Is it a surprise that so many young science graduates decide to cut their losses and work in a different field? The deafening silence that serves as a rejection letter from your latest job application isn’t a reflection of you, but one of a job market that is unable to adapt to the 21st century. In what world does an entry-level position need 5 years of experience and a postgraduate degree? Why are NGOs recruiting for an unpaid, uncompensated two day a week assistant role asking for extensive experience in video production, technical writing, project management, a science degree, an ability to come in on short notice and that you live close to the office? How does a company justify an online internship where the applicant has to *pay* a grand per week to participate? When did it become the norm for rejection letters (if they even arrive) to emphasize that no feedback is to be expected? So what can be done? Well, communicate. Science has become such an insular market to crack that the best way to ensure that you or someone you know is able to succeed is to communicate. Share information about projects, companies, interviews, jobs, feedback, potential connections, anything related to the market. Most importantly, share your positive and negative experiences with certain companies, let that be as part of their workforce or as an applicant. Did you fail to qualify for a position but the HR rep sent you a personalized message and was receptive to keeping in contact and providing you with feedback? Tell your network. Were you exchanging messages with a volunteer coordinator and they were overtly dismissive and suddenly ghosted you? Tell your network. The scientific community should be exactly that - a community. We should know better than most that change is faster to take hold when individuals work together. Join networks on social media, create a group chat with other job-seekers, find ways to promote persons, NGOs, and companies that are treating applicants with basic respect and providing interesting opportunities within our field. If we take a united stand to denounce the bad habits that have encrusted themselves across the sector we might be able to ensure a more inclusive, if not more transparent, job market where applicants can have constructive conversations with their prospective employer. Companies exploiting the current model can either adapt or die - evolution at its finest. As this next generation of biologists come to positions of leadership, we should seek to provide opportunities for those coming after us. Unpaid internships and pay-for-experience schemes are increasingly coming under pressure as graduates begin to question the fairness in having your their work being taken with for only compensation a line of text on a resume. Fairness starts with fair wages. Fairness starts with effective communication. Fairness starts with creating a community. Fairness and leadership start with basic human rights. We owe it to ourselves and biologists coming after us to enact change within the job market by either doing it ourselves or by demanding the market adapt. PS: For those wondering, the company I mentioned at the start no longer exists as it once did. I resigned soon after that meeting took place and was quickly replaced by another young biologist happy to be given a chance in the sector. A refusal to adapt to current social work norms and technological advances eventually led a group of senior staff to defect to a competitor offering better conditions, respectable hours, and a safer working environment. Still recoiling from that loss, and plunged into the uncertainty that 2020 has brought upon all of us, the company is struggling to stay afloat. Evolution at its finest. Have you struggled with finding a job in conservation? Share your story with us in the comments below!
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10 Spooky Critters (that you may have never heard about) To Get You In The Halloween Spirit10/27/2020 By Ariana LoehrWe love Halloween. Its a time to celebrate the weird, the disturbing and the unknown (as well as a time to dress up in costume and act like a fool). So to help kick off halloween week, here’s a list of some of our favorite weird, disturbing and fairly unknown wildlife. 1. The Housemouse (Mus musculus) While mice running around your house may seem quite unassuming, mice running around atolls have gone full-on vampire. One threat that albatrosses on atolls face is that mice eat their heads while they sit on their nests. Mice are not native to many of these atolls and were most likely brought to the islands as stowaways on boats. On atolls there isn’t much for the mice to eat, so they turn to chomping on these seabirds. The seabirds are incredibly dedicated to sitting on their nest, and haven't evolved a response to predators, so they just sit and allow themselves to be eaten alive. 2. Hammerhead Flatworm (Bipalium spp.) These little flatworms are decked out in true halloween colors, but that’s not what makes them worthy of making this halloween list. Not only are these flatworms cannibalistic and capable of eating things that are twice their size, they can also cannibalize parts of their body when desperate for food. To top it all off, if you chopped them up into teeny tiny pieces they could sprout a new head and body, making them basically immortal. Now that’s just plain spooky. 3. Vampire Moths (Calyptra spp.) These moths, found throughout Asia, are known for one distinct behavior: drinking blood. Rather than using their long proboscis for drinking up sweet nectar from flowers, these moths use that proboscis to puncture skin and drink blood. Scientists believe that this behavior may have evolved from the ability to puncture fruit in combination with the need to find a source of salt to develop sexual maturity and reproduce! 4. Vampire Frogs (Rhacophorus vampyrus) Unlike the vampire moths, vampire frogs don’t actually drink blood. Instead their name stems from two tiny little teeth that they have as tadpoles that look eerily like fangs. As these tadpoles grow into adult frogs, they lose these fangs, and just look like normal frogs. It is believed that these fangs help the tadpoles to puncture and eat unfertilized frog eggs left by their mothers to help them survive in harsh conditions. 5. Lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) Sea lampreys look like something out of a terrible nightmare. And if you’re a fish, they are something out of a nightmare. Lampreys are notorious for their blood sucking nature, latching on to unsuspecting fish and scraping away at their skin to slurp up their insides. This behavior has given them the most deserved nickname as the ‘sea vampire’. 6. Giant Water Bugs (Lethocerus spp.) At 2 inches long, these insects may not seem very intimidating, but they sit in the throne at the top of their food chain with their spooky way of feeding. These bugs like to lurk in the vegetation of streams waiting for unsuspecting prey. They’ll attack just about anything that moves, from frogs to snakes to even your fingers, and inject them with immobilizing toxins and suck out all of the juices from inside their prey’s bodies. 7. Immortal Jellyfish (Turritopsis dohrnii) In terms of spookiness, immortality is high on the list. While it always seems to be just a thing of fairy tales, these jellyfish have turned immortality into a reality. When they’re starved or struggling to survive, they do not die out as most animals would. Instead, they turn back into a polyp-their first life stage. This transformation allows the jellyfish to create a lifecycle that never ends. *cue dramatic music* 8. Zombie Ant Fungus (Ophiocordyceps spp.) These fungi are known for their ability to zombify insects. By attacking the nervous system, the spores can take control over the muscles of insects, making the victim crawl to a tall vantage point before taking possession over the entire body and shooting its fruiting body through the victim’s exoskeleton. The creepiest part of this fungus, is that the victim can remain alive throughout most of the process. 9. Tongue Eating Louse (Cymothoa spp.) We all know the old adage, ‘cat got your tongue?’, but really we should be asking ‘isopod got your tongue?’ These isopods sneak in through the gills of fish, where they live until adulthood. As adults, the female will latch on to the tongue of the fish host and slurp up the blood from the fish’s tongue until it shrivels and falls off. To make things worse, the fish remains alive and has to put up with these tiny tongue vampires mating in their mouths. 10. Vampire Finch (Geospiza difficilis septentrionalis) We return to another blood drinking animal to end our list of spooky animals. The vampire finch is found in the Galapagos and has evolved to feed off of the blood of blue footed boobies. In times when other food in the islands was scarce, these birds began to feed on the parasites living tucked away in boobie feathers. Eventually, after many years of accidentally nipping some flesh in the hunt for parasites, the birds acquired a taste for the nutrient rich blood as well, giving them their incredibly fitting name.
By Ariana LoehrLeadership in conservation biology is a topic that, while rather taboo, needs to be discussed. Thousands of young people are entering the extremely tight job market every year eager to make a difference, but are left at the whims of a select few individuals in leadership. As this new generation of environmentalists age, can they step up to the challenge of improving leadership in conservation? Or will they burnout even before they get there? This series is meant to open up frank and honest discussions on how to make our workplaces as enjoyable as the wildlife that we work with. “Ah they’re lazy”, ”they’re only driven by money”, ”they won’t last long in the field” are all microaggressions I’ve heard from several of my supervisors regarding their local staff, quickly followed by a stuttered “...besides Iliana she’s one of the good locals around” added in an attempt to save their ass. In all of these instances, my supervisors were not from the country or region in which we worked. They considered themselves highly educated and even politically liberal. After all, they were working to improve the environment, and that’s a good thing, right? But while most people working in conservation have an ultimate goal of doing good for the world, the way that we’re going about it sometimes seems like just another relic of our colonial history. Many conservationists forget that the roots of our industry lie far earlier than John Muir and Alfred Wallace. Long before the grandiose protected wildlife sanctuaries that drove indigenous communities from their lands, were Mayans and Orang Asli alike, regulating farming and industry to ensure that the land could be fruitful for years to come. Yet, when I think back on my environmental science education, we focused only on the words of white male conservationists that hailed from colonial powers in the 19th and 20th centuries. So why have only a select few voices been shared throughout our conservation education? I sat down with naturalist Emma Su and M.Sc. climate, society and economics candidate Ananya Iyer to find out. Both echoed the sentiment that colonialism in conservation had not been discussed in their education in the U.S. and U.K. Ananya shared that “the conversation is near non-existent in the UK. Most of my peers said they never learnt about it in school.” While Ananya’s education was split between the UK, Singapore, The Netherlands and India she mentioned that “In India we learned a lot about how the British helped us...I think celebrating the west prolongs the effects of colonialism. ” Unfortunately for those of us who grew up in the U.S. and U.K. the western ideal of conservation made up most of our education. "Local people are often portrayed as ignorant and in need of “teaching”, but there are many different systems of knowledge" Our textbooks seemed to have missed out thousands of years of indigenous groups managing the land just fine without the help of white men. Instead the idea of the “white savior” coming to fix all environmental woes, continues to be perpetuated. “Conservation groups tend to place blame on local people for the issues such as plastic pollution, shark fishing, or selling turtle eggs” states Emma Su. Often times, what local communities may see as a cultural norm, western conservationists see as a problem, “Local people are often portrayed as ignorant and in need of “teaching”, but there are many different systems of knowledge...local and indigenous people know so much more about their environment than you could ever learn at a university.” This knowledge allowed for humans and nature to thrive side by side using systems of agriculture that were integrated within the ecosystem. The need for isolated and separate places for wildlife only emerged to counter the western led mass production seen today. The way conservation projects are funded adds fuel to the colonial flame. Pay-to-work or volunteer schemes are too often seen as the main source of funding for conservation initiatives abroad. The high fee and lack of income prohibit many locals from joining such work. Conservation projects are typically found in rural communities that are already underserved, and “based on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs if everyone’s basic physiological needs are not satisfied, they are unlikely to spend money on environmental conservation.” noted Ananya. Instead, the only people who can fill these roles come from wealthier western countries. "Conservation needs to be from and for marginalized communities and communities which bear the brunt of environmental degradation" Some may say that volunteering with or donating to environmental groups is the least we in the west can do, especially after destroying much of the land for our goods and food. Ananya thinks it all depends on the particular group, “I think it varies based on what work the organisation is doing. If they are helping countries that are poor, but by empowering their citizens and creating local solutions, I think donating to the organisation is good because it helps give these countries what was taken from them back.” Emma agrees stating “We all need to do research and demand change and accountability. That being said, I think everyone should donate their money directly to local organizations.” The key takeaway here being that as conservationists we need to empower local communities to act in their own best interest in terms of natural resources. Doing this will involve growing our trust in this knowledge and incorporating it into our own work going forward. Another way to push away from colonialism in conservation- seek out projects that put community leaders at the forefront. ”Leadership needs to come from the communities” Emma continues, “Conservation needs to be from and for marginalized communities and communities which bear the brunt of environmental degradation”. If you’re unsure about a particular project, ask yourself these questions: Does the makeup of the organization represent the makeup of the community? Are there any community members in leadership positions? Is there a clear effort to engage with the community through forums or events as opposed to lecturing at or about the community’s problems? By choosing where you direct your time or money you can exercise your voice. For those that are already working in an organization, look for where you can include more local voices. This may be through hiring locals regardless of their formal education, or creating a board comprised of local, indigenous and minority peoples to help advise on policy. Researchers can look through historical documents to even find who used to inhabit the land, and what flora and fauna used to live in the area. Several organizations that I’ve worked with have included blessings or ceremonies from native groups before working at your field site, ensured that employees had regular cultural and language trainings, or even changed their seed mixes to reflect how humans and wildlife had historically used the land. Emma Su has also seen great strides made towards cultural inclusion from the leadership in her workplace, “We are really making an effort to include Native Hawaiian culture into everything we do. My boss is Native Hawaiian and leads culture and language workshops for all incoming staff.” These efforts are still far from perfect, and cannot make up for years of colonial powers taking people away from their land, but it is a start. Going forward, we can pass on more inclusive definitions of conservation to those studying the topic in school. Hopefully in the near future, a community member running a conservation project is no longer a surprise, local knowledge is seen as worthwhile as a college degree, and microaggressions are totally a thing of the past. An additional note from Emma: “Money is power and funding systems to grassroots and local conservation groups is lacking. Almost all conservation problems stem from exploitation in the name of money. This is why I have been volunteering with Key Conservation, an app that is making funding more transparent and direct to the local grassroots sources” Do you know of any organizations that are working to decolonize conservation? What other issues with leadership have you seen in conservation? Let us know in the comments below or get in touch with us today!
What happens when a group of students go hiking in the rainforest for the first time? Sometimes they find themselves in all sorts of predicaments.
Based off a true story provided by Carina Rees By Ariana LoehrLeadership in conservation biology is a topic that, while rather taboo, needs to be discussed. Thousands of young people are entering the extremely tight job market every year eager to make a difference, but are left at the whims of a select few individuals in leadership. As this new generation of environmentalists age, can they step up to the challenge of improving leadership in conservation? Or will they burnout even before they get there? This series is meant to open up frank and honest discussions on how to make our workplaces as enjoyable as the wildlife that we work with. Before the pandemic hit, whilst severely unemployed like most North American biologists during winter, I sat on my parent’s couch scrolling through job boards, linkedin and let’s be honest here, lots of social media. As I scrolled through various conservation related posts, two words kept popping up- “imposter syndrome”. Most of these posts were describing how rampant this issue is in the conservation world. I continued to question, what the hell was happening in conservation biology to cause this syndrome to be so prevalent? For those who may not be familiar, the term “imposter syndrome” was first coined by Suzanne Imes and Pauline Rose Clance in the 1970’s as a way to describe a high achieving individual who “persits in believing they are really not bright and have fooled anyone who thinks otherwise”. Those who suffer from imposter syndrome often enter jobs or education feeling that they only got there by luck, and are really not bright enough to be there. This then encourages the individual to try harder to fit in, achieve more and continue to feel like they haven’t earned their keep. Many of the people I saw posting about their own experiences with this syndrome were young, less than 10 years into their careers in conservation biology. Why were so many young environmentalists, while very eager to make a difference in the world, feeling such a heavy weight of “not being good enough” in conservation? A young naturalist working in a popular national park, Sarah*, felt that the “high barriers to entry and low pay that can contribute to feeling undervalued”. Another young and energetic environmental education professional, Riley*, echoed the sentiment, “I feel undervalued... I’m expected to work for less than minimum wage, less than 10 pounds an hour, just for the opportunity to do something that I love. “When you are bouncing between low-paying temporary jobs it is difficult to see yourself as “successful” Sarah and Riley are the lucky ones in conservation. Both managed to secure paid internships after finishing their undergraduate degrees to help build their experience. They worked up to 16 hours a day in the field studying wildlife, then tackling logistics, contacting partners and managing budgets in the hour or two before falling asleep. All this at a pay more than 3 times lower than the U.S. federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. What’s worse is that these internships did not lead to higher paying positions. In conservation, as with many industries, companies try to keep the staffing costs low by maintaining a revolving door of hiring. On several occasions I’ve entered meetings, excited to share the huge updates of my projects, only to be told I’m “too expensive” to keep on the payroll. “When you are bouncing between low-paying temporary jobs it is difficult to see yourself as 'successful'" states Sarah. By the time many conservationists pay for the advanced degrees to end up in a stable job with a living wage, they’ve spent years battling this feeling of being undervalued. It's no surprise that many find it incredulous to finally get paid for work that they had been told for so many years wasn’t worth anything. It’s these early years of being undervalued that can lead to greater issues of imposter syndrome later on in an individual’s career. Feeling undervalued is not a personal problem. It’s a problem stemming from improper leadership. The leaders in conservation organizations are the people who have the power to make staff feel valued and important. They have the power to choose how much they pay their staff, which is one way to show their appreciation of their employee’s hard work. Another way to show appreciation to staff members is by listening to their ideas, and not taking it as a threat to your own job. The more safe and secure your staff feel, the more creative they will become. This creativity is detrimental for finding new solutions to conservation problems. It could help you expand your program, build partnerships or even provide more funding (look for Leadership in Conservation, vol. III coming soon!). Not only does this help your own financial issues, but it gives young conservationists the confidence needed to branch out and start their own projects. In the end, you will all have more mental capacity to focus on what you’re truly passionate about: protecting wildlife. *names have been changed. How have you dealt with imposter syndrome? What other issues with leadership have you seen in conservation? Let us know in the comments below or get in touch with us today!
There's been some debate amongst our readers about what equipment to bring into the field based on one of our recent posts. So we thought we'd asked a few biologists the question, "what is the most essential piece of equipment for a field biologist to have?", here's what they had to say: 1. "Good boots! You can only go as far as your footwear lets you!" -Vincent Diringer, Biology M.Sc. Candidate, France 2. "A big backpack so you can look and feel like Dora the Explorer" -Emma Su, Park Ranger, U.S.A. 3. "A good wet bag...especially in the tropics!! And like different sizes, one for the phone, or bigger ones for equipment" -Ananya Iyer, Sustainability M.Sc. Candidate, India 4. "Obviously insect repellent, everything else is secondary...and good leech proof shoes" -Sylvia Gan, Wildlife Refuge Volunteer Coordinator, Singapore 5. "A good waterproof headtorch so that you can catch frogs hands-free like a pro." -Connor Butler, Ecology Ph.D. Candidate, U.K. (check out his awesome frog photos on instagram @connor_the_ecologist) 6. "A backpack with a raincover, so that you can protect all your belongings. Oh! And a camera!" -Isabelle Ng, Marine Biology M.Sc. Candidate, Hong Kong (for more cool facts and pictures of marine life check out her instagram @biotography) 7. "A waterproof case for your phone, it's saved me thousands on having to buy new phones. And download the app SEEK for a quick field ID." -Ariana Loehr, Field Biologist, U.S.A. 8. "A big a** bottle of water to stay hydrated all day." -Sophie Webb, Field Biologist, U.K. 9. "A hiking stick that helps you keep your balance in rough terrain and doubles as a makeshift measuring stick in a pinch" -Adam Goh, Biology Teacher, Singapore 10. "An umbrella, and a good camera phone." -Charles Downing, Field Biologist, U.K. Is there anything not listed here that you think should be? Let us know in the comments below!
By Rachel Pringle“The act of musicking establishes in the place where it is happening, a set of relationships, and it is in those relationships that the meaning of the act lies. They are to be found not only between those organized sounds which are conventionally thought of as being the stuff of musical meaning but also between the people who are taking part, in whatever capacity, in the performance” – Small, 1998. As a biologist, it seems natural to love and admire microscopic organisms. One of my favorite things about studying was getting to learn about all the tiny, squirmy, alien-like organisms underneath a microscope that had their own lifestyles and behaviors. Always busy, always fulfilling a purpose, these organisms were unencumbered by my giant watching eye. I found myself loving these creatures, giving the simplest spore a personality. I wondered what it would be like if everyone was able to connect with these tiny animals the way I did in biology class. Would understanding microscopic organisms, accompanied by the realization of how important they are for supporting life on earth, allow humans to forge a new relationship with nature? If it is not possible for everyone to look through a microscope to see the micro-organisms, is it possible to listen to them? As the gateway to human pathos, the idea of relating to microorganisms through music presented an interesting opportunity. Due to microorganism’s lack of anthropomorphic characteristics, it is difficult to invoke feelings of empathy through pure observation; however, could hearing an expression of their life-force make up for this deficiency? To do this, I created the Insentient Choir – a micro-computer which interacts with a collection of fungi and bacteria growing on strawberries. Simply put, the Insentient Choir uses the universal language of music to give bacteria and fungi a voice so that we can relate to them in a new way. "Would understanding microscopic organisms allow humans to forge a new relationship with nature?" The composition of the Insentient Choir includes three differently aged strawberries resulting in one rotten strawberry containing large amounts of fungi, one middle-aged strawberry blossoming with new communities of fungi and bacteria, and one fresh strawberry with a lower amount of microbial activity still retaining its moisture. The device itself utilizes two carbon dioxide sensors and one humidity sensor (the long spindly things) which translate the detection of these chemicals into music. Because bacteria and fungi release carbon dioxide when they breathe – like us – the carbon dioxide sensors measure the “life” growing on the middle-aged and rotten strawberries. Finally, the humidity sensor measures the moisture released from the fresh strawberry – an indication of molding. When exposed to high concentrations of these chemicals, each sensor is programmed to play a certain role in the musical composition – keys, vocals, or the atmospherics. This means that though the device was given a certain criteria of what it should sound like – for example, the first carbon dioxide sensor should sound like keys – the data from the sensors naturally utilized the musical program without human interference. This data gathered from the growing microorganisms in the form of carbon dioxide and humidity measurements is what creates the music heard in the video. The Insentient Choir’s melody is based on the lyrics “there is an entire world in here” generated through the digital vocaloid “Alter-Ego”. These lyrics are repeated throughout the composition at a rate and pitch determined by the fungal and bacterial growth on the middle-aged strawberry. This phrase is used to translate the idea that despite being on a microscopic scale, the population of bacteria and fungi form an entire microcosm - complex and intricate. The Insentient Choir is an effort to use the pre-existing, strong emotional pathways of music in humans to connect deeper with organisms that we rarely think about and that are evolutionarily very distant from humans. It is important for our appreciation of nature that the complexity of these organisms – bacteria, fungi, and plants – is highlighted and recognized on a deep emotional level. The Insentient Choir gives us a glimpse inside the world of microorganisms and indication of their livelihood without a microscope.
Sometimes you end up learning more about human behavior than the wildlife you're studying.
By Vincent DiringerBiology is a fairly broad section of science encompassing everything from the study of cells to cladistics as well as conservation and astronomy. Such a vast multitude of majors also entails a similarly large and varied array of pathways leading towards them. All Paths Lead to Biology is a series by the Broke Biologists delving into the stories of how biologists have arrived to where they are and what drives them. “It started from a really young age, my dad has always loved watching Nat Geo, Discovery Channel, Animal Planet - you name it - and it became a pastime we shared together. He was often at work, and our way of spending time together was to sit on the couch and watch TV together, and as we’d watch these channels he’d teach me things while we’re watching - a lot of the things I know today are because of him,” explains Isabelle Ng, “For example, he is the one that taught me about shark-finning, and that is really what kick-started things for me. I was in about fifth, or sixth grade when he explained to me the issues of shark-finning, and at that point I’d been at banquets and family dinners where it had been served, where I’d eaten it, and I had no idea why it was bad because I was so young. Then one day we watched a show that discussed shark-finning, my dad taught me more about it, and from that point on I vowed I’d never eat it again, and I wanted to push forward that movement. It was really inspiring to see my dad do it too - at family events he’d educate my family on shark-finning, why you shouldn’t eat shark fin soup - it gave me the courage to do it too.” These early interactions were what pushed the 25-year old biologist from Hong Kong towards a life of environmental advocacy. Following on from her childhood experiences, while in high-school Isabelle got involved in an organization in Hong Kong that sought to educate the public on shark finning and ban the consumption of shark fin soup. Her interest in community engagement led her to start an environmental club for her school, enlisting it as an affiliate branch of Greenpeace and landing an internship with the NGO in the process. After years spent organizing beach cleanups, protests, coral reef surveys and promoting environmental rights, Isabelle decided to pursue an undergraduate degree that reflected similar values. “I’d been determined to go to the United States and study at Pitzer College in Claremont, California because they are very into environmental sustainability. I went there with the intention of studying Environmental Science, but I met a professor who recommended to go down the biology path and build up the scientific side first, if I still wanted to go into policy I could do that afterward, it was easier to go from science to policy than the other way around - so I majored in Organismal Biology.” "There is so much more I can do in an environment where I get to interact with the public, disseminating scientific information." Deciding to intern as a lab assistant during her summers, Isabelle found herself working in labs in Hong Kong and California, studying everything from coral reefs to epidemiology. She would graduate with a double major in Organismal Biology & Environmental Policy and would be offered a position as a field biologist in Singapore shortly thereafter. After a little under two years working, she yearned for more and decided to move to Townsville, Australia in order to undertake a Masters in Marine Biology at James Cook University. Now halfway through the program, she is focusing on finishing her postgraduate degree before moving on - but to where? “In terms of future plans… I’m clueless,” she says failing to stifle her laughter, “Well, maybe not clueless, I’m hoping that this Masters degree will bring more clarity for what I want to pursue. When I was young, my plan was to do my undergrad, my Masters, my PhD, then become a professor - I was thirteen. Now… well, I really don’t know. I think it is really easy to get sucked into the education realm once you’re exposed to it, but I feel as though there is just so much more I can do in an environment where I get to interact with the public, disseminating scientific information. I just want to find a balance between doing research, doing what I love, studying what I love, and also finding a way to spread that information to the general public,” she pauses for a bit, “I hope something will come along, or maybe I’ll create my dream job, we’ll see.” Have an interesting biology story to tell? We are always looking for interesting stories and biologists to feature. Contact us in the comments below!
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About the AuthorsThese stories come from several biologists working in the field around the globe. Archives
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