Over Worked Marine Biologist Filter

May 23, 2010 7:23 PM

Asking for a friend. He's a marine biologist who usually does ecological impact studies prior to any kind of construction work along coasts or out in the oceans. He works world wide and constantly. He spends a great deal of time out in the field and it's becoming detrimental to family life.

After hurricane Katrina and now with the BP spill he is almost constantly deployed in the field setting up research sites. He's one of the folks who's going to be leading recovery efforts after the BP disaster.

The question is: in his field, is it feasible to make a lateral move into consulting work or some thing that requires less time away from home?

That's it. If anyone has any experience in the field or has been in a similar situation, your advice and knowledge is greatly appreciated.

Many thanks in advance!

posted by snsranch to Work & Money (5 answers total)

Yes. He can probably easily get a consulting gig with that background. The amount of field work is going to depend on his level of seniority and pay rate though: is he a PhD chief scientist type who will spend a lot of time writing reports and proposals or a field crew leader mid level scientist type who will be needed in the field?

I'm in a similar field and have reaches the desk bound stage. It sucks on some ways but I'm going to have a vegetable garden for the first time in 15 years this summer.
posted by fshgrl at 8:32 PM on May 23, 2010

my first thought is this:

i have one of those in my family, and she does not have a family and longs for a home base. that is the nature of her work. i don't have any experience with making a lateral move, is there such a thing? i'll be watching this thread....however, i am glad that she is the one leading the efforts that she leads. we need her. it sounds like we need this guy, too. we're in a tight spot with this oil spill situation.

i just checked in with my sister, and she said maybe not so much opp for consult work
posted by bright and shiny at 8:42 PM on May 23, 2010

Has your friend considered work in aquatic endangered species recovery planning? Someone has got to write those giant recovery plans, and those tend to be desk jobs for people with exactly the background that your friend has. I work in this field in Canada, and there is no shortage of desk work in trying to meet legislative responsibilities. NOAA/NMFS would be a good place to look.
posted by just_ducky at 12:22 AM on May 24, 2010

Interesting question--I'm a marine biologist too, and my job is to do ecological impact assessments prior to any kind of construction work along the coast. I work for a state conservation department, and my duties are split between field work and desk work, with around 30% of the time in the field. Theoretically I could be called in to work overtime in the event of a serious storm, like a hurricane or flood in my region, but that hasn't happened in the 3 years I've been here. Most days it is a relatively straightforward 9-5 type of job with good benefits and generous vacation time. There are some downsides--sometimes it can feel like I'm drowning in bureaucracy, and it's frustrating when my recommendations are overridden for political reasons, but overall it's not a bad job (especially on sunny days out in the field!) and I do occasionally get to make a small corner of the world a better place.

If your friend is interested in that type of thing, he could look into government work. The federal government may have more options, but then he could end up deployed around the country (I don't know how that works, so I could be wrong). If he works for a state or county/city agency, it's likely that he'll never have to leave the area. He may need to take a civil service exam to get on the eligible hire list, and job openings may be scarce until the economy picks up. I've never worked as a consultant, but from what I understand, they usually get a slightly higher salary but fewer benefits and less job security.

One more thing--depending on who his current employer is, your friend could have problems moving straight into a consulting gig if there are any non-compete clauses in his contract.
posted by Jemstar at 7:28 AM on May 24, 2010

Response by poster: Many thanks folks! I'll pass these idea and info along and personally, I think these are all great answers.

If he has additional questions or wants to contact any of you, I'll MeMail you first to see if that's ok.

Thanks again, you guys are great!
posted by snsranch at 4:25 PM on May 25, 2010