This is great, thanks for sharing! I'm starting out as a Field Ecologist next week and although I've been going through the training guides, this video really helps give an insight into the day-to-day work involved!
I wish more ecologists shared an interest in fishing and vice versa. I worked with an ecological consultancy on a part time basis for about a year while studying environmental science and always felt that my interest in fishing was a mark against me in the eyes of colleagues. When I did badger surveys it was done with indigestible coloured pellets in the food which helped to determine which latrines were being used by which sets, as they were quite close together. It was great work. I really miss it. Highlight was finding a perfectly undamaged bat skull while doing a survey. Never did find out what species it was and a lenny friend of mine eventually broke it while we were drinking beer. I don't miss the politics though - the who's who of 'specialist' species niche and the boot licking to get understudy for handling licences. Ultimately, we were all just facilitating habitat destruction by developers. Loved seeing the great innovative mitigation ideas created, but never any long term monitoring or assurances that the infrastructure and created habitat would be preserved thereafter. A great vid Adam. Brings back lots of fond memories and definitely your best vid yet. Good stuff.
Thank you! I only really go to the office to gather kit, i’m maybe there Maximum an hour a week. The rest is all driving snd fieldwork though which i’d say is a 50/50 split!
Thank you for the video. I have an appointment tomorrow with an advisor at our local Community college. I want to start classes in January for ecology. I also want to work in the field as a field researcher. I love nature. I love being outdoors. I love being in the woods and along the river. I want to turn my passion into helping our wildlife, plants, trees, waterways and fisheries. I love our planet and our environment and hope to help make a difference. Thank you again for the video and insights and for the work you do.
Hi Dave, glad you enjoyed! I no longer work in that sector I now work for an environment and wildlife charity. Field ecology wasn’t something I wanted to do forever but it was fantastic experience, and great to be out and about most days 😁
Thanks so much for sharing this - I wasn't sure there was a difference between 'ecologist' and 'field ecologist'. I was wondering, do you have to analyse data and write reports on your findings? Or does someone else do that?
That’s exactly where the difference comes in! A field ecologist will purely do the field work and gather data. then I’d hand it over to the ecologists who do a combination of the fieldwork stuff and the office stuff. They analyse the data and do the report writing. I’d do a tiny bit of a write up when i’d send over the results I gathered, just any information about the site, how many animals you’ve seen, anything that went wrong or right etc basically anything useful that can help the ecologists with their report.
Thanks! I had 0 job experience before applying, I was fresh out of finishing my masters in Tropical Marine Biology. Only experience was fieldwork at university itself. I gained license through the company so didn’t do any courses, only thing I did was a Management and Professionals CSCS card. 😁
Hey, thanks for the compliment 😄 Yes we do, teams of varying sizes depending on the job. I worked for a different company this year and they had a no lone working policy, so always 2 at least, the company in the video didn’t have that so we would do some things alone! Hope this helps 😀
Hi, thanks for commenting! To get into field ecology like I’m doing in this video you may not need any experience or qualifications depending on the company. I’ve met people who had business degrees and wanted a career switch whilst doing the role. Traditional routes would be geography and biology in school, some sort of animal science, biology or ecology at University. Not needed but the route people usually go down. You are more likely to find a role with relevant degrees and qualifications but it’s 100% not needed. Roles for field ecology tend to come up around now. Check job sites like environment jobs and countryside jobs service. There’s also a facebook page called ecology jobs that lists them.
Hey, not stupid at all! The answer is sort of, both companies i’ve worked for pay you per mile you drive. Around 40p per mile. You’d get that each month as a lump sum, the idea is that it goes towards your petrol and car upkeep, but it depends how well you budget it.
@@NatureScopeYT Hi, thank you for answering my question so quickly, that's good to know! I also really enjoyed the video, it gave me a really useful insight into the sort of work that's involved in field ecology. Thanks!
Hi! Thanks for making this ive been trying to figure out what I would wanna be when I reach the certain point olin my life. This is truly something that I would wana pursue. I love nature, animals, reptiles, plants, and traveling. This truly helps me alot. Quick questions however, Do you at all do anything with plants on this job? And finally, what would the ideal place to go to be hired by someone. Would it be a university, the government? Or justa conservation group.
Hey, thanks for the kind comment! The higher you progress the more you have to do with plants. The field ecologist role is entry level so all we really do is keep an eye out for invasive plants (Giant hogweed, Japanese Knotweed etc…) when you get promotions you then begin to work with plants. Theres a few routes into the job. Personally I have a masters in marine biology and applied to ecological consultancy companies. Like you say though you can get jobs through the government and environment agency. Just depends the route you go down, a degree or experience isn’t essential, but it is desirable. Hope this helps 😄
@@cheddah48 Hey! I’m so so sorry I missed this, It didn’t come up on Notifications. Occasionally we do handle wild animals but it’s under license. I frequently handle Newts and Reptiles. You just have to respect them and be careful and usually it’s all okay!
How far do you typically have to travel? Do you still spend most nights at home? I've heard that field ecologists travel very far and often have to stay overnight in hotels (as you did in this video) or be away from home for days at a time. This doesn't seem like it'll mesh well with family life, so i'm hesitant about the position. I'm going into the ecology field quite late compared to most with my first industry placement in a few months, and I can see the job lifestyle putting quite a strain on things. It's making me consider going into animal husbandry instead.
Hey! Thanks for the comment. I can only speak from my experience and I'll be honest it depends on the week with both, in terms of travel I sometimes had 500 mile weeks, a lot of the job is behind the wheel of your car. It really depends week to week, we got paid for mileage which was very generous, but with the current fuel crisis the profit you make per mile is going to get less and less every single day.With hotel stays some weeks I never spent a night in a hotel, some weeks it was 5 nights, on average I'd say 2/3 nights a week are in a hotel, we also had them booked for us by someone in the office so they weren't always the best and it really depended on the area you were in as to the quality of the hotel (London is more expensive so you'd usually have a worse hotel than somewhere cheaper because of budget) It doesn't seem to mesh well with family life but some people I worked with made it work, I was fortunate enough to have no home commitments when I worked there. Anymore questions feel free to ask! Feel free to subscribe too.
@@NatureScopeYT Thank you for giving such a detailed response. 2 nights a week on average doesn't sound too bad in the grand scheme of things, though 3 would probably be pushing it a little when it comes to balancing home and work. I've heard the larger companies are typically the ones that send you the furthest away, so perhaps I can target smaller consultancies when the time comes. I'm aiming to get into either aquatic or plant ecology, so I might be able to avoid the bat surveys and their anti-social work hours. I had a follow up question that's probably quite dumb, but you said about half the job is spent driving from site to site and that you get paid for mileage, does this mean they compensate your fuel costs, or do you still get your hourly salary while you drive?
@@porcu12345 No worries! I can only speak for the company I worked for again, we got paid an hourly wage, that included the time we were driving as well as time doing the various surveys, writing up data sheets etc… we also got a certain amount per mile we drove. This was more than enough to cover the fuel we used + a fair bit extra which I saved incase anything went wrong with the car 😁 So when driving we got paid per hour, and a fee per mile we drove too!
@@NatureScopeYT That actually sounds really good. I'd have been happy with just the salaried driving, let alone the extras! Do you find that you do many bat surveys as a seasonal field ecologist? They are probably my least favourite aspect of the job based on my limited bat survey experience and job research. I find them a little boring I guess, but it's having to stay away from home for days to do the dawn & dusk surveys that sucks most. Did they offer you much choice in terms of what surveys you could focus on? I'm planning on getting most of my volunteer experience in either aquatic environments or botany, so i'm hoping I can avoid bat surveys and find a more stable work routine, but it seems like that's a massive part of what seasonal field ecologists do, especially at bigger companies😪
Hello sir. I'm watching your channel.. even I don't understand English well. But still watching and im willing to learned of what about your job .. regards From Philippines .. Marjorie Bea
@@NatureScopeYT Im thinking of switching to either environmental science or biology. I love learning about the earth, it's history, it's weather, the animals that create an ecosystem. I'm also one of the people that prefer to be out in the elements doing field work than inside doing desk jobs.
Thank you very much for this eye-opening content.
I’m glad you enjoyed!
This is great, thanks for sharing! I'm starting out as a Field Ecologist next week and although I've been going through the training guides, this video really helps give an insight into the day-to-day work involved!
Glad you enjoyed! I’m also starting in a few weeks doing the same role again at a different company 😄 congratulations! Hope you enjoy it 😁
i may have fallen in love with your job
It was a good job! What I do now is better, I’ve been very lucky!
I wish more ecologists shared an interest in fishing and vice versa. I worked with an ecological consultancy on a part time basis for about a year while studying environmental science and always felt that my interest in fishing was a mark against me in the eyes of colleagues. When I did badger surveys it was done with indigestible coloured pellets in the food which helped to determine which latrines were being used by which sets, as they were quite close together. It was great work. I really miss it. Highlight was finding a perfectly undamaged bat skull while doing a survey. Never did find out what species it was and a lenny friend of mine eventually broke it while we were drinking beer. I don't miss the politics though - the who's who of 'specialist' species niche and the boot licking to get understudy for handling licences. Ultimately, we were all just facilitating habitat destruction by developers. Loved seeing the great innovative mitigation ideas created, but never any long term monitoring or assurances that the infrastructure and created habitat would be preserved thereafter. A great vid Adam. Brings back lots of fond memories and definitely your best vid yet. Good stuff.
This was really cool to see! How much of your week do you spend out in the field and how much in the office?
Thank you! I only really go to the office to gather kit, i’m maybe there Maximum an hour a week. The rest is all driving snd fieldwork though which i’d say is a 50/50 split!
Thank you for the video. I have an appointment tomorrow with an advisor at our local Community college. I want to start classes in January for ecology. I also want to work in the field as a field researcher. I love nature. I love being outdoors. I love being in the woods and along the river. I want to turn my passion into helping our wildlife, plants, trees, waterways and fisheries. I love our planet and our environment and hope to help make a difference. Thank you again for the video and insights and for the work you do.
Hi Dave, glad you enjoyed! I no longer work in that sector I now work for an environment and wildlife charity. Field ecology wasn’t something I wanted to do forever but it was fantastic experience, and great to be out and about most days 😁
Amazing video as always. Really interesting to learn about the work you do. Keep it up 👍🏻
Thanks Scott, really appreciate these kind words
So useful thank you!!
Glad you enjoyed! I’ve another video on the channel about my career so far before and after this role if thats helpful? 😁
Thanks so much for sharing this - I wasn't sure there was a difference between 'ecologist' and 'field ecologist'. I was wondering, do you have to analyse data and write reports on your findings? Or does someone else do that?
That’s exactly where the difference comes in! A field ecologist will purely do the field work and gather data. then I’d hand it over to the ecologists who do a combination of the fieldwork stuff and the office stuff. They analyse the data and do the report writing. I’d do a tiny bit of a write up when i’d send over the results I gathered, just any information about the site, how many animals you’ve seen, anything that went wrong or right etc basically anything useful that can help the ecologists with their report.
Thanks man, I had to write an essay on ecology, and I got 101%
Nice one bro, aim for 102% next time
Cool! I learned a lot!
I’m glad you enjoyed 😄
Great video , very interesting.
Thanks Mark 😄
Really enjoyed the video! Could I ask, how long did it take you to get the relevant experience and licences for your role?
Thanks! I had 0 job experience before applying, I was fresh out of finishing my masters in Tropical Marine Biology. Only experience was fieldwork at university itself. I gained license through the company so didn’t do any courses, only thing I did was a Management and Professionals CSCS card. 😁
Good stuff!
Cheers!
fantastic video!
Thankyou so much 😄 glad you enjoyed!
Awesome work, i really enjoyed it. Do you also work in teams when your on the field?
Hey, thanks for the compliment 😄 Yes we do, teams of varying sizes depending on the job. I worked for a different company this year and they had a no lone working policy, so always 2 at least, the company in the video didn’t have that so we would do some things alone! Hope this helps 😀
@@NatureScopeYT Thank you so much for the good information :) awesome
How would I begin a career in this field what would I have to study?
Hi, thanks for commenting! To get into field ecology like I’m doing in this video you may not need any experience or qualifications depending on the company. I’ve met people who had business degrees and wanted a career switch whilst doing the role. Traditional routes would be geography and biology in school, some sort of animal science, biology or ecology at University. Not needed but the route people usually go down. You are more likely to find a role with relevant degrees and qualifications but it’s 100% not needed.
Roles for field ecology tend to come up around now. Check job sites like environment jobs and countryside jobs service. There’s also a facebook page called ecology jobs that lists them.
@@NatureScopeYT thank alot!
Perhaps a stupid question, but is your petrol paid for by your company? Given how much driving you must do for work.
Hey, not stupid at all! The answer is sort of, both companies i’ve worked for pay you per mile you drive. Around 40p per mile. You’d get that each month as a lump sum, the idea is that it goes towards your petrol and car upkeep, but it depends how well you budget it.
@@NatureScopeYT Hi, thank you for answering my question so quickly, that's good to know! I also really enjoyed the video, it gave me a really useful insight into the sort of work that's involved in field ecology. Thanks!
Hi! Thanks for making this ive been trying to figure out what I would wanna be when I reach the certain point olin my life. This is truly something that I would wana pursue. I love nature, animals, reptiles, plants, and traveling. This truly helps me alot. Quick questions however, Do you at all do anything with plants on this job? And finally, what would the ideal place to go to be hired by someone. Would it be a university, the government? Or justa conservation group.
Hey, thanks for the kind comment!
The higher you progress the more you have to do with plants. The field ecologist role is entry level so all we really do is keep an eye out for invasive plants (Giant hogweed, Japanese Knotweed etc…) when you get promotions you then begin to work with plants.
Theres a few routes into the job. Personally I have a masters in marine biology and applied to ecological consultancy companies. Like you say though you can get jobs through the government and environment agency. Just depends the route you go down, a degree or experience isn’t essential, but it is desirable. Hope this helps 😄
@@NatureScopeYT helps a ton! Thanks!
@@cheddah48 Hey! I’m so so sorry I missed this, It didn’t come up on Notifications. Occasionally we do handle wild animals but it’s under license. I frequently handle Newts and Reptiles. You just have to respect them and be careful and usually it’s all okay!
@@NatureScopeYT Thanks its all good 👍
How far do you typically have to travel? Do you still spend most nights at home? I've heard that field ecologists travel very far and often have to stay overnight in hotels (as you did in this video) or be away from home for days at a time. This doesn't seem like it'll mesh well with family life, so i'm hesitant about the position. I'm going into the ecology field quite late compared to most with my first industry placement in a few months, and I can see the job lifestyle putting quite a strain on things. It's making me consider going into animal husbandry instead.
Hey! Thanks for the comment. I can only speak from my experience and I'll be honest it depends on the week with both, in terms of travel I sometimes had 500 mile weeks, a lot of the job is behind the wheel of your car. It really depends week to week, we got paid for mileage which was very generous, but with the current fuel crisis the profit you make per mile is going to get less and less every single day.With hotel stays some weeks I never spent a night in a hotel, some weeks it was 5 nights, on average I'd say 2/3 nights a week are in a hotel, we also had them booked for us by someone in the office so they weren't always the best and it really depended on the area you were in as to the quality of the hotel (London is more expensive so you'd usually have a worse hotel than somewhere cheaper because of budget) It doesn't seem to mesh well with family life but some people I worked with made it work, I was fortunate enough to have no home commitments when I worked there. Anymore questions feel free to ask! Feel free to subscribe too.
@@NatureScopeYT Thank you for giving such a detailed response. 2 nights a week on average doesn't sound too bad in the grand scheme of things, though 3 would probably be pushing it a little when it comes to balancing home and work. I've heard the larger companies are typically the ones that send you the furthest away, so perhaps I can target smaller consultancies when the time comes. I'm aiming to get into either aquatic or plant ecology, so I might be able to avoid the bat surveys and their anti-social work hours.
I had a follow up question that's probably quite dumb, but you said about half the job is spent driving from site to site and that you get paid for mileage, does this mean they compensate your fuel costs, or do you still get your hourly salary while you drive?
@@porcu12345 No worries! I can only speak for the company I worked for again, we got paid an hourly wage, that included the time we were driving as well as time doing the various surveys, writing up data sheets etc… we also got a certain amount per mile we drove. This was more than enough to cover the fuel we used + a fair bit extra which I saved incase anything went wrong with the car 😁 So when driving we got paid per hour, and a fee per mile we drove too!
@@NatureScopeYT That actually sounds really good. I'd have been happy with just the salaried driving, let alone the extras! Do you find that you do many bat surveys as a seasonal field ecologist? They are probably my least favourite aspect of the job based on my limited bat survey experience and job research. I find them a little boring I guess, but it's having to stay away from home for days to do the dawn & dusk surveys that sucks most. Did they offer you much choice in terms of what surveys you could focus on? I'm planning on getting most of my volunteer experience in either aquatic environments or botany, so i'm hoping I can avoid bat surveys and find a more stable work routine, but it seems like that's a massive part of what seasonal field ecologists do, especially at bigger companies😪
Hello sir. I'm watching your channel.. even I don't understand English well. But still watching and im willing to learned of what about your job .. regards From Philippines .. Marjorie Bea
Thank you so much! I’m glad you enjoyed 😄
My dream job
Go get that dream job mate!
@@NatureScopeYT Im thinking of switching to either environmental science or biology. I love learning about the earth, it's history, it's weather, the animals that create an ecosystem. I'm also one of the people that prefer to be out in the elements doing field work than inside doing desk jobs.
I’m the same, love being outdoors in all weathers!
how much salary do you get?
Depends which company! At this one I was on £10 an hour + mileage. At the second company it was £22,000 Pro Rata + Mileage
Language.. I'm learning from it
Be careful when you go on field you might in counter a snake 🐍🐍 it's dengerous . Very dengerous..
Haha! We only have one dangerous snake here. The rest are harmless.