Our Wild Lives

Fieldwork 101 with Erik, Olivia and Clare

• The Wildlife Society

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Ever wondered what it really takes to do wildlife fieldwork? In this episode, head into the sagebrush with three graduate students studying shrikes, pygmy rabbits, and sagebrush songbirds. Hear about the honest, useful details: how to prep for a season that vanishes in a blur, what gear actually matters (sunshirts, yes; sandals are…controversial), and how to recover when things go sideways. This conversation shows why being there changes what we can know.

We talk about finding the right lab and advisor, applying to technician roles with volume and intention, and writing cover letters that are specific, early, and honest about gaps. You’ll hear how non-traditional students can be standout techs, why transferable skills matter, and how rolling reviews reward applicants who don’t wait for deadlines. The stories are unfiltered: a black bear on hind legs eyeing a “blood smoothie,” a near nap on a rattlesnake, a UTV dropping into a hidden creek at night. The takeaway is bigger than any mishap: fieldwork is a rite of passage that teaches judgment, resilience, and the kind of naturalist attention that turns data into understanding.

If you’re plotting your first season—or your fifteenth—you’ll get practical advice you can use tomorrow: organize goals before the rush, expect to forget something, make peace with Plan B, and invest in the people beside you at 4 a.m. Because the field isn’t just where we collect numbers; it’s where we find the questions worth asking next. Subscribe, share this with a future field tech, and tell us: what’s your must-have gear—and are you team boots or team sandals?

Links to more information:

The Wildlife Society

About Erik

About Olivia

About Clare

Chalfoun Lab

Wyoming Cooperative Research Unit

Loggerhead Shrikes

Pygmy Rabbits

Brewer's Sparrow

Sage Thrasher

Sagebrush Sparrow


Katie Perkins:

Would you spend 12 hours a day crawling through sagebrush just to learn more about the world's smallest rabbit? What about being a walking scent trap for black bears? Peeping in on the secret lives of songbirds? Fieldwork is a rite of passage for many wildlife professionals, and in this episode of Our Wild Lives, I head out into the field with three graduate students to talk all things field life: how to prep, what to pack, and how to bounce back when things go sideways. We swap stories about wild encounters, field fails, questionable fashion choices, and why you should always check where you lay down. If you're dreaming of your first field job or looking back on your 15th season, this episode is for you.

Erik Schoenborn:

 My name is Erik Schoenborn, I'm a PhD student at the University of Wyoming working with Dr. Anna Chalfoun

Clare Kuhn:

My name is Clare Kuhn. I'm a first-year master student.

Olivia Beaudette:

My name is Olivia Baudette, first year master student, Dr. Anna Chalfoun's lab.

Katie Perkins:

So what are each of y'all studying this field season?

Erik Schoenborn:

So this year we're using predator cue playbacks to simulate predator abundance and examine how shrikes respond to that.

Katie Perkins:

Yeah, so you've got a DJ and a rave happening of crow calls all night long. Yeah, yeah.

Erik Schoenborn:

I'm gonna play headphones on, like scratch the record.

Clare Kuhn:

Yeah, yeah. My focal species is the pygmy rabbit. So they are the smallest rabbit we have in the world. And so I'm just following them and kind of seeing what are they doing in areas that are hotter on average, what are they doing in areas that are cooler on average.

Olivia Beaudette:

My project fits into a longer-running monitoring project with sagebrush songbirds, the sage thrasher, sagebrush sparrow, and brewer sparrow, looking at breeding activity, especially in areas disturbed by natural gas development. We're looking at how food and these behaviors influence ultimately survival after birds leave the nests. Yeah.

Katie Perkins:

So spending a lot of time out in the sagebrush this summer looking at those species that you kind of don't hear a lot about. How did all of you find these positions that got you out in this field work?

Erik Schoenborn:

Well, I am kind of in a unique situation that I worked with Anna for a few years prior to coming on as a graduate student. So I was fortunate enough to like select the species that I was working with. And she and I worked together to build this project from the get-go, which was really exciting.

Clare Kuhn:

So I kind of knew straight out of undergrad that I wanted to continue my education because although your undergraduate studies provide you with a really good foundation, I felt like there was much more for me to learn. And so I kind of instantly, you know, combed through to kind of any job site where they also post graduate positions. I remember seeing this position and I was like, I don't, I don't even know what a pygmy rabbit is. And so I remembered kind of Googling what the pygmy rabbit was and then being like, wow, this is probably one of the cutest things I've ever seen. And then kind of moving forward and talking with Anna, meeting with her, and I kind of realized that she had a group of students that I really enjoyed talking with. She has fostered a lab environment that is extremely positive and supportive. And so that's kind of what brought me to where I am now.

Olivia Beaudette:

I didn't know Anna coming in. I kind of just reached out to her. I've been doing field work for a while out of undergrad, and I decided that that pursuing a graduate degree was something I wanted. So I ended up doing research and looking into potential PIs, and I came across Anna and her work really resonated with me. I've done a lot of work in sagebrush systems with sagegrouse and golden eagles, and I really love the sage. So that kind of drew me in, and also the habitat selection aspect is something she really focuses on, and also the emphasis on providing information to other agencies, land managers for conservation implications was important for me. So those were kind of all the things that drew me to her lab.

Katie Perkins:

How are y'all prepping for these field work seasons? They're obviously very long, hot days. It's very mentally and physically taxing. What are y'all doing to prep for that?

Erik Schoenborn:

Well, first off, it doesn't, it doesn't even feel like that long of a season. It's like it goes crazy fast. So I think the important part is to like come in fully prepared, hit the ground running. Every year I'm surprised at how short it is, and it feels like it blows by. So just making sure that everything is organized up front, making sure you have a really good game plan and making sure that like I have the five things I'm really intending to get here as a pretty distracted person. It's easy to like go off in different directions. And so, like really just looking for what are the core things I need to get done.

Clare Kuhn:

I think for me it was kind of a long time coming, especially as this kind of being my first field season that I myself have planned and sort of like implemented. And so it kind of all started with reading a ton of literature, trying to be like, okay, how do we find these guys? How do we trap them? How do we observe them? And so first you kind of have to comb through the literature. And then in terms of planning how to get out here, it's it's a lot of spreadsheets, it's a lot of post-it notes, it's a lot of making sure that you have everything in order ahead of time. And even when you get out here, you're probably gonna forget some things. So it's a lot of just you know, checking, double checking, triple checking. And then once you get out here kind of being like, all right, like I'm gonna have to put in like an Amazon order, like on like on speed order on the things getting.

Olivia Beaudette:

I've done that.

Clare Kuhn:

Um, I agree with Eric that once you're here though, this is kind of an environment that you feel really at peace, even when you're out here. Because I mean, prepping for field work is you know, it's not a calm process. You have to go through a lot, you have to check a lot. But once you're out here, especially in the sage, it's very peaceful. But yeah, just really making sure you get as much done ahead of time as possible. But at the same time, you will have to kind of expect that once you get out here, there are gonna be things you forget. You're just gonna have to deal with it as it goes.

Katie Perkins:

For sure.

Olivia Beaudette:

Yeah, I resonate with that, especially just the fact that things will go wrong, and you have to be able to just go with it and adapt. And sometimes, yeah, that means placing some panic orders online.

Erik Schoenborn:

Um I mean, it's impossible to anticipate that you're gonna run into when you see an office five hours away. And I I think especially for these two that haven't really been in the field, and yeah, and then every year throws a curveball at you like this where we've been having some weird predation stuff and mortality. So um, even if you prepare really well, things fall apart pretty quickly.

Olivia Beaudette:

Yeah, that's just the nature of field work. Right. It's one thing. Things will go wrong, you just gotta figure it out.

Katie Perkins:

So, what are some of your like must-have pieces of gear or clothing and maybe something that like you wouldn't expect?

Olivia Beaudette:

Sunshirts, that's it. Yep, that's all you need. Yeah. I hate putting on sunscreen, it's important, but yeah, the most skin you can have covered is ideal. I'm Team Sunshirt all the time.

Erik Schoenborn:

The weird one for me would be sandals.

Katie Perkins:

Yeah, let's talk about that. That's because I was blown away.

Erik Schoenborn:

I don't really know what to say about that. I like wearing sandals in the field.

Katie Perkins:

Eric only wears sandals in the field.

Olivia Beaudette:

Is it the airflow? Like, what about it?

Erik Schoenborn:

It's the airflow.

Katie Perkins:

He loves sand between his toes.

Erik Schoenborn:

That's why I study in the sand.

Katie Perkins:

Uh-huh.

Erik Schoenborn:

But it prompts a lot of criticism and a lot of trap. One of Olivia's technicians at one point in a different field job asked me if I even know how to tie shoes. She was like, Do you need us to show you how to use shoelaces?

Olivia Beaudette:

None of those shoes have laces, genuinely. Like he wears slip-on boots, sandals. That's all I've ever seen.

Katie Perkins:

Blink twice if you need help

Erik Schoenborn:

Yeah. Just a YouTube tutorial on shoe tying skills.

Katie Perkins:

Bunny loops.

Olivia Beaudette:

It's okay. We can practice tonight.

Erik Schoenborn:

But they're great, yeah.

Katie Perkins:

So you heard it here, folks. Ditch the hiking boots, get the sandals.

Erik Schoenborn:

What's really funny also is every year we send out technician letters to when we're like, make sure you're well prepared to tackle the, I don't know, the climate or whatever. And my technician this year showed up and she was like, I'm wearing like basically swim trunks and these tiny little sandals. And she was like, You made a big deal in the interview about wearing the appropriate clothing for the field. And it looks like you're not wearing any of it. So you Yeah.

Katie Perkins:

Maybe don't take that advice. So when you're looking for these jobs, are you looking for a specific species? Are you more interested in a location? Are you just trying to get whatever you can get?

Erik Schoenborn:

I'll speak to when I used to apply to technician jobs because I think at this point it's a little different. But I think the key with technician getting a job as a field technician is just volume. Like it's quantity. You apply to everything you absolutely think you might be remotely qualified for. Anything you think might be interesting, because one of my first field jobs was a job I don't know that I was super excited to do up front. And I got it and had the best summer.

Katie Perkins:

Now, what were you doing?

Erik Schoenborn:

Uh avian point counts in Idaho with the Intermountain Bird Observatory. It was like a phenomenal field job, had such a good time, but at the time it was kind of just a throwaway application. So would apply to everything, put your name out there, write as many cover letters, well-written cover letters as you possibly can. But don't write anything off, especially when you're trying to land that first job.

Katie Perkins:

What's your fast tip for a well-written cover letter?

Erik Schoenborn:

Don't use Chat GPT. It doesn't have to be super intense. You don't have to put in a like, you know, I'm we're not looking for 12 hours at work here, but just read it through before you send it off. The number of cover letters that I I assume the other two have gotten as well that are addressed to like a ground squirrel job, but have my name in the title. You know, and it's like, okay, well, you didn't read this well enough.

Olivia Beaudette:

Yeah.

Erik Schoenborn:

But I think just like be genuine. I really enjoy cover letters where they kind of acknowledge the parts of the job they're not going to be equipped for. Right. People just being straightforward and honest about your situation. If you're just trying to like paint over your flaws, it's painfully obvious from an outside observer that like you might not be qualified for the job. So just be real.

Katie Perkins:

Yeah, yeah. And here's something I didn't realize. It's other students typically that are reading these cover letters, or are most of these technician jobs you're applying to work with a grad student. It kind of depends on the job.

Olivia Beaudette:

Yeah.

Erik Schoenborn:

But often it's like it's people that that have been in your shoes quite recently.

Olivia Beaudette:

Definitely. Right. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like another thing to add is I feel like you don't have to have all of the technical skills. A lot of skills that you have might be transferable in some way. So it kind of depends on how you kind of frame your experience too. And another another hot tip, I think. I don't know if this is true, but I feel like it pays to put in your application early. So a lot of times on job boards, they'll have like a due date. I feel like it's always good just to apply as soon as you can because a lot of times they're reviewed on a rolling basis. So I feel like it's always a good idea just to get it in as soon as you can. And I feel like it gives you a better chance.

Katie Perkins:

And what time should people be looking for field tech positions? What time of the year?

Olivia Beaudette:

Like months in advance of when you want to start, I would say. So we're talking like early year, like January, February. Yeah, that's when I started hiring. So yeah.

Clare Kuhn:

Yeah. But I think something that I found I really valued was I did include extra material on the job posting, just like, you know, a summary about, okay, this is the focal species we're studying. This is the area we're studying it in. If you indicated in your cover letter or in your interview that you actually read through those materials, that shows to me that you took the initiative to read through and it shows you're really interested. I'd say definitely when you're writing your cover letter, it is important that it is professional, but I do value when there is a little bit of humility and personality in them. You know, I don't, I don't want to just be reading something like kind of what we talked about earlier that was like Chat GPT or if it was just flat. Like I enjoy, you know, when you kind of tell your story of how you got to, you know, applying to this position, I find that really valuable. But in terms of when I was applying for technician jobs, I'm kind of in a unique situation because before this position, like I planned a future for myself to be a bear biologist. And so I was really only applying for these bear positions. But something that I look back on now and kind of think about is try a vast array of things. Like Eric said, he applied for a job that he maybe thought he would not have enjoyed. But a lot of the experiences that you think you may not enjoy or things that are very novel to you can end up being some of the like most fun, you know, parts of the summer and fun most fun part of the position. And something that I also value in kind of extrapolating off of something that Eric said was definitely be honest if you don't have experience that the job is looking for. Because to me, if you come forward and say, you know, I want to use this job to gain that experience, and you are honest that you may not have that direct trapping or handling experience, I value if you seem like you're willing to learn and willing to put in that effort. So that's definitely something else that I'd suggest for people kind of applying in this kind of crazy job climate right now.

Erik Schoenborn:

One just additional layer to that is that we currently have my technician has a degree in psychology, and Olivia has a technician who is a filmmaker.

Olivia Beaudette:

And she's lovely.

Erik Schoenborn:

Yeah, and they're some of the they're awesome technicians. So often able to like evaluate a technician even if they don't have like the exact qualifications that might be required for that position.

Katie Perkins:

That's a really great to to point out that there are a lot of career switchers that really want to work in wildlife. So I think it's probably really hopeful to hear that, you know, I'm a psychologist or a filmmaker and and I can go out and apply for these roles. So that was really, really awesome advice, y'all. Can y'all tell me a story of like some of the most memorable maybe wildlife encounters or maybe like weird people encounters that you've had in the field? What are you running into?

Clare Kuhn:

So last summer I was working as a black bear technician for Wyoming Game and Fish. And so we were operating in the Wyoming range, which is just a little bit further west of here. And so I remember it was like the final week. And when we visit each snare, we have to refill the bait. And so in this case, the bait was fermented cow blood, and then I also had lunch in my bag. So I was kind of like a walking target.

Katie Perkins:

Oh yeah, she was a bear snack waiting, just walking around.

Clare Kuhn:

And I remember it was like during my last week, I finally get up to this spot and I'm like in the process of bringing the bait down, refilling it, and all of a sudden I just hear sticks snapping like super fast, like just and I like looked in the direction, and like 50 yards away from me, I just see this black bear pop up on its hind legs and look at me. And we just kind of look at each other for a little bit and we're like, What are you doing here? In an instant like that, I just kind of went, Oh, hey bear, like I'm right over here. I don't want to surprise you, but I'm probably where you want to be right now. And so he it ended up dropping, coming a little bit closer, popping back up, and again had eye contact, muted, like, hey bear, like I'm over here. And then it just kind of ran off. So I finished the job, and as I started processing the snare, the hair was super dark black, and that bear was had a super dark black kind of pellage. And so I was like, he was just waiting for his blood smoothie. He was waiting for his refill, and I was holding him back from getting his lovely smoothie.

Katie Perkins:

It's like that awkward moment when you think the DoorDash delivery driver has left and you open the door and you're both just like looking at each other. That's exactly what that was.

Clare Kuhn:

That's probably the most entertaining or memorable kind of wildlife encounter I've had while in the field.

Olivia Beaudette:

I feel like one particularly memorable wildlife encounter was when I was on a sage grouse job and I was doing some veg surveys out in the sage. And one aspect of these surveys is you had to place a like a checkerboard in various locations and see like how visible the squares were just to check like how dense the vegetation was. And this involved laying down on the ground and looking at it from like a zero-degree angle essentially. And I did that and almost laid down on a rattlesnake. And the funny thing was that I was also voice recording at the time, so I caught my reaction on the voice recording, which was very funny.

Katie Perkins:

I need you to send me that one.

Olivia Beaudette:

I don't have it anymore. It it left with my field phone. Yeah, very sad. I never saved it, but it was yeah, it was funny.

Erik Schoenborn:

I've had like a number of pretty interesting wildlife encounters. I I think one that stands out is I watched a golden eagle predate a pronghorn. That was a pretty wild thing to watch. Uh, but I I think increasingly so I I do I think I've often been in a scenario where we're like a bunch of wildlife biologists sitting around and talking about like their crazy wildlife stories. I think at this point there's a lot of crazy things that you see out in the field, but I think some of the more important or like the more enjoyable moments I have interacting with wildlife are like a lot more mundane and a lot less like it doesn't make quite as good of a story to say this morning I looked at a gray fly catcher for a while, but like those are kind of the moments that really start to stand out as you kind of like get further down this career path, I guess.

Katie Perkins:

Yeah, awesome. Field fails. We've all had them. Give us a funny story.

Olivia Beaudette:

I feel like most days I have a field fail in some capacity.

Clare Kuhn:

So we're I guess I can kind of speak to one that happened this year. We were going to a point that actually Erik sent, and he was like, This is a really great looking drainage, it has really great sage, like you should check it out. And so we were taking, we were taking the two track on our way out, and we get to the point where the two track just disappears. And you know, to the point where the two track should be going, there's like a drainage, but it's it's dried out, or so we thought. And so we're like, we kind of canvassed the area, we stepped out on the drainage, we were like, okay, this seems solid enough, like this should be fine. We take the truck in, immediately just sinks down two feet to the point of like the bottom of the truck. And so I ring up Erik and I'm like, and I ended up like waking him up. I was like, we're stuck and we're pretty, far south Um, and so while he was you know getting ready, coming this way after I woke him up. I just looked at my technician and I was like, all right, we need we need to get to work. And so what we ended up doing is we drove the truck a little bit forward to kind of open the area behind the wheels, and I was like, all right, we're grabbing dead sage and we're grabbing cow pies and we are layering it up. I don't know how many cow pies we grabbed, I don't know how much dead sage we grabbed. And there was a point where I was on my stomach scooping out the clay with my bare hands to try to form like a ramp that would be, you know, easy to get up. And then Erik was like 20 minutes out, and I was like, So, Erik, I'm so sorry, but we got out. No, I'll get you a pack of beer when we're back. Poor Erik. But thankfully, most of my field fails thus far have been vehicles, and I've been able to kind of finagle my way out of them. But it was definitely humbling grabbing cow pies with my bare hands and laying on the ground.

Katie Perkins:

Note to self, don't let Clare drive your car.

Olivia Beaudette:

I uh drove a UTV into a a creek once. Um, accidentally, of course. I didn't know there was a creek. It was in the middle of winter, and there was snow covering some like runoff, and I drove over the section and it collapsed, and we ended up in a little creek um in the middle of the night as well because we were doing night work.

Katie Perkins:

Oh my god.

Olivia Beaudette:

So it was colds and wet, and we couldn't, yeah, we didn't have any luck getting it out, so we just left it there and hiked out. Um yeah.

Katie Perkins:

Sounds horrible.

Olivia Beaudette:

Yep.

Erik Schoenborn:

Have a pretty lengthy list of embarrassing moments. Definitely think I mess up like at least once a day, if not more. And I think that like uh yeah, it's the list is so long at this point that I don't even really keep track of how many things I've messed up at this point.

Olivia Beaudette:

Another one.

Erik Schoenborn:

Yeah. I think some of the more awkward moments have been bathroom moments where I thought I was alone.

Katie Perkins:

Oh no.

Erik Schoenborn:

I think like we'll just leave it at that. But moments where I felt very comfortable going to the bathroom and should not have felt all that comfortable.

Katie Perkins:

I think that's so typical of one of the big things that's so important about field work is that you learn so much, and even if a lot of that is by making mistakes, and and that's so important to just keep moving forward even after you've made those mistakes, because that's how you become a better scientist.

Erik Schoenborn:

My technician just was admitting to me recently that she was like, Man, I just feel like I've messed up a lot, and I just kind of keep fumbling some things. And I was like, I'm messing up twice as often as you are.

Olivia Beaudette:

I'm just not telling you. I'm just not telling you. That's so true.

Erik Schoenborn:

She has an obligation of telling me about her failures, and I just keep my failures nice and hidden.

Olivia Beaudette:

Yeah, you don't need to, yeah.

Erik Schoenborn:

Just sweeping dust over.

Olivia Beaudette:

So yeah, that is so true.

Katie Perkins:

What you're so excited to come back and do more work out in the field every season. Is it your favorite part of what you do? Is it, you know, something you tolerate?

Olivia Beaudette:

I feel like you keep learning new things, even regardless of how how long you've spent in a system. As part of my project, I've been putting out cameras on nests, and I feel like it's so exciting to get a glimpse into something that you normally don't see. And I've observed so many cool behaviors that birds are exhibiting that I never knew they did. I think those little, little tidbits where you're like, wow, I never knew they did those sort of things are so fun and exciting.

Katie Perkins:

Definitely.

Clare Kuhn:

Yeah, the field is definitely my favorite part. Like, yeah, classes are important, but if I had it my way, I'd be out here year-round for sure. I think there's just something about being out there with your study species, looking for them and kind of being in the same area that they are. I find it very calming. Even if, you know, I go a full day without seeing any pygmy rabbits. I'm still pretty like, okay, I'm gonna go over this ridge and there's gonna be one, even if there isn't one. Like, what a beautiful, like it was such a beautiful day and stuff like that. And so I think that's definitely part of it. I just kind of have this preference and just love for just being outside and like this position allows me to do that. And I wish, yeah, again, I wish it was year-round. I wish it was every day.

Erik Schoenborn:

I think like being in the field is so enjoyable. Um, just on face value, it's really nice to just walk around and look at birds. Every time I'm out here, there's like for every one question we kind of start to chip away at, there's like 10 more that come up. And it's so fun just going out there and thinking, I wonder why that's occurring. Trying to evaluate how capable I might be of answering that. Likely not that capable. But um, you know, like just kind of diving in more. So kind of what Olivia was saying, where when you get to make these really interesting observations and watch these animals doing their thing, it it kind of like sparks a lot of different questions. And the hard thing, I think, at this point is to like stop. So Mila's questions and his questions, these are the two we're doing.

Olivia Beaudette:

Focus, Erik, focus.

Erik Schoenborn:

But that is what's so exciting about being out here is you have these observations and you get to take that back to the office over the winter and think why did that occur and dig into the literature and come up with generate more and new exciting questions.

Katie Perkins:

Yeah, talk more about you know, why we do field work and what are the broader implications of of why it's so important to spend this time out here and and really dive into these kind of studies.

Erik Schoenborn:

Yeah, I think there are a lot of papers that are put out that are people analyzing existing data sets, and I think that those are tremendously valuable and they contribute a lot to the field. But I think often times really having your finger on the pulse and watching these interactions out there in the field offers a lot. And I think on top of offering science a lot, it also just offers you a lot in terms of learning how to work with these species, trying to understand the system you're working in. Um, so I think being in the field is tremendously valuable, both on the science end, but also just as naturalists and people who are trying to observe these species and care about them. And then I think just from a mental health perspective, it really helps me to just sit out there and watch birds half the day. So that's I think that the value of that cannot be overstated.

Katie Perkins:

That's so well said, Eric.

Clare Kuhn:

Working with a species that has such a limited amount of literature on it, you know, I've read all of it and I come out here and I see things that I'm like, this isn't consistent with what they're saying. And so I kind of have to put myself in a position and kind of what Erik was talking about earlier. I'm asking myself new questions that haven't been answered. I'm coming up with new questions. I think I've asked Anna to add like five additional questions onto my thesis, and of course she said no. But it's just because you come out here and you realize there's so much more to a species than what you'd get from just reading the published literature. There's always more to find and there's always more to ask. And so I think that that's why field work is really important. And, you know, for a species like the pygmy rabbit, which very cryptic, very hard to track down, you know, there's really some species are just inherently so difficult to study just using into the existing literature, existing data sets. And I feel like we're in such a changing world that you kind of need to go out. You need to see how they're doing right now. Like how they were doing a year ago might be different from how they're doing right now. So I think field work just really, you know, helps you encapsulate what the animal's experiencing, what they're going through, and then kind of fills us in as much as possible on okay, this is what's going on, this is what we can do, and these are the questions we're now asking based on what we're seeing.

Olivia Beaudette:

I also think there's a lot of value in learning, as a graduate student, learning how to conduct a field project too, and kind of all of the things that go into it. What sort of data are you collecting? What questions will those data answer? So I think it's just really helps to think critically and more about your project by going through the motions of field work.

Katie Perkins:

Yeah. For sure. A s we wrap up, what are like your fast fact, fast advice to, you know, maybe someone getting out in the field for the first time, maybe someone who didn't have a good field experience is gonna give it a go again. What advice would you give them?

Erik Schoenborn:

Most field jobs, whether they're the best field job or the worst, have some really big pros. Like there are some really fun aspects, even to the toughest jobs. So I think if you kind of eliminate those expectations and just go into it and take it in for what it is and get the experience you can and enjoy yourself where you can, you're gonna be much better off than like, you know, going into any job and having this like, we're gonna capture animals every day and we're gonna be walking around in tropical rainforest. Like just go in there and enjoy the parts that are gonna be good because there are gonna be some bad parts and you need to like kind of come to terms with that.

Clare Kuhn:

I think I personally, every field season I've had, I've had a week where I'm like, oh my god, I can't do this. I I need to leave, like I can't do this, like this isn't gonna work. And it's normal to have those feelings, it's normal to go through them. And I mean, the best advice I can really give is just hold on, make the most out of the experience that you have, even if it is a little rough, like find the good things, you know, that you that you're going through. And but also the mutual understanding of field work isn't easy work, it's tough. And so, you know, you may have to kind of develop more grit. And if it goes against your expectations, just kind of tough through it. But there are ways to make sure that you kind of get the most out of it for yourself and that you, you know, can do all you can to make it enjoyable.

Olivia Beaudette:

Yeah, I feel like some of my most memorable field experiences have come from times where I've said yes to different offers or experiences that people have just come up to me and been like, hey, you want to tag along and do this? Or I feel like there's a lot of value in just being flexible and a lot of cool, fun, exciting experiences come from that. Another thing that I think is really important about field work, so there's the job, but there's also the people and the people and forming relationships with people, especially in this field, is really important. I have some truly lifelong friends from prior field jobs. So I feel like embracing kind of the social aspects of field work too is very important.

Katie Perkins:

Definitely agree. Well, thanks, y'all. This was awesome. Thank you. Any any parting words?

Olivia Beaudette:

Get out in the field.

Katie Perkins:

There you go.

Clare Kuhn:

Olivia and I will have field positions open next summers. Uh yeah.

Katie Perkins:

If you want to live in Pinedale

Olivia Beaudette:

Check Texas A&M job board

Clare Kuhn:

in early February or late January.

Olivia Beaudette:

Reviewing apps immediately. Do not wait.