Careers in wild animal welfare
May 27, 2020
You might be interested in using your career to help wild animals. What knowledge and skills should you build to help make a difference? I surveyed the Wild Animal Initiative team about the most pressing talent gaps in the wild animal welfare movement and how you can fill them.
Consider careers in academia, government, and nonprofits
The interdisciplinary nature of wild animal welfare means you can bring the welfare perspective just about anywhere. Welfare-oriented bioscientists would probably have the greatest impact working in academia, government, or nonprofits.
Academia: Research, teaching, or administration in disciplines relevant to welfare biology.
Government: Natural resource or wildlife management bureaus, environmental policy-making, or research funding allocation.
Nonprofits: Conservationist organizations that do work compatible with wild animal welfare, but are not yet optimized for it.
Go to grad school — if it’s a good fit
We need welfare-oriented experts in relevant fields, and graduate school is a great way to get that expertise. In addition to specialized knowledge, a graduate degree also affords you career capital that is useful in the government and nonprofit sectors, and necessary in academia.
“Graduate studies are really useful for going from 0 to 60 on research skills, but it’s important to do it right by taking an active role in research design. You can develop those skills without grad studies, but unfortunately academic publication [and] grant-getting ability can be very dependent on your credentials. If you want to be a researcher in wild animal welfare, I probably recommend it.”
— Michelle Graham“My main advice for someone would be to think about the range of jobs they think they would be happy in and consider the impact of having a PhD on those … [S]imply having a PhD seems to afford people more independence even in ‘normal’ jobs (which 80,000 Hours’ careers guide suggests is one of the best predictors of job satisfaction).”
— Luke Hecht
Even if you’re confident you want to pursue a research career, don’t rush into a masters or doctoral program. Grad school can take a big toll on you personally, and burnout is common. If you’re not sure what you want to specialize in, or if you’d be unduly stressed by graduate school right now, it’s okay to wait.
“To survive graduate school, you need a strong sense of motivation and awareness of what motivates you. In my opinion, graduate should not be pursued lightly, especially the PhD, because you will come out a specialist in the topic that you did your dissertation in. Choose wisely!”
— Jane Capozzelli
Specialize in an area you’re excited about
Because there is still so much we don’t know about what animals’ lives are like in the wild and how to help them, your personal fit might be the deciding factor in what skills and expertise you should develop. Find an area you’re motivated to work in and think creatively about how wild animal welfare relates to your research interests.
If you are in the process of specializing but haven’t yet found a discipline that calls to you, here are some that we would be particularly excited to see represented in the wild animal welfare space:
wildlife management
restoration ecology
community-based conservation
natural resource management
animal welfare science
evolutionary biology
urban ecology
stress physiology
comparative epidemiology or immunology
disease ecology
comparative neuroscience
remote monitoring
Non-bioscience expertise in these areas is less urgently needed, but is still essential to the long-term success of the movement:
operations
communications
policy
development
nonprofit management
social science research
Key takeaways
Welfare biologists could make an impact in academia, government, or the nonprofit sector.
Grad school is usually necessary for a career in research or natural resource management.
The range of disciplines relevant to wild animal welfare is broad. Personal fit is key.
If you’re passionate about helping wild animals, there are many ways to make a positive impact with your career. Play to your strengths, work where you can, and be creative!