Intro from CA

[tropterrarium]

hello,

just a quick intro, essentially to qualify for any future want postings. I keep orchid-plants in a 90 gal terrarium (tropical setting, see inquiry of mine in the enclosure section), and want to add something interesting in there. Herps are not an option because of cleaning, so mantids are seriously cool. Have some free-living ones in the yard as well. Have done the orchid terrarium for about 4 years, so that's up and running smoothly. Otherwise, professional marine biologist working on systematics of marine inverts, have described some 40 odd taxa (mostly species, some genera, one family level taxon) am a Zootaxa editor (some of you may be familiar with that journal). But I am absolutely new to mantids, so can use all the advice there is.

Other interests: cooking, photography (35 mm and 4x5"), baroque music, gardening with native plants.

That's about it in a nutshell.

 

[Seattle79]

Welcome to the Forum.

 

[angelofdeathzz]

Welcome

 

[hibiscusmile]

Howdy!

 

[LauraMG]

Welcome welcome! I'm considering making marine biology my major. I think it's just awesome that's what you do!

 

[tropterrarium]

Welcome welcome! I'm considering making marine biology my major. I think it's just awesome that's what you do!

Thanks for the warm welcome and the roses. It sure is a lot of fun doing my job, particularly as every day is new and different, and that nobody tells me what to do. That's the good news.

But, although I'd wish I could recommend to follow this "career" path, I honestly cannot. There are so few jobs out there, and they are actually getting fewer and fewer, that the chance of actually doing systematics is vanishingly small (for any university position, please hide the fact that you ever described a taxon), and few have anything that could be described as job-security. I certainly don't have it. Given the long and specialized training you need (Ph.D. is minimum, add 1-2-3-4 postdocs, and then it's still a crapshot), the competitiveness for any such job, and the lack of transfer of those skills to other arenas, think long and hard before you go down this path. Alternative jobs are potentially teaching at highschool or community college level, or entry level anywhere else (bookstore, burger flipping, cab). I've done some teaching at a well-recognized university as lecturer/adj. prof. as a stop-gap measure (Bio 101, Evol & pop-gen), but it's not my cup-o-tea.

Just to give you some idea, there are about 12 positions in the entire US in my particular subdiscipline. Turn over is once a generation, so with a 30 year career, 1 job comes up every 2-3 years, with about 50-100 applicants. Pretty scary math if you want to eat and pay rent/mortgage. I am well aware of all those biodiversity initiatives (EOL, TOL, Species 2000, OBiS,...) and also the infamous NSF-PEET program. Fact is, however, there still are no jobs. Even the flagship NSF-PEET program, though well-intentioned, was a complete bust, because those trained PhDs and post-docs cannot find any jobs, simply because they do not exist. So all this biodiversity talk, is just that, talk or hot air, even if show-cased on CNN & BBC.

If you have a fat trust-fund, go forth, and follow your heart. Otherwise, think hard about the realities. In terms of descriptive systematics, we are back in Darwin's age; remember, he was married to a Wedgewood of UK porcelain manufacture fame, so that's how he could afford his studies.

General marine bio may be a better choice, particularly with an eye on fisheries management, or oceanography in the wide sense. Both pretty math intensive, though with computer programs it's more manageable. Phylogenetics has its mathy parts as well (probabilities, Bayesian analysis, matrix algebra), and alpha taxonomy can benefit from some serious statistics [PCA, DFA, various (M)AN©OVA designs, landmark techniques, ...].

Entomology is much better, because there is lots of applied entomology with pests etc. So if you rather want to follow that route, it may be easier, but still somewhere within your broad interests.

Good luck, whichever path you choose.

 

[LauraMG]

General marine bio may be a better choice, particularly with an eye on fisheries management, or oceanography in the wide sense. Both pretty math intensive, though with computer programs it's more manageable. Phylogenetics has its mathy parts as well (probabilities, Bayesian analysis, matrix algebra), and alpha taxonomy can benefit from some serious statistics [PCA, DFA, various (M)AN©OVA designs, landmark techniques, ...].

Entomology is much better, because there is lots of applied entomology with pests etc. So if you rather want to follow that route, it may be easier, but still somewhere within your broad interests.

Good luck, whichever path you choose.

My two choices that I've been considering (I'm general Biology right now) are Entomology and General Marine Bio. I'll have to transfer universities for either because the University of Central Oklahoma doesn't have either. I'm sure OU or OSU has them though (UCO is kind of a small university). Thanks for the tips! I've got some general ed courses to worry about before I worry about all that. It's fun being a 27 year-old freshman! :lol:

 

[tropterrarium]

My two choices that I've been considering (I'm general Biology right now) are Entomology and General Marine Bio. I'll have to transfer universities for either because the University of Central Oklahoma doesn't have either. I'm sure OU or OSU has them though (UCO is kind of a small university). Thanks for the tips! I've got some general ed courses to worry about before I worry about all that. It's fun being a 27 year-old freshman! :lol:

OSU is a good place, I think John Wise is there and he's one of the more sane phylogenticists. Not sure who teaches marine bio. With respect to fun jobs, be aware that for most jobs where you actually do some sort of biology, you need a graduate degree. You are a bit in a tough spot, as a mature student (cudos though). Masters may work to your advantage, Ph.D. may not, because of not infrequent age concerns of potential future employers; you will be competing with freshly minted PhDs 10 years younger.

You are certainly right re getting GE courses out of your way first. One of the great things about alpha taxonomy (describing species) is, that it is a relatively low cost endeavor. Around 50% of species are described by non-professionals (i.e., people who are not paid to do so), and the better ones do a professional-quality job at it [and there are paid-pros who do lousy work]. As opposed to particle physics, pretty much anybody can do alpha taxonomy (a blessing and a curse). Unfortunately, not even basics are taught at universities, so you will have to teach yourself (Mayr & Ashlock, ICZN code, Judy Winston's book), and possibly develop a relationship with some museum folks. So if you want to keep that in the back of your mind, that's another option. Plenty of invert alpha work left, trust me.