I don't know what to do with my life, careerwise.

[XemaSab]

I got my Bachelor's in Soil Science with a minor in Watershed Management back in 2003. I was originally intending to qualify for federal hydrology jobs, but alas, that extra semester of calculus just didn't quite happen my last semester in school. I've got some additional fun classes like climatology and geography that didn't apply to my degree, but that I took for personal enrichment. I've got to be frank and say that my grades were not all that. I chose a major that I thought would be a challenge, and it was. I worked hard for my degree, but I got a lot of B's and a lot of C's.

I've also been a bit of a birder for a few years, so when I was in school I did summer work as a biologist looking at birdies.

When I gradumacated I got a job as a biologist with an environmental consulting firm. Walking transects and writing reports for housing developers was ultimately soul-sucking, and I left that job after a year and a half.

Two years ago I got a job here in Santa Barbara with a different consulting firm that was much more to my liking. Instead of working for housing developers, we worked on power projects and other infrastructure projects. Unfortunately, I was downsized a couple months ago, and now I am at a crossroads.

Here are my options as I see them:

I could go back to school. I'm interested in exploring more of the technical side of hydrology and geology. I feel like there are holes in my learning, and I'd like to take more math, fluvial processes, minerology, structure, chemistry, and allied sciences. I'd also be interested in taking plant taxonomy ('cause I am teh worst botanist ever (more of which later)) and Spanish (because I am hoping to bird the bejeebus out of teh neotropics in teh next decade). I don't think I could get into a master's program without doing more undergraduate work and building my GPA. But I'm kind of wondering what new doors more schooling would really open.

I could go to work as a soil scientist for the Feds. I'd probably want to be more of a soil conservationist than a soil scientist. However, most of the soil jobs seem to be out in BFE.

My mom's an editor with an environmental consulting firm in Northern California and she could get me a job doing editing there no worries. I don't think I could get a job doing editing anywhere else because I lack experience.

I could just go with the status quo and get a job doing consulting biology.

I sort of hate consulting biology. First of all, I'm really not a biologist. I'm really good at wetland soils and hydrology (two out of three!), but I am hard pressed to identify any plants beyond like, the most basic level. Fir, pine, manzanita, willow, comp, grass, little forby jobber, and so on. I'm an ace birder, but I don't have permits for anything. I don't know shit about mammals, fish, inverts, or herps other than what I've picked up on the job. Therefore, most of what I write feels really half-assed. Which isn't to say that I think I'm doing a worse job than anyone else, I just have the good sense to feel ashamed of the substandard quality of my work.

Also, and I hate to say this, but most of my colleagues have been total dumbshits. I deeply suspect that most of what THEY write is half-assed, but they don't even have the sense to know that what they write is crap.

I just feel like a cog in the bullshit machine. And the worst part about it is working on projects you hate. I've been out to some beautiful rangeland areas that some asshole developer wanted to put 5,000 McMansions on. And you go back to the office and write the report like that's going to be the only development in the area, when you know that there are all kinds of other developments proposed for the next parcel over, and the parcel beyond that one, and the parcel beyond that one. It makes you feel like an enemy of the environment, a poser, and a hypocrite, but it pays the bills.

The argument in favor of working for the enemy is that I feel like I do have some integrity, and maybe it's better to have someone with some integrity doing the work instead of someone who's a total sellout. But maybe I'm kidding myself, and I'm a sellout and I don't know it.

The additional wrinkle here is that I currently live in Santa Barbara, which is SWEET, but the only jobs here are consulting biology jobs. I really don't want to move. :(

So what are my options? Tell me something good here. :shrug:

Also, what do you guys do, and are you happy with it? :shrug:

[Kali]

1. God do we need some more soil conservationists here

not sure what the problem is, no money or no applicants - you could check with Dave Mathews in the Willcox NRCS office. It is kind of BFE, but only an hour or so to Tucson, hotbed of the main liberals in this state hahahhaha

Also BLM seems to have a regular turnover of hydrologists on the San Pedro. We have a little community watershed organization going but of course no money to pay anyone - we work out of a cookie jar, but it would be great for local involvement if you were in the area.

Calculus was my academic downfall. Oh yeah.

[XemaSab]

3. Actually, I have strongly considered applying for jobs in Arizona

Willcox is only, what, an hour from Cave Creek? :D

If I were to get out of Santa Barbara, the Bay Area, Tucson, or Redding would be the ideal places to wind up. Redding being financially advantagious, living with teh mom and all. :)

Looking at the federal jobs site, looks like they need a forestry tech in Saguaro National Park. :crazy:

It also looks like they need a BLM hydrologist in Safford. That might be a little far out there, ya know?

They've got a lot of jobs at the Grand Canyon. I have a friend who works for the park service and she seems pretty cool with it.

So the guy's name in Willcox is Dave Mathews? Awesome... :D

[Kali]

13. yeah - Willcox is a funny little town, still ag-based (unlike most of the state)

Safford - haven't hung there much but it is a pretty conservative area - LOTS of old Mormon influence - Mormon kids from Mexico that didn't make it to BYU going to the Jr college at Thatcher, but a big new mine going into the area will keep the BLM busy for a while, I expect.

An option if you go for the masters that will allow you to consider maintaining a poverty-based lifestyle would be high-school or jr college teaching. We sure need more science based teachers, We won't pay them, but we need 'em.

[liberalhistorian]

2. Xema, not sure what to tell you since I'm right there

with ya in being at that "crossroads" and not know what the hell to do with myself (except I believe I'm older than you, you do have the advantage of youth).

I know you know mike_c (he's a friend of mine, also); what about talking with him and asking what he thinks? He knows what's going on academically in a lot of the fields you're interested in, and would have at least some idea of what would be good for you to do. If you wanted to return to school, he'd probably also have some good advice about that.

[XemaSab]

4. This is a good suggestion.

(checking teh phone) Yup, still got him on the speed dial from last summer. :D

Thanks. :)

[trashcanistanista]

5. Try the County job sites.

I am in Placer County (yeah, I know) but here is something I found that might be interesting with your degree. It is a lot cheaper to live up here and man do we need dems. Maybe a more rural area might be better for a soil scientist. I am a clinical scientist but hate it and am looking to get into horticulture or some other form of agriculture.

http://www.placer.ca.gov/Departments/Personnel/Jobs/Announcements/EHTchlSpcl_2007_08_06.aspx

[malakai2]

6. Several things

Let's start with the biggie...ignoring for a moment the education you would need, what job (specific or a broad class) do you want? I've been a Federal biologist for a bit now, and I'm experiencing the burnout you describe when it comes to fighting forever to save something that diminishes daily. That burnout will not go away over time. If you are feeling it now, you'll continue to feel it until you move on to something else. Something I would suggest is going to USAJOBS.com and checking out the education requirements for jobs with the Corp of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation, that sort of thing. Be thorough, see if something there appeals to you. You may be able to get a job without much more education than you have now, but Federal jobs are scarce right now. If you can't find anything there, send letters to field supervisors of those agencies asking how to go about getting a job with them.

Some agencies are looking for people with skillsets like yours, but they will require more education. If you decide that you need a Master's degree, your undergraduate grades will hurt a bit, but there are ways to get around a lowish undergraduate GPA. As a skilled birder with extensive wetlands experience, you could spend a few days at the library reading research papers touching on both of those subjects, looking for particular topics that strike your fancy. Pay attention to professors listed as authors. If you can find a few people who do work that you like, try to contact them. See if they are actively involved in research, if they are looking for students, and so on, and see if there are any you could see yourself working with. If you can find one who would be willing to advise you, and you can score well on the GRE, s/he may be able to help you get in despite your grades. If you go that route, be sure to take courses that broaden your marketability, such as GIS courses, zoology courses, hydrology, soils, and the like. Any spare time you have to study Spanish, even if it is just to audit lower level courses and practice in your free time, is a big plus. However, don't count on a lot of free time if you pursue a graduate degree.

As for what I do, I work for the Fish and Wildlife Service, in the black-footed ferret recovery program. I've worked for the agency for three years now, and it's been an odd mix of enlightening and depressing. If you work at anything above a GS-05, especially in wildlife management, you will be on the receiving end of political interference. If you work on a contentious project, such as recovery of ferrets, wolves, grizzlies, and so on, and you live in BFE, you will probably not be well-liked within the community in which you have to live. If any project on which you work requires an EIS, you will be involved in public scoping, and the comments you receive will leave you trying to incorporate contradictory goals into your project. You will find yourself wasting an inordinate amount of time in pointless training sessions on a computer, in meetings, and on conference calls. If you work in an office that is not ridiculously busy, you will find yourself looking for something to do from time to time because you'll be waiting for funding to make it through Congress. If you use that down time to read such items as Charles Mann's 1491, Jared Diamond's Collapse, Tim Flannery's The Future Eaters, or any of Eric Freyfogle's work on the nature of property rights and the concept of public property, you will begin to question what it is you are really accomplishing. It should therefore not be surprising that I don't like my job. I will be going to law school this fall and plan to leave wildlife management behind for good.

[MercutioATC]

7. Do something creative....bail out.

Assuming you can scrape together the minimum requirements, move to Costa Rica and explore your options there (better yet, find a company or organization that will sponsor you there as an employee so you can legally work).

Forget the rat race...live your life.


Disclaimer: I'm too patterned as a drone to do as I advise. I'm waiting 8 years until I can retire to do this. Just do yourself a favor and look into it.

[losthills]

8. "One word..."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSxihhBzCjk

[XemaSab]

9. .

:eyes:

[phantom power]

10. Here is your move: survive the collapse and become a Shaman.

Anybody who knows soil management in post-civilization humanity will look like some kind of earth-goddess to the other rubes.

[CabalPowered]

11. What about a GIS certificate

I would think that GIS/cartography would be complimentary to your biology background and maybe open a few more doors. The certificate programs usually don't require GRE scores or letters of rec.

[XemaSab]

15. I've taken a bunch of GIS and remote sensing classes

and I can tell you, it's not for me. :P

[Nihil]

20. Ah ...

Have you tried dowsing?

You could be in an excellent position to compare the results of
the different approaches!

:P

[XemaSab]

23. In California I could probably make a good living dowsing...

:P

[phantom power]

12. consulting for agricultural practices?

Like this no-till thing that's all the rage with the kids?

[bananas]

14. If you continue your education, where would you like to go?

Would you go full-time?

[XemaSab]

16. Chico State has a geology/hydrology program

and I could live at my mom's house, work part time, and drive to Chico a couple days a week.

Working part time I could probably make enough to pay off my existing loans and not incur new loans, so financially it would probably be a winner.

The downer part is that Redding sucks. :P

[NNadir]

17. I always go with the more education option.

Knowledge is the one thing that no one can take from you, no matter what happens and no matter what you do, and it is beautiful in its own right.

As for Santa Barbara, you may think you desire the place, almost that you need it, but trust me, you don't.

Southern California is a kind of hole that will last about as long as the car culture. My wife wept when we left Southern California and trust me, for all the money in the world she wouldn't go back there. Neither would I.

[XemaSab]

18. I was single in rural areas for three years before I moved here

and being single among FReepers, fundies and scary old men... no fun. :(

[NNadir]

19. Nobody said anything about rural...

The great cities of the East - and New York is still the greatest city in the world - have much to recommend them, particularly for young people.

New York was a great city in which to be young, great art, great music, great scenes, outstanding mass transit. When I was young, and lost, and lonely, it was a tremendous place to go and to see the beautiful things.

I would expect though that the problem of dating would not be particularly less intractable in the great cities. It's been a long time since I went through that scene, I confess, but I can't say that it was particularly easy urban, suburban or otherwise.

One might wish to choose a college town like Boston or Philadelphia. I don't know about that part of the equation, but it would seem to me that an ideal place to meet good and interesting people is in a classroom. That is, in fact, where I met my wife.

As for scary old men, I resemble that remark...

[phantom power]

21. One other comment: do not be alarmed by your situation.

It's often referred to as "the human condition." Become a connoisseur of confusion and ennui.

[Javaman]

22. You don't want to do what I do, I will die at my desk. nt

[XemaSab]

24. What do you do?

'Cause I gotta say, some days I felt like I was going to stroke out over an EIR, and that ain't pretty. :(

[Javaman]

25. I'm a facilities manager at a construction firm. nt