During my beginning undergraduate years, the idea of being a biologist was equivalent to being a magician. You know what they do, vaguely, but the behind the scenes activities are hidden. Now that I have been working along side state biologists for some time, I felt it was important to express exactly what these people do.
Educating the Public
A lot of the work biologists do involves public education. At least a good 10% of state employed biologists work with this directly through hunter's education classes. Another large portion educates as a part of their job. In the private lands sector, for instance, biologists are required to meet with land owners and offer advice for how to best manage their property. This includes, but is not limited to, teaching landowners how to use specific equipment, proper burning techniques, and plant and animal identification.
In addition, many other biologists volunteer a large portion of their time to educate the general public. This can be through classroom discussions, public presentations, or even small private classes. Many states have courses called Master Naturalists that teaches anyone interested on their local nature.
Data Entry
Unfortunately, a lot of work involves sitting behind a computer and entering data. Biologists are constantly recording the phenomenon around them. Each detail, each significant blip, is recorded and then processed to find significance and correlation (though correlation is not always the answer!) A large portion of a biologist's duties involve finding answers and applying statistics to the natural world.
I had the pleasure of completing data analysis for a biologist recently. I went through hundreds of hours of audio recordings to identify endangered frogs. While sitting at a desk may seem easy, the work can get highly repetitive and frustrating- especially when computer errors occur.
Field Work
The rest of a biologists duties include field work. This can be extremely taxing on the body, yet they are enthusiastic to be a part of it. Some examples I have assisted with include spending 14 hours walking through sand to track shore birds, sitting on a boat for an entire day to record hawk behavior in 30 degree weather, and venturing through cornfields at 2:00 AM to net and band woodcock.
Most importantly, biologists are here to protect and serve the world we live in. More often than not they are enthusiastic to discuss your local wildlife, and interested in what you see and interpret in the world. If you have questions about your local woods, or have been wanting to become more in tune with the resources around you, call your local wildlife office. They would be thrilled to help you better educate yourself.
