u/ibabygiraffe

Hey y'all, just popping in with a quick question. I went to school (undergrad and graduate) for natural resources and primarily wildlife biology/management. I specifically want to work with/for/around wildlife. I couldn't land a wildlife biologist or tech role this season, but I got a gig with AmeriCorps doing land conservation. This is pretty much my first ever real role working in natural resources, so I know some experience is better than no experience. However, my question is: will a role like this help me gain the experience needed to land some sort of wildlife tech role? Or should I try and move on as soon as possible to something else? For context, it seems like most of what I'm going to be doing will be managing invasive plant species, planting native plant species, and the occasional environmental education work with some field survey work for herps here and there.

Long ago, I watched the whole Game of Thrones series when it was airing, and like pretty much everyone else out there I felt Seasons 1-4 were some of the best television in history, Seasons 5-6 were starting to falter but still good, Season 7 was disappointing, and Season 8 was a train wreck.

I had never read the books, but recently decided to give them a try and read every available ASOIAF book (spinoffs included like F&B and AKOTSK). I'd read a book, then watch the corresponding season. The books were amazing, but I immediately felt a slight shift in Season 5 with the writers deviating from AFFC and ADWD (i.e. omitting Young Griff and giving Jayne's storyline to Sansa), but I was able to tolerate it. Every now and then there'd be a head scratching moment, like after Hardhome when for some reason Jon and the wildlings are somehow trying to cross the wall at Castle Black instead of being ferried to Eastwatch, but for the most part I was able to get through it. Season 6 was more of the same, just really weird decision making and the battle strategies displayed in the Battle of the Bastards being illogical, but it was at least entertaining television.

I've just started Season 7 again, and holy fuck, I don't think I'm gonna be able to get through this. I distinctly remember somewhat enjoying Season 7 as it aired, but watching it now knowing everything I know about the characters/politics/world of ASOIAF feels like I'm being forced to endure genuine torture. Queen Cersei being a thing, especially after blowing up the Sept of Baelor with precisely zero consequences drives me nuts. Show Euron is downright unwatchable, and how they are able to build that many ships after losing the majority of their fleet to the Greyjoy siblings makes zero sense. The Tarleys siding with Cersei is ridiculous, Highgarden being sacked offscreen is mind boggling, and don't even get me started with the Casterly Rock fakeout.

This is really gonna come off as unorganized ranting, but like I needed somewhere to verbalize this. Nothing ground breaking here, just someone who has had the show tainted by reading the books and is now a certified book supremacist.

I know herpetology is the catch-all term for the study of reptiles and amphibians, and herpetological is often used as a catch-all term, but I've been wondering lately if there is an "-an" word for herps, similar to "mammalian"/"avian"/"reptilian"/"amphibian"? I've been doing a lot of applications lately, and I often find myself saying "I have avian ID experience", and when I go to say the same thing about herps, using "herpetological ID experience" just feels weirdly wrong?

Just a general question I'd like to pose to people here in the sub. I just graduated with my Master's degree in May 2026, and I've been applying to just about every wildlife and environmental adjacent job here in my state (Ohio) since March 2026. I've landed a few interviews, even fewer second interviews, and no jobs. Always seems like there is someone else out there with more experience than me and they manage to land the job. The job market BLOWSSS right now for just about every field, especially natural resources with everything going on at the federal level, and it's getting a little disheartening. All these interviews at state and federal agencies keep telling me to keep my head up and keep trying, telling me that they got rejected from their first 6 or 12 job interviews, and most of these people have been working in the field for like at least 5 years.

So I'm just curious to hear it, especially from new graduates here, how's it going? How many rejections has it taken to land a job? Have you even landed a job? All that jazz.

Hi everyone, I just graduated a few months ago with my Master of Environment and Natural Resources, and I got a certificate in Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). My main focus in graduate school was wildlife management, but I got the certificate because EIA/EIS/NEPA is super interesting to me as well and seems it would be maybe more prevalent than wildlife management when it comes to job availability. I mainly use the Texas A&M natural resources job board, alongside USA Jobs and my state government job website. My question here is where are you guys finding these jobs working in EIA/NEPA/EIS? I rarely, if ever, see a role in those fields on any of those listed sources. Rarely, I'll see a private sector job on LinkedIn that is focused on NEPA and usually wetland delineation, but that's rarely. Where are y'all finding these jobs? Any suggestions?