This blog series is derived from live question-and-answer interactions during our running webinar series on career exploration in ecology, hosted by Aaron Stoler and the Private & Public Sector Ecologists Section.
Q: What specific skills should I focus on developing during my time as a graduate student to be competitive in environmental consulting?
Lara Pomi-Urbat: I would focus on the skills that are translatable. GIS is a great example that is used across all areas of ecological expertise.
Rese Cloyd: How to collaborate and work with other people! So much of grad school is finding ways to elevate yourself above others and make a project your own, but outside of academia, it is teamwork and collaboration that make things work. Everyone wants / needs to be able to get credit and show that the work they are putting into a project will reflect positively on the agency or organization they work for, so being able to negotiate and build something together is key.
Aerin Jacob: Lots of practical things like how to take a great big idea and break it into component parts, then action each one of them (like simple project management). How to decide among competing priorities; having “difficult conversations” and resolve conflict; the motivation and celebration of other people who care a lot and are trying hard to make a difference! How to communicate clearly, engage with media, figure out what I wanted to do and was good at, not just what I was good at and other people asked me to do. Check out resources by TREC: http://trec.org and https://www.compassscicomm.org.
