Weecology's Wiki
Career Guidance
Career Paths

Career Paths

Data Analyst/Scientist

  • Summary: Data analysts/scientists are involved in data manipulation, visualization, analysis, and interpretation. They work in a broad variety of environments including government, NGOs, industry, and academia.
  • Core skills: data manipulation, visualization, and analysis in high level languages (primarily R and Python), oral and written communication of results to broad audiences, and the ability to collaborate with people with a broad range of technical backgrounds.
  • Things to do: 1) Learn R/Python, git/GitHub, statistics/machine learning, and Rmarkdown/Jupyter/Shiny; 2) Build website showing off these skills; 3) Start a data analysis related blog.
  • Weecologists to talk to: Xiao Xiao, Dave Harris, Kristina Riemer, Ben Morris, Clayton Bingham.
  • Job Ad Examples

Entrepreneur

Take your skills and start your own business.

  • Wecologists to talk to: Elita Baldridge, Clayton Bingham, Juniper Simonis

Faculty - Research Focused

  • Summary: Research focused faculty are involved in conducting research, writing research papers, mentoring graduate students, writing grants, and teaching. They work primarily at R1 and R2 universities (see Carnegie Classifications for more details).
  • Core skills: conceiving scientific questions, implementing data collection and analyses to answer them, oral and written communication of results to broad audiences, mentoring, and project management.
  • Things to do: 1) Do and publish research; 2) Learn research related skills (e.g., field work, R/Python, statistics/machine learning, metabarcoding, experimental design, mathematical modeling, and many more)
  • Weecologists to talk to: Morgan Ernest, Ethan White, Zack Brym

Faculty - Teaching Focused

  • Summary: Teaching focused faculty are involved in classroom teaching, mentoring undergraduates (including on research projects), writing research papers (typically with students), and writing grants. They work at variety of institutions including community colleges, small liberal arts colleges, and state colleges and universities.
  • Core skills: course design, modern pedagogy, oral and written communication to broad audiences, mentoring, and project management.
  • Things to do: 1) (co)Teach a course as an instructor of record; 2) Become a Carpentries instructor and teach workshops; 3) Do and publish research (postdoctoral research experience is increasingly desired by more selective teaching institutions).
  • Weecologists to talk to: Sarah Supp, Kenneth Locey, Daniel McGlinn

Faculty - Extension Specialist

  • Summary: Land-grant universities in the U.S. have an outreach mission mandated by the federal government that is referred to as extension. The goal of extension is to communicate research products to the end-users. This mandate covers the general areas of agriculture, home and family, the environment, and community economic development. At a land-grant university there are special faculty who serve at the interface between research and outreach. These faculty often have part of their appointment dedicated to outreach and part to conducting research. Research is typically focused on an applied need in the state. Outreach activities may take a variety of roles from consulting with state agencies, running workshops to train state agents and/or the public in resources or tools, creating outreach material through websites or pamphlets, giving public talks to local organizations. There are a number of faculty in WEC with extension appointments (e.g., Mark Hostetler, Elizabeth Pienaar, Mathieu Basile).
  • Core skills: oral and written communication to broad audiences, project management, research-related skills.
  • Wecologists to talk to: Zack Brym

Research Scientist

  • Summary: Research scientists is a general descriptor for individuals employed to conduct specific research tasks and are employed in government,NGOs, and consulting. Individuals in these types of jobs are employed to design and conduct research that meets specific needs of that organization (e.g., provide analysis on management effectiveness, evaluate and recommend monitoring designs, determine potential environmental impacts or assess recovery). These jobs often also have an element of project management (managing the budget allocated for those research activities, management of field technicians, coordination with other units or agencies). Government scientist positions (at state and federal levels) often involve course requirements to qualify, which depend upon the title of the position (i.e. a Field Botanist would require a certain number of credits in plant-focused courses).
  • Core skills: research-related skills (depending upon the type of position - field ecology, data analyst, statistician), oral and written communication to broad audiences, basic project management.
  • Wecologists to talk to: Kate Thibault (her original position at NEON was as a Research Scientist)
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Science and Technology Policy

Program Officer

Project Manager

  • Summary: Project managers oversee the planning and execution of projects. The difference between a project manager and a research scientist is that the project manager is often not involved in the execution of the project itself, but in managing and facilitating the ability of others to execute on the project. Project managers are employed in government, NGOs, and industry. They may manage a single lab, an institute/center, or extensive programs within large organizations.
  • Core skills: personnel management skills, project management, administrative skills (procurement, hiring, budgets), oral and written communication to broad audiences.
  • Wecologists to talk to: Glenda Yenni, Kate Thibault

Software Developer/Engineer

  • Wecologists to talk to: Henry Senyondo

Statistician

  • Summary: Statisticians are involved in data manipulation, visualization, analysis, and interpretation. They work in a broad variety of environments including government, NGOs, industry, and academia. Similar to Data Analyst/Scientist but typically with greater emphasis on the statistical analysis component of the job.
  • Core skills: statistics/machine learning, data manipulation and visualization in high level languages (primarily R and Python), oral and written communication of results to broad audiences, and the ability to collaborate with people with a broad range of technical backgrounds.
  • Things to do: 1) Learn R/Python, git/GitHub, statistics/machine learning, and Rmarkdown/Jupyter/Shiny; 2) Build website showing off these skills; 3) Start a statistics/data analysis related blog.
  • Weecologists to talk to: Xiao Xiao, Dave Harris, Juniper Simonis

Technical Writer

Other Resources

Aurora proves self-paced learning modules for PhD students & postodocs that include exploration of different career paths. UF students, postdocs, and staff can access Aurora by: 1) clicking this special: link to Aurora; 2) selecting University of Florida from the drop-down menu; 3) clicking Submit; and 4) logging in with their GatorLink username and password.