Measuring water quality parameters in the field
Benthic/invertebrate sampling
Oyster/shellfish sampling
Plankton/phytoplankton sampling
Vegetation/seagrass/marsh surveys
Long-term monitoring programs
Working outdoors in remote/natural environments
Working in developed/urban environments to investigate environmental impacts
Traveling to different field sites
Hands-on equipment/sensor deployment
Water quality laboratory analysis
Contaminant/PFAS analyses
Phytoplankton ID/analysis
Ecotoxicology experiements
Growth/physiology experiments
Developing/testing laboratory methods
Cleaning messy environmental datasets
Multivariate community analysis/ordination
Building environmental models
Working with long-term monitoring datasets
Integrating multiple environmental datasets
Developing research questions
Reading scientific literature
Writing scientific papers/reports
Collaborating with other scientists
Working independently on a research project
Mentoring/teaching students
Managing a research project
Wildlife/resource management
Environmental monitoring for management decisions
Developing management reccomendations
Assessing conservation priorities
Working for a state/federal natural resource agency
Working with NGOs/conservation organizations
Coordinating research within multiple partners
Translating scientific research into management
Writing policy/management documents
Working directly with stakeholders
Working with municipalities/local governments
Communicating research to non-scientists
Mostly computer/data-based
A true lab + field + office mix
Working on long-term projects
Shorter projects with lots of variety
Working as part of a large interdisciplinary team
Working in a small research group
Having your own research questions/project
Following established monitoring protocols
Working directly with the public/community
Having a tangible, visible conservation outcome