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The Failure of Universities to Produce Conservation Biologists

The Failure of Universities to Produce Conservation Biologists Ten years ago, like most students finishing their PhDs, I was eagerly shipping off applications to scores of universities, hoping to settle in soon to a lifetime in academia. The only difference between me and most of my fellow students was that, prior to beginning PhD work, I had been gainfully employed for several years after completing my Masters degree, first in a state agency and then by The Nature Conservancy. This was in addition to a couple years of professional work (mostly teaching) before my Masters education. I had hoped my professional experience would be seen as at least equivalent to a multi‐year, postdoctoral appointment and would aid my search for academic jobs. I assumed my diverse teaching background prepared me well for a job in higher education. I also believed my multi‐disciplinary training in animal and plant ecology, as opposed to narrow specialization, would come in handy for educating students in the increasingly broad fields of applied ecology and conservation biology. I was wrong on all counts. I never landed an academic job. In those cases where I found out why, it appears that I was seen as too much of a generalist and hence not http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Conservation Biology Wiley

The Failure of Universities to Produce Conservation Biologists

Conservation Biology , Volume 11 (6) – Dec 2, 1997

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Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
Society for Conservation Biology
ISSN
0888-8892
eISSN
1523-1739
DOI
10.1046/j.1523-1739.1997.97ed05.x
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Ten years ago, like most students finishing their PhDs, I was eagerly shipping off applications to scores of universities, hoping to settle in soon to a lifetime in academia. The only difference between me and most of my fellow students was that, prior to beginning PhD work, I had been gainfully employed for several years after completing my Masters degree, first in a state agency and then by The Nature Conservancy. This was in addition to a couple years of professional work (mostly teaching) before my Masters education. I had hoped my professional experience would be seen as at least equivalent to a multi‐year, postdoctoral appointment and would aid my search for academic jobs. I assumed my diverse teaching background prepared me well for a job in higher education. I also believed my multi‐disciplinary training in animal and plant ecology, as opposed to narrow specialization, would come in handy for educating students in the increasingly broad fields of applied ecology and conservation biology. I was wrong on all counts. I never landed an academic job. In those cases where I found out why, it appears that I was seen as too much of a generalist and hence not

Journal

Conservation BiologyWiley

Published: Dec 2, 1997

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