Beginner Birding Tips for Migration | Wildlife Biology for Kids Club

A lot of you have told me you're interested in ecotourism, and I had been wanting to talk to someone who does it professionally and does it ethically. So, when I came across Aspen S. and her red wolf guiding work, I knew she was the perfect person to ask how a career like this actually gets built, from the first idea to paying clients. In today's episode of the Fancy Scientist Podcast, I sat down with Aspen S., known on Instagram as @wildlifewithaspen. Aspen is an ethical guide and educator who made the transition from working with the nonprofit Wildlands Network to owning her own ecotourism company guiding visitors to see the critically endangered red wolf and other fun critters that live in Eastern North Carolina. She is also an amazing wildlife photographer with over 55,000 followers on Instagram, and a great fit for this episode because she has built a career on her own terms and doing what she loves. You’ll learn how Aspen was drawn to large carnivores from the start, beginning with coyotes in college. You’ll follow along her journey as a trail camera technician with the nonprofit Wildlands Network, where she learned how to tell red wolves from coyotes on camera (something very difficult for most people to do, even those in the wildlife field) and got to know the animals and the refuge. After several people suggested she try guiding, she did, and she has now been doing it for a few years! Aspen is also a fancy scientist. She doesn't look like a typical scientist or wildlife professional, and on her Instagram she describes herself as the swamp witch. You'll hear where that nickname came from, and we even talk about her animal jewelry and her apartment decor. You’ll learn exactly how she started guiding, set up her business, and what a day in her life looks like in her job. I also ask her how she exactly finds red wolves, a species with only about 30 individuals left! We go deep into red wolf conservation, including how red wolves differ from gray wolves, and what she has learned about running a social media account of her size. We also talk about ethical wildlife tourism and ecotourism in general. If you want to see animals you love, how can you do it without causing them harm? Aspen shares tips you can use on your next trip. At the end of the episode, I share some takeaways on how you can follow your own passion, because it can be something you transition into bit by bit. Specifically, we go over: How Aspen went from studying coyotes in college to working with red wolves at Wildlands Network What it's like to work as an ecotourism guide in North America How she finds 1 of about 30 red wolves without tracking data telling her their location What red wolves are, where they live, and why only about 30 remain in the wild The biggest threats to red wolvesCommon myths about red wolves and how they differ from gray wolves and coyotes What a day in the life of a red wolf guide looks like Ethical wildlife watching tips for tourists, photographers, and anyone heading outdoors The mental health side of running a large wildlife social media account Wildlife photography tips for beginners How to turn something you love into a side hustle or business Why finding your niche and staying true to your values helps you stand out And more!

If you're considering a career in wildlife, conservation, or environmental sciences, you've probably heard that these fields don't pay well and even that you have to be wealthy to make it. But surely, there must be regular folks making it in wildlife careers? Can you really make a living? Pay your bills and raise a family? Or are you doomed to be broke forever if you pursue a career you love in this field? Making wildlife and related careers work financially is one of those topics that we don't talk about enough (if at all?). We talk about passion, research, saving wildlife, and making a difference but at the end of the day, we also need to pay our bills so… That's exactly what this episode of the Fancy Scientist Podcast is all about! Money is an essential part of our lives and our careers, and we shouldn’t feel bad about not only needing it, but wanting it. It’s essential for us to pursue our calling of working with wildlife and helping the environment. We can’t do this without it. This week’s episode is all about money. I've worked as a researcher for 17 years and now as a career mentor for the past six, and I’m here to tell you that none of the people I worked with, that’s right, NONE, were innately wealthy, yet they landed jobs. My friends who I went to graduate school with, some of whom were skating the poverty line at the time, now have jobs as professors, wildlife biologists, researchers, and more. I'm going to give you the real deal on the financial realities of working in wildlife and related fields, and maybe even blow your mind (hopefully!) by discussing jobs where you can actually be financially comfortable, and even end up wealthy. I start with a mindset shift I learned long before I ever became a wildlife biologist, back when I wanted to be an actress. From there, I get into how you can build experience without spending any money at all, and that you don’t need to sacrifice daily 9-5 life volunteering with unpaid experiences. I break down where it actually makes sense to spend money in this field, and where it doesn't: whether paying for programs abroad are necessary, if certificates are worth it, how to think about getting degrees, and why paying for a Master's degree without a clear plan can actually waste tens of thousands of your hard-earned dollars (I’ve seen it happen). Finally, I go over the fields and job types that do tend to pay well, and how to think about where the money actually is in this field. By the end of this episode, my intention is that you walk away with a much clearer, more realistic picture of what's actually possible financially in this field, to surprise and delight you, and bust the misconception that you need to be wealthy or willing to go broke to build a real wildlife career. It doesn't matter who you are or what background you come from, I strongly believe this field is for everyone, and I want to help you make a change in your community so that together, we can change the world.

One day I was mindlessly scrolling on Instagram and a video stopped me in my tracks. This reel was from a 26-year old with a permanent job, offering some excellent career advice, well beyond his years. I was intrigued, but when I read his bio, saying “Steve Irwin X Tupac,” I was instantly hooked! Landing a permanent job is tough when you are first starting out, so this is an accomplishment in itself. Some of my friends with Master’s degrees didn’t get theirs until their late 20s or early 30s, and here was this young man without an advanced degree in one at 26. But what also struck me was the advice he was giving. A lot of the things are not necessarily hard or complicated, but simply what most people don’t do because it does involve stepping out of your comfort zone. These are the kinds of things that actually get results, and the same kinds of things I tell my students to do, but that most people aren’t willing to do…(cough cough intentional networking)... And of course his style of science communication really captured my attention! With an Instagram bio that read “Steve Irwin X Tupac," I had to learn more. And what better place than the Fancy Scientist podcast? José Juan Rodriguez Gutierrez works on threatened and endangered species in rural Humboldt County, California (he prefers to keep the organization he works for private). His job sounds like a nature lover’s dream: getting to conduct wildlife surveys out in the forest, often setting up camera traps to understand the population dynamics of endangered species like the Humboldt marten. He’s also worked on the California Condor Recovery Program, prairie, stream, and other restoration initiatives, as well as salmon research to name a few. José spends most of his time in the forest and lives in a small town of less than 20,000 people, yet he grew up in Long Beach, California, a big city with millions of people and stores at every corner! I ask José how he was able to land a permanent job at the young age of 26 and his personal path into place that looks so different from how he grew up. We get into practical tips for starting wildlife careers as José shares his unconventional approach to networking, starting with classmates and peers rather than jumping straight to established professionals, the mentors who went beyond their job description to make a real difference for him, and how he kept his career moving during the pandemic by teaching himself GIS when fieldwork wasn't an option. There are also some more unexpected parts of José’s journey, including one of the ways he's passionate about getting conservation messages out: combining his love of hip-hop with the wildlife world. As a kid, he was shy and self-conscious about his accent, never picturing himself in front of a camera or a crowd. But his passion for communicating conservation superseded that, causing him to step out of his comfort zone, pursue a communication degree, practice, and hone his skills. And the results are incredible: He’s grown his Instagram to nearly 20,000 followers since I first came across him and his posts reach hundreds of thousands of people! José opens up about how this wasn’t always easy, and the more uncomfortable parts of building confidence and communication skills, something he had to work on early in his career. His passion for conservation overrode his insecurities, as well as his desire to reach all kinds of communities, especially the ones he is a part of. He’s especially intentional about communicating conservation back to his own community and other underrepresented groups historically excluded from science and nature education. As the child of immigrant parents, he felt isolated growing up, not speaking English at first, and rarely seeing anyone who looked or sounded like him in the wildlife field. Instead of leaving that part of himself behind, he wants Latino kids to see themselves in this work too. He believes they (and you!) belong in nature, even if you have not spent

Have you been applying and applying to wildlife jobs or experiences only to hear nothing back? That’s exactly what happened to Dylan Karl despite having a degree from a prestigious university specializing in wildlife, a Master’s degree, years of experience, and a wildlife biologist certification from The Wildlife Society. Dylan had seemingly everything, yet, he was applying to 30-50 jobs every season, but nothing was landing. Dylan’s story is even more unique. Dylan was one of my Successful Wildlife Professional students, and when I first started working with him, he was working in a wildlife job, but unhappy. He felt that although he was technically involved in wildlife work mitigating damage at airports, he wasn’t having the impact he wanted, and felt like he was spending a lot more time killing wildlife rather than saving it. So Dylan decided to join the Successful Wildlife Professional program and get help. And it paid off almost instantly! Within two months of the program, he applied for and got his dream job of working with Mexican wolves. This was a huge win and we were both so excited for his future! Because of these incredible results, I knew I had to have him on the Fancy Scientist podcast to share. But when I interviewed him, I was surprised he was no longer working there! It turns out that his story took an unexpected turn. Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon for reality to not match up with expectations in our field… Dylan had always imagined himself as a bridge between wildlife and people, helping manage conflict and promote coexistence. But what he thought was a non-lethal position in Arizona turned out to not be so non-lethal after all, due to pressure from ranchers pushing for the lethal removal of federally protected wolves. This didn't sit right with him, and that misalignment caused him to rethink what he actually wanted out of his career. Luckily, he had the tools he learned from the Successful Wildlife Professional to lean back on. He used the trainings on understanding the jobs and workplaces and personal exercises to uncover his own desires and strengths to re-identify his dream job. He combined this with the wildlife-specific protocols in the application section to write competitive cover letters and resumes for his new dream path. He now works as a Preserve Management Assistant for the prestigious The Nature Conservancy in northwestern Minnesota, helping to manage approximately 300,000 acres of tallgrass aspen parklands through tools like prescribed burns and seed spreading. Every morning he wakes up feeling like he's taking care of the animals he loves’ homes. Dylan also gives a behind-the-scenes look at what it’s like to work at the Nature Conservancy and what prescribed fire management actually looks like, including how burning 400 acres of land can transform a smothered wetland into one teeming with native wildflowers, frogs, fish, and water birds just a month later. After the interview, I break down the key takeaways so you can apply them to your own path, including why "proven experience" beats just experience, why knowing your end goal changes everything, and why the workplace you choose matters just as much as the work itself. Specifically, we talk about: Dylan's winding path from watching Steve Irwin as a kid in Cincinnati to managing 300,000 acres with The Nature Conservancy in Minnesota His experiences with the Peace Corps, the Cincinnati Zoo, wind turbine curtailment, spotted owl research, and USDA Wildlife Services What it felt like to be in a position that looked good on paper but isn’t aligned with your values How you can still work in wildlife, but not feel like you are following your dream or having the impact you want The gap between the Steve Irwin version of a wildlife career and what most wildlife jobs actually look like Why sending 30 to 50 applications a season and taking the first offer isn't a career strategy What caused Dylan to break through and land his dream job on Mexi

What if I told you that most jobs in wildlife, conservation, and environmental science aren't directly in research? Would you be shocked? Well, it's true! And that's exactly what I talk about in this episode of the Fancy Scientist Podcast. When most people think of wildlife work, they think of jobs in wildlife research. Those are jobs where you pose questions or objectives, and then collect, process, and analyze data to address them. But when you compare these jobs to all of the others in the realm of wildlife, conservation, and environmental sciences work, they are actually in the minority. I am calling these non- ”traditional” jobs wildlife research-adjacent work or even just wildlife-adjacent jobs, even though they relate to conservation and the environmental sciences, and some are definitely in the wildlife field. This was a topic suggested by members of my Getting a Job in Wildlife Biology Facebook group a couple of years ago because there is strong interest in them, so I thought it would be the perfect topic to take a deep dive into for the podcast because it is a big one. In fact, it’s WAY too much to cover in just an episode. This is by no means a full list, and there’s not enough time to go into them in-depth. For example, in my group mentoring program, the Successful Wildlife Professional, we spend at least 30 minutes for each job and organization type. I’ll walk you through the major categories: data analytical and processing roles like GIS, statistics, lab work, and computer science; communications, outreach, fundraising, and education jobs; wildlife health careers, rehab, and vet work; zookeeping; more environmental science roles in water quality, forestry, and agriculture; corporate sustainability positions; and outdoor recreation jobs. But first, before you even consider a wildlife-adjacent job, I ask you to question WHY you’re pursuing one of these jobs in the first place. Is it because it is truly a job you want? Or is it because you feel like you can’t get the job you really do want? In my experience working with individuals seeking these kinds of jobs, it’s usually the latter, and if that’s the case, I encourage you to go after what it is you really want because this is a fixable problem. I identify the two big reasons that people can’t get wildlife jobs in the first place and what you can do about them. Finally, I'll leave you with this: wildlife jobs have a reputation for being competitive and low-paying, but that's not universal, especially when you consider adjacent jobs. In a recent podcast interview with Patrick Rainey of Ducks Unlimited, we talked about some wetlands restoration jobs that are in demand and also well-paying. So if getting a high salary is important to you, you might want to explore wildlife-adjacent work. Specifically, we cover: What "wildlife-adjacent" work means and how it differs from traditional research careers The two biggest reasons people fail to land wildlife jobs, and why that matters before you consider an adjacent path When pursuing a wildlife-adjacent job is a smart move even if it’s not what you really want, and how to prevent it from becoming a trap Analytics jobs, including GIS, statistics, lab work, and computer science roles Communications, outreach, fundraising, and education jobs, including science writing and ecotourism Wildlife health careers like rehabilitation and vet work Zoo and aquarium roles outside of research Environmental science jobs in water quality, forestry, agriculture, and more Museum work Corporate sustainability roles, even within companies you wouldn't expect to have a conservation focus, and how this can indeed make a big difference for wildlife Outdoor recreation jobs Why some wildlife-adjacent fields are actually in high demand And more!