Small World, Big Issues
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Blogger: Abigail Lynch, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife and a CSIS member, blogs from Down Under -- she's in Australia to build a framework for her dissertation research. She's interested in developing a decision-support tool to regulate harvest management strategies for lake whitefish in a changing climate.
Small World, Big Issues
Thursday, July 7, 2011
I met with Eddie Game who works with the Nature Conservancy (TNC). It was actually quite a fortuitous coincidence that I was even able to meet with Eddie because he just returned from three months in the U.S. It’s amazing, I sometimes feel like I’m a world away here in Oz, and then I meet someone like Eddie who knows the exact building I used to work in and knows people with whom I work closely. When dealing with the big problems of conservation, it can often be a small world.
Talking with Eddie about his role at TNC brings up an important scary issue -- THE FUTURE. What will I do after graduate school? I often side-step this question, citing the years and years of work I still have remaining on my dissertation project. Still, I cannot deny that it’s an important question. The way I see it, with my education and developing skill set, I have three major options to pursue upon graduating: academic research, management, or a non-governmental organization (NGO), like TNC. All three of the tracts have their benefits and detractions, but, of the three, an NGO experience is the only one that I haven’t personally had. I’m sure working for one organization is very different from working for another, but the concept of working outside of the regulatory framework of government or the yoke of academia must provide some common experience. Eddie seems very happy with his role at TNC and what he and the very productive organization are able to accomplish in a non-legislative tenure. But, of course, I know of folks who are equally satisfied with comparable positions within the academic or governmental realm.
Ah, decisions, decisions.
Lynch's studies are supported by a William W. and Evelyn M. Taylor Endowed Fellowship for International Engagement in Coupled Human and Natural Systems, an International Studies and Programs Predissertation Award, an Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, and Behavior Summer Fellowship, a Graduate School Research Enhancement Award, and a travel award from the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
