The Value of Networking and Volunteering

Posted by John Pohl May 10, 2009

In my experience, there are a several things young people who aspire to work in the marine sciences can do, above and beyond the standard advice “pursue good grades and take as much math and science in high school as possible.”

I will cover one each in my first few blogs.

First: volunteer. Find some way to connect with researchers and offer to help them out as a volunteer. The key is to build relationships, and to showcase your interest and willingness to work. Academic bookworms are a dime a dozen. You have to network.

My big break came as a junior in high school. I volunteered for two weeks with a biologist doing Blacklegged Kittiwake studies. For two weeks I raced around Prince William Sound, Alaska in a 25’ Boston whaler with twin 120 HP Johnson outboards, chasing radio-tagged birds and detailing everything they did.

(When a seabird has a tailwind, they haul bass. Oftentimes we couldn’t keep up!)

We had a great time, laughing and joking through good weather and bad, success and setbacks; and by the end of two weeks I’d gained a true friend. I also began learning seamanship, and how a professional wields the scientific method. A year or two later, when the Exxon Valdez oil spill happened and science agencies were scrambling to determine the oil’s impact, this biologist called me at college and offered me a summer position with his crew.

For the duration of my college years, I built summer field experience: seabird ecology work on Marbled Murrelets, Pigeon Guillemots, and Blacklegged Kittiwakes; and survey work, by boat and plane, on sea otters.

It. Was. A. Blast.

The lesson I learned: network early! Don’t just be a resume or a set of transcripts, get out and meet people and see what you might do to serve them. The willingness to do so opens doors like you wouldn’t believe.