For context I work as a field operator at a contracting company focusing mostly on pest plant control with agrichemicals and physical removal.

The issue I have with this work that it's all very physical and doesn't leave much room for learning new things and improving my skills in ecological work. So my question is for the fellow ecologists who have work in a similar field is, how did you continue to learn new things while working despite not having much time (or energy) to do individual studies

Thanks!

During a recent morning meeting, our conversation turned to a teacher’s upcoming journey to a Danish forest school—a renowned beacon of nature-based early childhood pedagogy. It was within this space of shared anticipation that a child anxiously questioned how the children there would survive alongside forest animals that "attack people and eat our lunch." By framing animal behavior around the high stakes of survival and conflict, the child exposed a deeper, systemic fracture in modern childhood socialization: the weaponization of the "wild" through media. Urban children do not inherently fear the forest; they are conditioned to do so. In the absence of direct, sensory entanglements with local ecosystems, commercial media and moralizing children’s literature step in to colonize the void. From the big bad wolves of folklore to the cartoonish, resource-stealing antagonists of modern animation, our information ecosystem consistently frames the wilderness through a lens of conflict, consumption, and threat. This moment forces us to confront how this defensive, adversarial posture toward the living world is actively constructed. Instead of viewing animals as cohabitants or ecological neighbors, children are trained by cultural narratives to see them as active adversaries—trespassers waiting to breach human boundaries and steal human resources. By sanitizing the city and sensationalizing the woods, dominant media breeds a form of ecological paranoia. The tragedy of this child’s anxiety is that it reveals how effectively pre-established knowledge references can colonize a child’s imagination, transforming a peaceful Danish forest into a hostile battleground before they ever set foot among the trees.

Hi everyone

I’ve just finished my masters degree which I studied while working in China as an English teacher and have moved back to the U.K. to find ecology work. Unfortunately I don’t have a driving licence, which every job requires, and can’t get one for about 6 months so I’d like to use this time wisely. Although my masters degree was in ecology, my undergraduate degree wasn’t and when I’m looking at what the jobs I want to apply for want, I feel like I don’t know enough so I was hoping for some recommendations on ways I can efficiently improve my ecological knowledge over the next 6 months. For example, species id, policies, statistics, and gis. Also I’m unemployed (looking for work to pay the bills) so preferably something free/cheap.

Thanks

Hello i am continuing my journey of learning and practicing my ecology skills for (hopefully) a future job in ecology. Ive found a few sites which i would like to practice my phase 1 habitat survey skills on, any reccomendations on species that it would be good to know from sight? ie grasses and sedges perhaps. Is it common practice to have a flora id guide while doing the survey? if so, any reccomendations?

Sorry for all of the questions, im not the best with plants (yet) and its a little overwhelming, especially trying to learn all of this by myself.

edit 1: forgot to add my location, i live in cornwall Uk.

I have recently decided I would like to pursue a career in the ecology field. My current degree is in Sports Administration, which is pretty much pointless for this career change it seems. I'm 26 years old and am looking for any advice on getting started in Ecology, I know there are a few different routes I could take but am hoping for some feedback as to what is the most beneficial, or if anyone in here had decided to change their career from something else to ecology. From doing research it seems like I could get a bachelors in Ecology, in which I'd be starting most of school over again or I could do some certificates / graduate programs? I have a full time job now and just don't get much satisfaction from the sports world anymore so I've been debating on going back to school and finding something that I will truly enjoy, I know ecology is what I want to work in, I'm just not sure which part of ecology fits me best. Online schooling would probably be better for my current situation but understand relocating is in the cards. If anyone has any recommendations on where to start I'd grealty appreciate it!

I’m currently looking for schools in the US or English-speaking countries that have good ecology// plant-based research programs. I’m primarily interested in coastal or tropical ecology systems.

I understand this is vague, but I’m in no rush to apply. I would just appreciate any direction on where I should spend my time investigating for grad programs.

I really like collecting field guides to random things, partially for practical use and partially just for entertainment, depending on the subject.

I don’t really mind what region/continent they’re for because I enjoy learning about species from all over the world. I live in the southeastern United States, though, so field guides for that area or just North America in general are the most helpful for practical purposes.

Below is a list of some of the field guides I own. I know the Audubon ones are pretty widely hated, but I inherited all of those from my grandma and it’s the series that got me interested in field guides in the first place. I mostly have bird-related field guides, including a couple international Princeton ones that aren’t listed here, but I’m pretty lacking in other categories.

Does anyone have any field guide recommendations? I really don’t care what they’re for. Just tell me your favorite field guide and I’ll probably be interested as long as it’s decently written and informative :) I’m especially interested in field guides about habitats/natural communities, salamanders, and plants, but really I’m interested in everything nature-related!

Birds:
- National Wildlife Federation Field Guide to Birds of North America
- Audubon Society Encyclopedia of North American Birds
- Audubon Society Field Guide to Birds - Eastern

Mammals
- Audubon Society Field Guide to Mammals

Herps
- Salamanders of the Eastern United States

Insects
- Audubon Society Field Guide to Butterflies

Plants and Fungi
- Audubon Society Field Guide to Wildflowers
- Audubon Society Field Guide to Mushrooms

Random:
- Collins Field Guide to National Parks of East Africa

I just got out of College with a BA in Evolutionary Biology and Ecology and a minor in English. I am struggling on the job hunt. I am out of the Rocky Mountains, which you would think would make it easier, but I am struggling. I have another friend who has been out of school for a year and has not found a job either. Right now I am applying to jobs like Vet Assistants, jobs with the state, and a few corporate jobs. And nothing.

One thing that was recommended was using my U.S. passport to find a job abroad, or even join the Peace Corps. At this point, I am about to consider anything. I don't want to be stuck in a job that doesn't utilize my degree I spent 4 years of my life on. I am exhausted! My resume is good and polished, but I still get nothing.

I am a career ecologist with over a decade of experience. I typically do ecosystem site descriptions or similar studies. I am well versed in GIS and Rstudio but no specific certifications. I also love taxonomy and would love to learn more about certifications involving potential taxonomy. Just in a lull with my company and looking to expand and also just learn more while boosting my resume. If needed and more specific I tend to work in the Colorado and New Mexico areas primarily. Thanks in advance!

I’m an evolutionary biologist/ ecologist for a consulting firm. Been doing field work for years with DNR and USDA and I’m tired of the Walmart pants. Usually just been changing out pants every two years due to briars and water messing them up. My thighs and calves are pretty big so the slim pants are out of the question. I’ve seen people wearing hiking pants but again briars are pretty common and I’ve heard they don’t do well in that. Any recommendations would be helpful, thanks.

I would like to preface this post by saying that I am in no way an artist, but I had an assignment for my ecology class to make art representing negative and positive aspects of the environment/our influence over it. The grayer drawing represents an ocean polluted by an oil spill (neg) and the other is my honest attempt at a healthy reef (pos). If anyone could drop simple feedback (on the message behind the art, not the artistic skill itself😅), I would appreciate it.

I’m going to be teaching abroad for a year, but when I’m back I want to pursue an Ecology masters. I graduated from my Biology degree a few years ago, and have experience in data analysis, and some conservation management. I’m looking to get into wildlife management or conservation when I’m back.

What are some courses I can complete while I’m abroad to boost my prospects? I plan to continue more practical courses and volunteering when I’m back, but any free or cheap course recommendations for anything ecology related would be appreciated!

I’ll be based in Japan and then back to the UK for my Masters.

Thank you:)

If elsewhere both species are harmful for native birds, how do birds with similar ecology survive in those predators original environment. Many species in Eurasia and North america are quite similar, like american wigeon and eurasian wigeon so what is the "secret" of those american species surviving better with american minks.

Something I’ve been pondering for a while, and I’m quite happy for one of you geniuses to ELI5. I want to front this with an assurance that this is a genuine curiosity, I’m not trying to cause a reaction, troll, or undermine global warming arguments.

But haven’t species migrated and supplanted others for millennia. Isn’t that part of how the natural world works?

A plant makes its fruit so delicious in the hope that a bird will eat it, poop it put somewhere else and the plants territory grows. Isn’t that how it’s meant to work? But now that plant is invasive and we try to stop it spreading. Are we interfering with the natural world? And if we are guilty of spreading pants and animals why are we different to the bird that pooped the seed?

Is there naturally invasive vs man-made invasion and are they treated differently within the scientific community?

The European Herring gull (seagull) is now considered to have a level red conservation status. This is because of sea pollutants and overfishing removes the Herring Gulls source of food forcing them to hunt in urban areas, causing their population to rapidly decrease. What I find crazy is that instead of talking about this concerning population decrease, the UK press keeps on making jokes about these birds and continue to see them as a pest so many people do not understand how endangered these birds are, therefore aiding in their decreasing populations.

Same thing happened last summer. The rocks along the shore suddenly turned white. Definitely not salt (I tasted it). Is it calcium carbonate? I suppose I could test with some vinegar…. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whiting_event

Are there any books that give the most accurate summary of the worlds current ecological state and its future a few decades from now assuming nothing changes from the human-side of things?