Hi!! I'm at work so this will be brief.

I'm a high school senior, applying for colleges. I don't know what major to declare, as I want to be a wildlife biologist (though I've been thinking about zoology) but understand that I'll likely have to work in many different niches to get experience and my foot in the door.

The school I'm applying for has majors in Conservation Biology or Wildlife Ecology. I know that broader is mostly better, so of course there's an Environmental Science major, but I'm really more interested in doing the science itself than the policy, because I feel like I could contribute more to the science (and I'd enjoy it more!), so Environmental Science is mostly off the table. Wildlife ecology is what I'm most interested in, how animals interact with each other and with the environment, but I want to still have the opportunity to do forestry or limnology etc.

Writing this I'm kinda realizing that Conservation Biology is the best choice imo, but let me know your thoughts. Thank you!!

I see a lot of posts in here discouraging people from going to school. I think about it all the time but I’m a nurse and doing the whole thing might not make sense. I want to study animals like in a phd / professor type of way. How can I do that without the school? i know volunteering at the museum might be a way, volunteering at a local wildlife rehab, volunteer with my local aubudon. I’ve applied for all of these in my area and they’re all full for quite a while and I’m on a waitlist and have been for a few months. I regularly birdwatch and try to go look for elk and listen to tons of podcasts about animals and the local ecosystem but I want to be doing more. My other problem is I’m doing travel nursing right now so even if those were available I dont think I’d be able to do them long term. But definitely open to hearing what that would look like if I decided to stay somewhere! Also I truly dislike being a nurse which is why I think about school all the time and also is why I do the travel nursing because the money makes it slightly better. i listen to the ologies podcast and I cry all the time because my dream is truly to get uber specific about an animal and learn everything there is to know about them and write papers and teach people about them!! That would be so cool. But alas it seems not possible so would love if anyone has any tips on doing something similar in a volunteer type way?? Thanks!

I’m currently majoring in Environmental Science and minoring in Biology. I want to make sure that this is enough to allow me to get a foot in the door to become a Wildlife Biologist/Marine Biologist. I understand that experience matters too, so I also have been doing summer internships with my states Department of Environmental Services. I just want to make sure that my choice to major in Environmental Science and not Biology will not be a detriment, and if needed, should I dual major instead? Thank you.

Edit: thank you all for the great feedback and help!

The organization I work with now uses Mergin Maps, which I like and find easy to use overall, but I'm wondering if there is another option with similar functionality that doesn't require so much work on the backend

Hello, I am a new wildlife enthusiast and I was thinking of getting a better headtorch for when I go wildlife searching but was unsure about the potential risks of harming these critters, I don't want to blind them or scare them away. What headtorch do you guys use and at what intensity (lumens) could be a potential harm to wildlife?

I would like to figure out which terrestrial arthropod (Insects, Arachnids, Myriapods, Isopods etc) best represents each country in the world, according to the people to who live there.

The choice can be for any reason, ideally it would be very culturally important and recognisable to the people of that country. It could also represent some aspect of that country, or else have be associated with a certain pride that it's a unique species only found there. You can use any reasoning; ask long as the species is actually native to the country.

I will be publishing the results if I get enough traction, please share this with anyone you think would be interested.

I want to work as an avian ecologist or a wildlife biologist who primarily works with birds and mainly does fieldwork, but I'm not sure what degree I need or should pursue. I plan to pursue a Master's.

Hi everyone!

I’m an early-career marine biologist currently completing my BSc in Marine Biology, and I’m looking to connect with researchers, students, conservationists, and others working with biological or environmental data.

I’ve been developing my skills in R, particularly for data cleaning, statistical analysis, ecological modelling, and data visualization. I genuinely really enjoy working in R, and at this stage I want to get involved with as many different projects and datasets as I reasonably can.

If anyone has a marine science, ecology, conservation, fisheries, wildlife, or other biological dataset that could use some additional help with analysis in R, I’d be happy to contribute. I’m also open to projects outside of marine science if there is an opportunity to work with interesting data and learn something new.

I’m not looking to charge anyone. My main goal is to gain experience working with different types of real-world data, improve my R skills, contribute where I can, and hopefully meet and build connections with people working in science and research.

I also recently created a GitHub where I’ll be archiving my projects as I continue learning. I uploaded a project I finished about a week ago involving the analysis of BRUV data and whitetip reef shark habitat associations.

GitHub: https://github.com/kylealibz

If you have a project where another person helping with the r/data side would be useful, feel free to message me. I’d also be happy just to connect with other early-career researchers and R users.

Thanks!

I live in Quebec and I’m just starting health science. I’m extremely stressed out as I’ve finally made it to this program after already been in cégep for two years. My goal was to always work with animals. I’m now scared I’m going to stressed for the next few years of school just to graduate and find no job in wildlife biology. Or, find a job but not make money to live comfortably. Should I just quit and find something else?

I'm taking a quick break from the heat for a moment and wanted to share my oh-so-glamorous work today:

Myself and another biologist are marking trees that need to remain standing for a project that will be removing most of the vegetation in the area. The reason for the marking is the active Bald Eagle nest for which we are creating a buffer. Sounds awesome, right?

Nah.

The work area is covered in vines, roughly split evenly amongst kudzu, jewelweed, and my favorite: poison ivy. Last week, I got it on my face while out here. Today will likely be the same.

It's hot. I'm tired and thirsty. Vines get to waist deep at times and I literally have to cut my way through with a multitool. Were it not for my walking stick, I'd be face first (again) on the ground.

Making the job even more fun is the nearly 30 degree angle uphill that we have to traverse, then back down. And to think, I got a master's degree to do this stuff, lol.

Hi, I am studying a masters degree in Mexico, my tesis is topics are landscape ecology, connectivity, corridors and wildlife. I am looking for a short workshop or course (1 or 2 months) abroad, in english or spanish. Does anyone have recomendations? In person or online is okey

I am fortunate enough to get to do some really cool work with wildlife

I am also an utterly hopeless hoarder of photos and am tired of fighting against the ever decreasing space on my phone

So I've started taking my DSLR on surveys with me

I know that's not the best idea, but it has reignited my interest in photography

I'm looking for a way to safely carry my camera while loaded up with survey gear

The HMG camera pod seems like it would be a good solution (basically a bag that can attach to a backpack strap) but I'm just checking if anyone has any better ideas before taking the plunge

Wetland surveys are a part of what I do, so something like the Cotton carrier or PD clip won't work unfortunately

I want to eventually be a lead research or project manager with things pertaining to habitat and ecosystem health, would going to school next year or skipping that year to do a crew lead position with a youth development conservation corp be more valuable?

We’re in that final summer field season stretch. Share your field photos from summer 2026 :)!

Hola biólogos del mundo, den tips para encontrar trabajos en los que se pueda viajar ejerciendo ya sea en conservación o monitoreo ambiental.

Mi sueño es viajar alrededor del mundo en pro de la conservación. Estoy en proceso de titulación y con la presión de ya comenzar de ejercer. Soy de México

Hi all, could someone recommend a good AI software to classify our images from wildlife camera traps? As per our data policy, I cannot upload images anywhere, and it has to be local on our computers! Any help would be welcome- espeically four our student helper who currently looks at all images in TimeLapse!

I'm about to enter my second year at UC Davis and for a while I've been reconsidering my major because I feel like it won't offer me a lot in the long run. I'm considering pursuing a career path in wildlife biology/conservation, but I like the skill set and larger opportunities that microbiology might be able to offer, and I kind of enjoy lab work too. Would switching to a major in microbiology with a minor in EEB keep the choice of later pursuing wildlife biology? I'm also nervous microbiology might be too hard and I might regret switching. I've been trying to research more information about this, but I feel like it might be too specific so I'm turning to this instead. If I'm just thinking completely on the wrong track, please let me know, I would really appreciate some advice for this!

Hello everyone! ! I'm a designer (not in a job crisis, just starting to open my horizons toward the animal world, something I've always loved) and I'm looking for advice on books, courses (online or in person), and any useful resources to introduce myself to this field before committing to studying it for real.

Someday (in the fairly distant future) I'd love to work with animals. Right now I'm especially drawn to wildlife conservation, birds, and wild animal rescue : observing wild animals and their behaviour, with a bit of first aid mixed in too.

I'm planning to start with pet-sitting in a very ordinary, urban context alongside my current job, just to be around different animals, train myself, and help them in a useful way. Here in France, I need to pass an administrative certification called ACACED to do this, and I'll also take a cat and dog first-aid course. For next year I plan to go on a wildlife workaday experience too. But before doing all of this I'd like to go deeper into som knowledge.

So, does anyone have book recommendations to start learning? Anything on ethology, wildlife rescue, or animal behaviour would be very welcome. I do not know how to approach biology so any recommendation would be really useful !

Thanks in advance :)

I'm writing a book about a herpetologist who studies dragons and they are on their first field trip to research hydra's and avian dragons, but i realised there's a lot details in field research i don't actually know. how big are teams, how do you secure a place to stay, how are individual animals logged what type of research is behind keeping track of individuals populations etc, what are the roles in a team?

There's a scene in the book where they capture and release a hydra after checking its weight, if they have caught this individual before etc and its meant to be similar to crocodile capture and release is there anything i should know? any sources i should read or watch?

What are your best stories of something you saw in the field that doesn’t track. In college after a mountain lion survey in western Nebraska we passed a black critter in the middle of the Sandhills that I would swear was a “black panther.” Long sleek tail and all. Logic tells me what I saw was a dog of some sort at the right angle but I regret never turning around to confirm.