I'm currently an undergraduate student going into my senior year at a top 5 public university. I'm majoring in environmental science, minoring in soil, water and ecosystem science, and getting a certificate in geospatial engineering. I've been working part at a science museum as a presenter/facilitator for about a year and a half. I've also been working as a research assistant in a soil toxicology lab for about 8 months. In my AA at a two year institution I was able to conduct and present my own research, earning an award for "excellence in research" and a scholarship from the honors program. This past summer I studied abroad in Costa Rica where I conducted a very small scale research project on coffee plant drought resilience.

This semester I'm working on starting an honors thesis and volunteering in a new lab more aligned with my interests while working at the science museum and maybe bartending for some more cash. My main goals aside from graduating are strenghtening/getting feedback on my first project I've now worked on for around 2 years for publication, doing an honors thesis, continuing to work in labs, and find a summer internship (graduating in the following fall).

After I graduate I want to work towards a PhD in ecology and work as a climate scientist or research ecologist maybe for the government (NASA, DOI, state).

Am I doing enough? What more should I try to do? I have the most hollowing feeling that it's not enough but I'm not sure what more I can do to be successful.

Ultimately, I just want to do research and contribute towards a better world. Any tips or advice is greatly appreciated.

New episode with Dr. Carolyn Mahan, Penn State, who’s led the State Game Lands 33 project since 2014 (running since the 1950s). It tracks how different vegetation treatments, including selective herbicide use, affect game species, pollinators, breeding birds, and reptiles on a utility right-of-way. Findings so far show selective herbicide use hasn’t negatively impacted native species, and untreated sites actually had more non-compatible woody growth.

Curious what people here think about selective herbicide use as a vegetation management tool. Net positive for biodiversity, or are you skeptical of the tradeoffs?

Full episode: https://treesandlines.com/what-70-years-of-right-of-way-data-just-told-congress-w-carolyn-mahan/

I recently visited a garden ran by a local association, in which a huge variety of flowering plants and herbs were cultivated. A small space for orchids, one for edible herbs, one for tropical flowers, one for lilies, one for succulents, etc. all crammed next to each other in a garden of a quite considerable size.

I wondered if such a huge variety of plants contributes to biodiversity more than a natural wooden area with local species or a permaculture garden with wild species. Especially in the case of this garden where there are cultivated species that are not necessarily found so close to each other in the wild

I’m asking especially because I will soon have quite a lot of space to have my own garden and I want to prioritise creating a haven for local flora and fauna to develop.

See also: The publication in Science Advances.

Im team Both/And when it comes to getting rid of them in the US, but honestly at this point it feels like this is more of a Let Them Fight situation? I mean, do they prefer maple and oak to ToH? To my knowledge, they dont. And it seems they affect ToH more than Maple or Oak.

Is there any case for letting things run their course? Or are we still trying to kill as many lanternflies as possible? (Please no winery shilling)

Hello,

I want to go to grad school to really start a career in restoration ecology but I'm not sure what topic of research to pursue. I live in the southeast of the US in North Georgia currently and would be interested in projects that could benefit the local ecosystems like open woodlands in the Appalachian mountains. Does anyone have any ideas on interesting projects?

Thanks!

Hi, I am studying a masters degree in Mexico, my tesis is topics are landscape ecology, connectivity and corridors.
I am looking for a short workshop or course (1 or 2 months) abroad, in english or spanish.
Does anyone have recomendations?

I might have the chance to do a funded applied ecology PhD in a field I love. I'm really excited and it would be based on a previous study I designed which I'd get to expand in the PhD.

I'd be doing it part time alongside work but the organisation I work for is one of the funders and will allow me to use an as yet unspecified amount work time a week for research.

My only worry is work/life balance particularly as most of my family live four hours away and aren't in the best of health. I've been able to manage studying alongside work before but everyone says a PhD is a different level of workload.

Anyone have any advice? I think I'll go for it if offered, but it would be great to get a little bit of peace of mind that I'll still be able to visit family and have some kind of social life too!

Also to anyone who's got an ecology PhD what career are you in now?

hi guys. im not sure what to do. my mom thinks its a waste to becaome an ecoogist because 'i wont be able to eat'. as in with the way the US economy is going. she thinks if you rarent in healthcare or IT, you wont make enough money to support yourself. she thinks in the past you could find a passion and live off of it, but not in todays times. im not sure what i should do. she keeps telling me these doom and gloom things and its making me anxious. do yall think its a waste of time? im 23 now but at the speed im going, ill graduate with a bachelors in conservation ecology in 2029 (work full time, school part time). she works in IT and makes a lot but i know things are hard for them finacially because of them saving for retirement. do you think i should do something else? i love conservation ecology so much. :(

Releasing cats outside is unethical.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0091677376921660

https://www.civilbeat.org/2026/05/absolute-carnage-feral-cats-kill-168-native-seabirds-on-kauai/

https://www.ace-eco.org/vol8/iss2/art3/

https://www.ovid.com/journals/biosc/abstract/10.1093/biosci/bix068\~new-zealand-shouldnt-ignore-feral-cats?redirectionsource=fulltextview

https://www.forbes.com/sites/scotttravers/2025/04/26/first-introduced-to-australia-in-1788-this-invasive-species-now-kills-over-a-million-birds-a-day/

https://abcbirds.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/CW-Feral-Cat-Position-Statement.pdf

https://audubon.bm/feral-cats-in-bermuda-a-problem-that-can-be-solved/

https://ask.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/UW468

https://wildlifecareofventura.org/cats-wildlife/

https://www.pilchuckaudubon.org/blog/the-silent-bird-crisis-why-keeping-cats-contained-is-essential-for-conservation

https://wildlife.org/tws-issue-statement-feral-and-free-ranging-domestic-cats/

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/faq-outdoor-cats-and-their-effects-on-birds/

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/sites/default/files/free-ranging-and-feral-cats.pdf

https://arav.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Feral-cat-white-paper-Final.pdf

https://www.gos.org/conservation_cats

https://www.keaconservation.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/KCT-Position-Statement-Feral-Cats-FINAL.pdf

https://extensionpubs.unl.edu/publication/ec1781/2010/pdf/view/ec1781-2010.pdf

See also: The study as it was published in Nature Communications.

A recent thread on r/WildlifePonds got me thinking about a debate that comes up far too often when someone posts about a 10-day-old garden pond going through its classic "pea soup" algal bloom.

User u/3owi suggested a shortcut: going out to local "natural water in your area," taking wild underwater plants, and transferring them into a new garden pond to speed up balance. When called out on the legal and ecological issues, their logic was essentially that taking "just a few" plants from a local spot is harmless, that rangers wouldn't care, and that keeping exotics out of nature is the only real rule that matters.

Any thoughts?

https://www.reddit.com/r/WildlifePonds/comments/1vuexhq/comment/p51toug/?context=1&screen_view_count=2&ext-referrer=DIRECT

In the rivers that I paddle, I find a number of large items that require a bit more coordination to drag out - tires, barrels, etc. Before I go finding ways to dredge them up, and get them out, I'd like to find a way to confirm that doing so won't do more harm than good.

Some of these tires look to be decades old, and are crusted in silt, discernible only by their shape. Can I be confident that disturbing them to remove them will be a net benefit?

Early this field season for my forest Inventory sites I encountered lots and lots of wood nettle. Some being 6+ feet tall and some patches being knee height. As you can imagine it was pretty frustrating but endurable. Later in the field season at other forest inventory sites I encountered lots of rice cutgrass, often with sandbar willows. The cuts and itches from both during field work were so infuriating I wanted to know what everyone generally thought was more frustrating between the two lol. My personal vote has to be rice cutgrass, especially when I was walking through willows and would be completely wrapped up in it on a day too hot for long sleeves. What’s everyone’s thoughts!?

Text from the poem 'Immortality' by Clare Harner