See below for Advice, Resources and Recent postings for master's and PhD opportunities.
Advice
- Lay the foundation: This field heavily values proof you can handle fieldwork, data collection and analysis, and science communication. Start by volunteering and then progress to summer field and lab technician positions or internships. Don't forget you have the Richmond Guarantee and other options to help facilitate you gaining experience. Participate in ECO and conferences and meetings, and build your network as much as possible. Gain experience in conducting hypothesis driven research and in the application of various tools, including GIS, R, and Python. Focus on building relationships with your faculty, research mentors and advisors - these are the people writing your letters of recommendations.
- Be clear on why you want a graduate degree. Ask yourself, "Do I want to conduct research, apply science, manage projects, shape policy, consult, lead organizations?" Graduate degrees help in pursuing a research career paths, achieving professional requirements for career advancement and specializing in a field, species, system or method.
- Plan early - The process in selecting and applying to graduate school should ideally start two years before you want to enter a graduate program.
- Consider whether you are pursuing a master's or doctorate degree. Think about the jobs you want and what their qualifications are; does it require a master's or PhD or simply experience? This decision will also depend on your existing competencies in knowledge and skills, certainty in your specialization, maturity level, ,confidence in your abilities and commitment to the time and dedication required. Not all graduate degrees serve the same purpose. Investigate thesis-based Master's (MS - best for research, PhD prep, some govt agency and NGO positions), non-thesis and professional master's degree (MA - best for management, policy, consulting positions), doctorate (PhD - best for academic positions, advanced leadership, specialized sciences).
- Consider funding needs and options. Many programs provide some or complete funding, which may be in the form of tuition waivers, research stipends, and health insurance. There are also opportunities to acquire your own funding through scholarships and fellowships.
- For research based degrees, you need to be accepted by both an advisor and the graduate school/department at the university: The advisor often matters more than the university name. Consider their research quality, publications and funding history, mentorship and co-authorship of their students, involvement in professional societies, communication style and more. Start to reach out to potential advisors early (9-12 months before applying) to express your interest and to learn if they are going to have openings in their lab. Be strategic in your correspondences and focus on clear and concise email correspondences (attach your CV). Reach out to your advisors, ECO faculty advisors and the Career Center for help in developing emails, CVs and app
- Apply to universities early. Application materials are often due in the fall for the next academic year. However, you may find advisors advertising for graduate students throughout the year based on when they receive funding. Frequently look at advertisements on various job boards and listservs.
- Reach out to your academic advisor, ECO faculty advisors and UR's Career Center for help in developing inquiry emails, CVs and application materials.
Useful Resources
- Blickley, J. L., Deiner, K., Garbach, K., Lacher, I., Meek, M. H., Porensky, L. M., ... & Schwartz, M. W. (2013). Graduate student's guide to necessary skills for nonacademic conservation careers. Conservation Biology, 27(1), 24-34. Link
- Carson, W. P., Kuebbing, S. E., Betras, T. L., Campbell, A. S., McQueen, E. W., Moore, C. L., ... & Washington, N. N. (2021). Advice on applying to graduate school in ecology and evolutionary biology. Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America, 102(4), 1-20. Link
- Estien, C. O., Chapman, M., Schell, C. J., Lowy, N., & Gerson, J. R. (2023). Demystifying the graduate school application process. The Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America, 104(1), e02029. Link
- ESA Resume writing
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