/out/ - Outdoors » Thread #171061

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17KiB, 467x303, DNR-logo.jpg

Anonymous Fri 02 Aug 2013 18:40:59 No.171061 View View Reply Original Report

Hi guys,

I just graduated undergraduate and I'd like to find a job with the DNR or the Nature Conservancy. Does anyone here on /out/ work for either of those or anything similar? I got a degree in ecology and eventually I'd like to be a wildlife biologist. I'm not applying for graduate school programs until next year so I'd like to find a decent job to do in the meantime. If anyone has tips or ideas, I'm all ears.

I was originally going to just post this on /an/ but it's relevant to /out/ too and most of the people on /an/ probably are here too.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 02 Aug 2013 18:51:04 No.171067 Report

Quoted By:

I live in the Midwest USA btw

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 02 Aug 2013 19:06:15 No.171071 Report

Quoted By: >>171076

You won't get a field science position without at least a masters or a lot of experience. You don't need a degree for their other jobs.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 02 Aug 2013 19:09:09 No.171073 Report

Quoted By: >>171076

I don't work for them but there's a pretty cool place you could work at that takes a decent amount of interns. Its like right on the IL/IN border at a place called Willow Slough. There's a DNR headquarters out there that takes interns from places like Purdue and stuff.

Source: I fish there and my grandparents live very nearby

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 02 Aug 2013 19:13:43 No.171075 Report

Quoted By: >>171078

>>>/pol/18327897

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 02 Aug 2013 19:15:37 No.171076 Report

Quoted By:

>>171071
I'll be going for my masters next year so I guess field science positions are out for now. What are some of the other jobs do you think that I could qualify for? Thanks for the info.
And do you recommend looking at each state's separate DNR site or is there a place where I can look at all the job listings regardless of location?

>>171073
I'll look into it, thanks! Are the internships paid? I'm not expecting to get rich but covering living expenses and saving a little money for school would be nice. I saw some internship listings but they aren't paid and actually cost money to take part in.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 02 Aug 2013 19:17:35 No.171078 Report

Quoted By:

>>171075
top lel, they could have just called the place or knocked on the door and talked to the owner. There must be some other reason they went through all that trouble.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 02 Aug 2013 19:33:32 No.171089 Report

Quoted By: >>171100

is DNR the way to go to being a park ranger?

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 02 Aug 2013 19:46:55 No.171100 Report

Quoted By: >>171102 >>171106 >>171107

>>171089
DNR is one way to go to be a park ranger.

"Ranger" is a pretty broad term these days. Some work for the city, some for the feds, some for county or city governments.

Some rangers do law enforcement, some do conservation, some do outreach and education.

Figure out what kind of ranger you want to be first, then find the appropriate agencies to see what kind of qualifications there are.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 02 Aug 2013 19:48:40 No.171102 Report

Quoted By: >>171107

>>171100
>Some work for the STATE, some for the feds, some for county or city governments.

edited.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO rangerball_bearspr.png, 296KiB, 1000x2040

Anonymous Fri 02 Aug 2013 19:55:44 No.171106 Report

Quoted By: >>171110

>>171100
he should become this kind of ranger

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 02 Aug 2013 19:55:54 No.171107 Report

Quoted By: >>171111

>>171100
>>171102
as far as conservation goes, The Nature Conservancy mentioned in the OP is the biggest conservation organization in the US right?

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 02 Aug 2013 19:58:56 No.171110 Report

Quoted By: >>171113 >>171114

>>171106
is bearspray ineffective or is this some /pol/ constitution joke I'm not getting

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 02 Aug 2013 19:59:15 No.171111 Report

Quoted By: >>171112

>>171107
One of, if not the, largest.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 02 Aug 2013 20:02:01 No.171112 Report

Quoted By: >>171121

>>171111
a professor I'm cool with said to look up jobs for the nature conservancy, what are some others? I always thought these organizations were different from state to state and worked through the state's DNR

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 02 Aug 2013 20:02:14 No.171113 Report

Quoted By: >>171116 >>171152 >>174473

>>171110
No, bearspray is really effective actually.

A lot of /k/ommandos and /pol/s insist that they don't need bearspay because they have guns, but spray has been proven to be more effective than firearms at preventing/reducing bear attacks and in some instances shooting the bear with a gun actually made the attack worse because wounded animals become more aggressive.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 02 Aug 2013 20:03:36 No.171114 Report

Quoted By:

>>171110
rebelball friend had the bearspray but was trigger happy ;-;

do check the references at the bottom

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 02 Aug 2013 20:05:03 No.171116 Report

Quoted By: >>171117

>>171113
Doesn't the bear spray harm the bear though, or is bear mace different from bear spray? There aren't any bears within a hundred miles of here so I doubt I'll see one unless I went looking for one.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO UC-Davis-pepper-spray-615x345.png, 271KiB, 615x345

Anonymous Fri 02 Aug 2013 20:07:06 No.171117 Report

Quoted By: >>171119 >>171128

>>171116
just temporarily. same if you use it on some hobo trying to steal your purse downtown. it's just pepper spray.

dunno about bear mace (which i'm assuming is the chemical). bearspray is just a big pepperspray cannister like pic related

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 02 Aug 2013 20:09:10 No.171119 Report

Quoted By: >>171122 >>171128

>>171117
interesting
I can see myself turning a corner and seeing a massive grizzly and spraying it with bear spray but the wind picks up and blows it back into my eyes and the grizzly gets a nicely seasoned and blinded meal.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 02 Aug 2013 20:09:56 No.171121 Report

Quoted By: >>171124

>>171112
The Nature Conservancy is a private Non-Profit that works commonly works State/Fed/Local agencies. They also do a lot of work with corporations and often try and facilitate cooperation between for-profits, non-profits and government agencies.

There are other big outfits like the Sierra Club, the Audubon Society, etc. And there's tons of local and regional conservation groups that are usually dedicated to a specific area, species or goal.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 02 Aug 2013 20:11:08 No.171122 Report

Quoted By: >>171126

>>171119
watch some videos of the bear spray and how it works. that isn't going to happen.

plus even in the worst friendly fire case it's harmless to both you, people around you, and the bear. just hurts like hell for awhile. nobody has ever been documented to be killed in a bear attack with bear spray ever, with guns it does happen... sometimes resulting in the bear's death too, sometimes not

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 02 Aug 2013 20:13:55 No.171124 Report

Quoted By: >>171137

>>171121
>There are other big outfits like the Sierra Club, the Audubon Society, etc. And there's tons of local and regional conservation groups that are usually dedicated to a specific area, species or goal.

cool, I didn't know there were so many others. Is there a website you know of where I can look at job listings for these groups or do I just have to look them up individually? I tried to look up conservation biology societies but couldn't find a collection of job listings.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 02 Aug 2013 20:18:04 No.171126 Report

Quoted By:

>>171122
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWnACum4SJs

lel

REI Guy

REI Guy Fri 02 Aug 2013 20:19:37 No.171128 Report

Quoted By: >>171141

>>171117
>>171119

All bear spray is pepper based. The name "Bear Mace" is a colloquial use that causes some confusion. "Mace" is one of the companies that produces bear spray (the other big one is Counter Assault) but it is not the synthetic chemical spray used for riot control.

The pepper spray doesn't permanently harm the bears, but it does make them really uncomfortable and convinces them you are not worth the trouble. It will, however, fuck people up rather badly. It's way more concentrated than regular defense pepper spray and can put people in the hospital.

Wind has not been shown to be a significant hazard when using bear spray. It is highly pressurized and settles quickly (since it's an oil). Unless you are in extremely windy conditions, it is unlikely that the spray will blow back on you.

And remember, bear spray is not brains in a can. The best way to avoid bear encounters is to prevent them before they happen. Bear spray is very effective, but it is a last resort.

REI Guy

REI Guy Fri 02 Aug 2013 20:31:52 No.171137 Report

Quoted By: >>171142

>>171124

http://www.conservationjobboard.com/

This is usually a good place to start, but there isn't always a consolidated list of jobs. The best thing to do is usually contact organizations and find out if they're having any meetings or events you can attend.

Be forewarned. Many smaller organizations will probably expect you to volunteer for a while before they offer you a paying gig. Also, a lot of conservation jobs are seasonal/temporary. A lot are conservation workers are what I like to call educated nomads (along with artists and software people) who float around working on contracts and temporary jobs. One of my co-workers is currently working on a 6 moth water quality study for King County, last year she was working on a joint state/fed river conservation project.

If you want a steady paycheck and a good retirement plan, you're best bet is government work but the long-lasting jobs have more office work involved and less field work.

There are also for-profit firms that do environmental impact studies for land developers and big corporations, they can be lucrative but tend to be more irregular.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 02 Aug 2013 20:35:08 No.171141 Report

Quoted By: >>171152

>>171128
I thought a shotgun is the last resort

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 02 Aug 2013 20:36:23 No.171142 Report

Quoted By:

>>171137
awesome thanks a lot for the info m8, I'm surprised I didn't find that site myself

REI Guy

REI Guy Fri 02 Aug 2013 20:47:15 No.171152 Report

Quoted By: >>171154

>>171141

See

>>171113

Shooting a bear has been proven to be less effective at deterring attacks than using bear spray, and in many recorded cases has made the incident worse for both bear and human.

It's not about "don't bring a gun" it's about "do bring bear spray".

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 02 Aug 2013 20:48:40 No.171154 Report

Quoted By: >>171161

>>171152
right but you're saying bear spray is the last resort but isn't a gun the last resort after bear spray?

REI Guy

REI Guy Fri 02 Aug 2013 20:54:36 No.171161 Report

Quoted By: >>171163

>>171154
Not really, because if you've gotten to the point where you're using bear spray and it doesn't work you're not going to have time to charge, level and aim a shotgun.

And considering that studies have place bear spray effectiveness at 95-99% it's unlikely that it won't work.

Guns aren't really included in the bear attack continuum except for making noise to scare bears away.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 02 Aug 2013 20:58:16 No.171163 Report

Quoted By: >>171170

>>171161
hmm, I wonder what I would do if I came upon a bear suddenly in the woods. Tbh I'd probably shoot out of fear as my first instinct. The biggest thing I've come across has been a fat raccoon though.

REI Guy

REI Guy Fri 02 Aug 2013 21:08:27 No.171170 Report

Quoted By: >>171171 >>171174

>>171163

If it's any comfort, just remember that more people are killed by vending machines each year than by bears.

Most bears are weary of people and will actively avoid them if they are making noise and moving around. While you're hiking, make noise on the trail. Clap, sing, whistle, etc. If I know I'm in bear territory, I'll hang my cook set on the outside of my pack so it rattles around.

And like I said, you can still fire a shot off for the noise, that will scare most bears off. Just don't not to hit the bear, because if you wound it it will consider you a threat and fight harder.

REI Guy

REI Guy Fri 02 Aug 2013 21:09:36 No.171171 Report

Quoted By:

>>171170
>just TRY not to hit the bear

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 02 Aug 2013 21:13:26 No.171174 Report

Quoted By: >>171181

>>171170
>just remember that more people are killed by vending machines each year than by bears.

link?

REI Guy

REI Guy Fri 02 Aug 2013 21:46:30 No.171181 Report

Quoted By: >>171191

>>171174

Arrgh, I'm having trouble finding the link now, but IIRC the Consumer Product Safety Committee averaged vending machine deaths at 2.18-2.25 a year, whereas bear related deaths have averaged 2 or less a year over the last decade.

I know it's an over simplified statistic, but it's something I use to calm down nervous customers before I go in to my spiel about proper bear avoidance procedures.

Obviously where you are makes a difference as well. You're obviously more likely to cross paths with a bear in Kodiak Island or Glacier National Park then you are in Missouri or Arizona.

Here's a good link with a yearly breakdown of bear-related deaths each year.

http://www.statisticbrain.com/bear-attack-statistics/

Obviously people should be weary of bears, they are dangerous, but it's best not to freak out about it.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 02 Aug 2013 21:59:25 No.171191 Report

Quoted By: >>171193

>>171181
of course the vending machine deaths are directly self-inflicted by careless people and not actually perpetrated by sentient vending machines...r-right?

REI Guy

REI Guy Fri 02 Aug 2013 22:00:45 No.171193 Report

Quoted By:

>>171191

Sure...it's just coincidence that so many vending machines are now connected to wireless networks.

Pure coincidence.
(they're coming to get you, Barbara)

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 02 Aug 2013 22:11:44 No.171199 Report

Quoted By: >>171202 >>171204

>>171197
>Student Conservation Association

Sorry I said corps because I first heard about the SCA back when I was in the Youth Conservation Corps.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 02 Aug 2013 22:14:26 No.171202 Report

Quoted By:

>>171197
>>171199
thanks man, this thread has been productive and interesting

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 02 Aug 2013 22:16:19 No.171204 Report

Quoted By: >>171215

>>171199
What do you do now?

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 02 Aug 2013 22:33:53 No.171215 Report

Quoted By: >>171393

>>171204
I'll be back at college (music education) in a few weeks, and am currently unemployed.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 03 Aug 2013 01:57:37 No.171393 Report

Quoted By: >>171400

>>171215
why the switch from conservation to music?

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 03 Aug 2013 02:07:47 No.171400 Report

Quoted By: >>171401 >>171474

>>171393
I was never studying anything but music. I've always been /out/ and it was a good summer job

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 03 Aug 2013 02:11:10 No.171401 Report

Quoted By:

>>171400
oh ok good luck with school

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 03 Aug 2013 02:41:26 No.171414 Report

Quoted By: >>171415

what is the pay like for these entry level positions?

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 03 Aug 2013 02:43:56 No.171415 Report

Quoted By: >>171422 >>171430

>>171414
For an internship? If it's paid at all it will likely be a little more than living expenses

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 03 Aug 2013 02:55:43 No.171422 Report

Quoted By:

>>171415
Or for a 6month to year long DNR or conservation group like the Nature Conservancy position. I'd almost certainly have to move to do it.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 03 Aug 2013 03:16:34 No.171430 Report

Quoted By: >>171444

>>171415
living expenses coverage is alright but it would be nice to save some for school later

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 03 Aug 2013 03:57:25 No.171444 Report

Quoted By: >>171445

>>171430
I'm sure you can find something like that if you peek around

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 03 Aug 2013 03:59:35 No.171445 Report

Quoted By:

>>171444
hopefully lol, I want to get this taken care of by september when my lease ends

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 03 Aug 2013 04:50:33 No.171474 Report

Quoted By:

>>171400
what kind of music do you study? Is there such a thing as /out/door music?

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 03 Aug 2013 06:15:54 No.171516 Report

Quoted By:

>>171061
don't bother posting it on /an/, it's mostly about pets and has very little traffic

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 03 Aug 2013 17:28:12 No.171736 Report

Quoted By:

I might as well ask here, anyone work at the nature conservancy on /out/?

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 03 Aug 2013 17:53:06 No.171744 Report

Quoted By: >>171749

getting an outdoorsy job with DNR that isn't maintenance is a bitch, and if you tell them that you are only interested in working for a year that will largely kill your chances altogether.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 03 Aug 2013 18:11:41 No.171749 Report

Quoted By:

>>171744
OP from yesterday, it doesn't have to be outdoorsy necessarily, I just want something ecology-related and the DNR is the first place that a professor recommended

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 03 Aug 2013 18:56:15 No.171770 Report

Quoted By: >>171776

I'm currently an LTE VSA in Wisconsin at one of the parks. Its boring as shit and I sit in an office for 8 hours a day but its fucking easy money and just a summer job through college so I cant really complain. I am most likely going to try to get a job in forestry or a warden position and having prior DNR work experience helps a shit ton getting hired down the road. All jobs are posted online every spring so look at whats available in your area and apply if you want some easy sorta/out/ jobs.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 03 Aug 2013 19:04:14 No.171776 Report

Quoted By: >>171779

>>171770
my state's DNR job site just lists the senior positions, is there a central job board site for DNR?

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 03 Aug 2013 19:09:56 No.171779 Report

Quoted By: >>171781

>>171776
Not sure. Just dig around on your state's DNR site. There's a ton of information on them, its just all laid out really shitty and hard to find. Look for LTE positions (Limited term employment, its basically just their summer jobs) if you want something easy to get hired at with little to no skill.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 03 Aug 2013 19:13:40 No.171781 Report

Quoted By: >>171783

>>171779
alright thanks for the tip, all I found were unpaid internships but it's probably buried somewhere on the site

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 03 Aug 2013 19:16:58 No.171783 Report

Quoted By: >>171787

>>171781
There's probably not to much available right now but if you look in the spring there will probably be a shitload of jobs available.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 03 Aug 2013 19:20:53 No.171787 Report

Quoted By:

>>171783
I should be able to find something before fall at least so I can work in fall and winter

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 03 Aug 2013 21:41:59 No.171851 Report

Quoted By:

>>171061
How long are these seasonal jobs? 6 months? Or actually the length of a season?

Anonymous

Anonymous Sun 04 Aug 2013 20:15:29 No.172459 Report

Quoted By: >>172607

What sort of pay do park rangers get when they start? I met some before but I felt like I would be rude to ask their salary.

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 05 Aug 2013 00:21:27 No.172607 Report

Quoted By:

>>172459
varies based on what they do, I'd say 50 grand per year isn't unrealistic

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 07 Aug 2013 03:11:52 No.173993 Report

Quoted By: >>174452

I'm a 19 year old collegefag with no experience in outdoors-related work. I want to work for the USDA/Forest Service in an innawoods job while I go to school part time.

What should I do? Just contact the ranger office in my town and ask? The USAJobs site or whatever isn't helping much.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 07 Aug 2013 19:52:56 No.174452 Report

Quoted By:

>>173993
USAJob site sucks dick

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 07 Aug 2013 20:19:07 No.174473 Report

Quoted By: >>174490

>>171113

A lot of /k/ommando's use something larger than a .22 or 9mm when going in the woods too. No shit they're not as "effective" as something that is a "I hope this pisses them off enough to run away but not so much it makes them attack" and pray's on the animals aversion to skunks.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 07 Aug 2013 20:35:40 No.174490 Report

Quoted By:

>>174473
I'm as /k/ommando as the rest, but bear spray is more effective and should be used first if possible. It doesn't prey on their aversion to skunks, it burns the hell out of their eyes and mucus membranes. Bears are also smart, and ones that are sprayed teach their cubs to avoid humans potentially saving both bear and human and hopefully selecting for this behavior.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 10 Aug 2013 03:26:32 No.176074 Report

Quoted By:

I have the feeling that jobs like these are ones that they'll demand "experience" for but the only way to get that kind of "experience" is by getting the job that requires the "experience." I've had enough of being a sorry sack of NEET shit and want to do something useful for nature. Is that the way it be? I do think it be like it is but do it?

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 10 Aug 2013 19:53:26 No.176421 Report

Quoted By: >>176574

What's the pay like for entry jobs?

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 10 Aug 2013 23:11:21 No.176574 Report

Quoted By:

>>176421
apparently it depends on skill level so you have to have previous work experience to make more than bare bones

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