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| Subject: | | Re: Welcome back! |
| From: | |
hw
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posted
Fri, Jan 30 2009, 12:22am
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Well in terms of my area of study, I'm currently majoring in geology.
I've been one of those students who dream of and would really love to go into paleontology (more specifically vertebrate paleontology which I bet must really hard to get into), but other than my family telling "Oh you won't make a lot of money working in that field.", I just couldn't find many universities in Canada with a paleontology degree (I was thinking of going to the University of Alberta, but I wasn't confident about moving and there's only a Bachelor's Degree at the University of Alberta if I recall). So after reading some science career guides, I've found two alternative ways that might lead me to paleo, biology and geology.
Although I am equally good in biology as I am in geology, I found that biology seem to have too many students in it and I didn't really like the idea of taking a lot of chemistry-related courses. Also, I wasn't sure what my chances of getting a job was with a biology degree.
So I chose geology, which apparently has way less students in it (at my school anyways), offers better chances of getting a job (with really good pay so I heard and the chances of being hired while being an undergrad seems pretty high as well...but due to the state of the economy, it might not be the case this summer) and I just didn't enjoy the smell of formaldehyde (the stuff they use to preserve dead bodies; in case I got the chemical incorrect) and so looking at rocks, minerals and fossils in the lab were a much cleaner and also drier activity. Of course, I also realized I do sometimes have to go outside and get dirty and deal with mosquitos! :)
In terms of paleo-related courses, my geology department does have a few (an introductory paleontology course that is a requirement for my major and a fun elective course on dinosaurs) and one of my current geology profs specializes in ichnology. In biology, I'm hoping to take a course that deals with palynology and paleoecology. That's as close to paleontology as I could get at my school.
Right now, I'm just kind of lost as how I could end up being in paleontology if it's even remotely possible. I'm guessing being at the right place (especially somewhere that's fossil-rich) and time would be the most obvious option.
So, I kind of like to know how you got into what you are studying right now. |
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| Subject: | | Re: Welcome back! |
| From: | |
mysticete
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posted
Fri, Jan 30 2009, 2:35am
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I have had a life long interest in animals, extinct and living. I originally considered going into a vet program, but realized that I really didn't want to have to deal with sick animals, especially having to deal with putting to sleep people's pets. So I ended up doing straight zoology at Michigan State (with a evolution and ecology focus). I networked with the MSU paleontologist (Mike Gottfried) by working in the collections there, and he was able to give me advice on good schools to apply to. Which is principally how I started with Annalisa Berta for my Masters in Biology, working on right whales.
I decided to stick with Marine Mammal paleontology, which seemed a field with alot of interesting questions, which led me to Mark Clementz at University of Wyoming.
And now I have to finish some chemical prep, so I will finish this post for now and reply more later |
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| Subject: | | Re: Welcome back! |
| From: | |
mysticete
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posted
Fri, Jan 30 2009, 4:43am
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As far as pay, several thoughts:
One, if you do land a academic job (which isn't easy), your pay won't be bad at all, at least by my standards. With Biology you can increase the chance of getting a job by either getting a lot of experience with modern animals, which may lead to state F&G type employment (not great pay), or by getting some genetics type background. Biotech companies offer a variety of positions, some which pay quite well. Via Geology, oil of course pays awesome; one of the former members of my lab here at Wyoming landed a job in Houston making 90,000 a year. Personally, I find most of Geology boring which is in part why I focused on biology in undergrad.
I would recommend getting a strong biology background even if you do prefer geology. Comparative Anatomy is for instance a pretty important course for paleo, and depending on your interests mammalogy, herpetology, and ornithology may also be important. Incidently, even with my bio background, after undergrad I seldom really had to deal with "fresh" specimens, usually just bones, which are not bad at all to work with. Personally I think biology gives one a slightly better background in paleo unless your interested in a few specific areas. It's also nice because it's a lot easier than to keep one "foot" in the present. For instance, one of my projects after PhD is looking at harbor seal speciation, and I would also like to go into more molecular systematics stuff with marine mammals, which present a wide open field.
And you don't have to be in a fossil rich area to go into paleontology (or even be that interested in field work). U of Michigan for instance is a great paleo school, despite Michigan having a crappy fossil record.
As far as Canadian schools go, you might look into University of Calgary's biology Masters/PhD program. I have a friend doing his PhD there, in Jessica Theodor's lab, and it sounds like a great school. I would also talk to your paleo prof about getting some research experience. If you have the motivation, there really is no reason why you can't go into paleo. |
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| Subject: | | Re: Welcome back! |
| From: | |
hw
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posted
Fri, Jan 30 2009, 8:01am
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Great, thanks. Everything you posted really helped me clear my head a bit.
In terms of biology courses, I have taken vertebrate biology (where the labs involve dissecting and comparing a number of representative species from each major class, so I guess this is what you meant as comparative anatomy course right?), introductory ecology, insect biology, and a special topics biology course about Charles Darwin's voyage and his work (though not necessary a course that focuses on evolution, as I'll mention later, there's a seperate course entirely devoted to evolution).
Since I have taken quite a number of biology courses (as electives for my major) so far, so I mind as well minor in biology. So right now, I'm currently taking an introductory genetics course and from there I plan to take a course on evolution.
In geology, I'm currently taking an introductory stratigraphy/sedimentology course, structural geology (a very brutal course if you ask me or most geology students at my school) and an environmental geoscience course (as an elective for my major).
In terms of jobs, I'm planning to just send my resume off to as many mining and geologic survey companies as I can for this summer to get some field experience (which I have yet to obtain). So I am pretty much keeping my options very open at the moment. If I come across a research assistant job involving ichnology, I mind as well give that a try if I don't get accepted by any mining company or geologic survey. I definitely should talk to my paleo prof for sure at some point.
Here are the department websites in case you're wondering what the courses I'm taking are like:
SFU Department of Biology
SFU Department of Earth Sciences
Cheers. |
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