Ecology Career Paths - a Snapshot

I got my first job as a field technician in 1994.  I did a lot of really important environmental tasks, like trapping feral cats and trimming flowers. Now, I manage million dollar ecosystem restoration projects for a small nonprofit organization.  Instead of explaining how the heck that happened, I thought I'd provide a cross-section for you new grads - a cross-section of myself, and also an amazing bunch of people I worked with at one time, several years ago, at Ducks Unlimited.  Let's see where they came from, and where they ended up (as of 2012). Remember that we were all high school students.  All college students.  Many of us emerged from college to take minimum wage jobs (at the time, $3.25 or $3.50 in some of our cases!).  And by most measures, we have all had successful careers....so far.

Me:
1997: BS, Forestry and Wildlife, Va Tech
1999: MA, Env. Planning, App State U.
1998-2000:  Env. consultant - environmental inventories
2001-2005:  Env. consultant - environmental restoration / mitigation
2005-2009:  Restoration Ecologist, Ducks Unlimited
2009-2012:  Restoration manager, small non-profits

Chris
1992: BS, Wildlife, Penn State
1992-1997: Restoration Technician, local land conservancy
1998-2000: Biologist, consulting firm
2000-2007: Restoration Ecologist, Ducks Unlimited
2007-present: Owner/chief biologist, habitat management company

Scott
1996: AA, Biology.  2008: BS, Wildlife, Penn State
1996-2002: Field technician, local soil conservation district
2002-2009: Restoration Ecologist, Ducks Unlimited
2009-present: Regional Asst. State Conservationist, USDA-NRCS

Spencer
1992: BS, Agriculture. U of Delaware
1992-1998: various field jobs
1998-2005: Restoration Ecologist, Ducks Unlimited
2005-present: Owner/chief biologist, habitat management company


Brian
1995: BS, Biology, SUNY
1997: MS, Fisheries, UVM
1998-2005: fisheries biologist, state of Maine
2005-2008: Restoration Ecologist, Ducks Unlimited
2008-present: Fisheries manager, NOAA lab


Rachel
2004: BS, Env. Science, U of Miami.  
2006: MA, Env. Policy, American U.
2006-2007: Wetland Intern, Ducks Unlimited
2007-2009: Lobbyist, Ducks Unlimited
2009-2011: Lobbyist, regional conservation organization
2012: Lobbyist, National Wildlife Federation


Kathi:
2005: BS, Biology, Penn State
2007: MS, Marine Ecology, UCSD
2007-2008: Wetland Intern, Ducks Unlimited
2008-present: PhD student, Virginia Tech


Nate:
2006: BS, Wildlife, Penn State
2006-2008: Field tech jobs, nationwide
2008-2009: Wetland Intern, Ducks Unlimited
2009-2011: field tech jobs, nationwide
2011-present: env. consultant - endangered species/forest/wetland inventories


Jay:
1994: BS, Wildlife, WVU
1994-1999: technician, local soil conservation district
1999-2008: engineer, local soil conservation district
2008-2012: restoration engineering manager, Ducks Unlimited


Kurt:
2002: BS, Env. Engineering, Penn State
2002-2005: Consulting civil/environmental site engineer
2005-2007: Restoration engineer, Ducks Unlimited
2008-2012: Regional conservation manager, Ducks Unlimited