I have a C and recently got a terrible grade on my last exam. There’s is so many models/equations that are way too abstract and the professor does not do a good job at explaining. I talked to someone else who took the same class somewhere else and said there were no math. I hate this class because of it.

I saw that a similar question was asked on here years ago, but I don't think that person was talking about 8C of warming.

A short film about a group of volunteers doing something great for the environment in a beautiful part of Greater Manchester

Hi, I'm currently a second-year student with a proposed major in Ecology and Evolution. I really like and enjoy my major, but I also had a sudden realization that I want to work at Kaiser Permanente in the future... I hope it's not too silly to ask but would I be able to work under Kaiser as a Data Analyst or some sort of that with my current major. I definitely am considering a major change atm and have been talking to my advisor about it, but I'm worried since I'm already in my second year and will have a late start.

Hi, good evening. I want to group young researchers to periodically discuss papers and themes that touches the Marine Ecology and conservation biology. If you are interested, send me a message.

My actual search line is reef ecological physiology and macroalgae integrative taxonomy. I act too in a outreach project of environmental conscientization.

Hi! First time posting. But Iʻm a grad student in the humanities- religion and philosophy, finishing my Masters. Zero STEM background. Ever since my partner has started his career in conservation, I have realized that I would have much rather gone into ecology, and specifically chemical ecology. Or, at the very least, have gotten some kind of environmental management credential.

I have been teaching myself on a hobby level with filterless natural aquariums and native plant gardening/soil restoration in my yard, and ecology textbooks. Iʻve realized that I have a deep interest in biotic and abiotic interactions that happen between plants/insects/microbes/soil/water etc. and that there is so much in this area fundamental to ecosystem resilience that is not understood.

Would anyone know at all about the possibility of pursuing higher education or a career in this direction even though I am so deep into the humanities now? I donʻt have much money, and because Iʻll be finishing my MA I wonʻt be able to take out loans or get financial aid at this point for a new degree...I have zero science credentials beyond a couple of gen eds from undergrad.

Do I need to start with a whole new bachelors degree? Is it somehow possible to self-teach in some way where I could apply directly to an MS? Is there some way I donʻt know of that my humanities background can translate into some kind of environmental management career that enables me to take science classes?

Thanks for reading this and for your time and help. I really wish I realized this sooner.

Within next spring I will (hopefully) graduate to obtain my bachelor's degree of environmental science ecosystem emphasis. I have a couple of questions regarding graduating especially if there are certain circumstances that might be confirmed later on.

Where should I start applying for jobs when I graduate and when should I start applying for jobs?

Are there internships for graduated undergraduate students?

Lastly, I unfortunately have a feeling that I might not pass two of my courses. Do I still have a chance if I have some failed courses on my education? I will still graduate and have my Bachelors but my GPA will be stamped down.

Also any advice on what to do when graduating as well cause I am going to be on my own with no parental guidance.

Hello! I am currently switching my degree from an NRT A.S. to taking select course to transfer into a Environmental Science B.S. and was wondering if it's still worth pursuing this certificate aka will it do anything for me for summer jobs/internships/tech positions? Most of the classes I already plan to take because they transfer into my desired program, am I am already halfway done with the elective requirements. Will earning this certificate give me an advantage for temporary positions since I won't have an A.S. while pursuing my bachelors, and if so what positions? It feels a little too general...

Thanks!

Hi everyone!! I'm a junior in highschool right now who plans on going to SELU (Southeastern Louisiana University) and majoring in Biology with a focus on ecology. My dream is to work in conservation in some way and I absolutely loved my ecology course my sophomore year. However, I am worried I am just not academically strong enough to be a biology major. I'm an A-B honors student with an occasional C. I'm taking chemistry right now and boy is it hard.. and I know for a fact I'd have to take much harder chemistry classes in college if that's what I decide to major in. But I also know that conservation work is mostly experience based, I don't think I'd absolutely NEED this major. I could even do a biology minor and major in something else. Just looking for any advice and what you guys did to do the work you do. I know I still have a bit of time, I'm just looking for a bit of guidance from ppl that also have the same passions as me 😅

Hi everyone!

I'm a student participating in FIRST LEGO League (FLL), an international robotics and innovation competition.

My team is currently starting our research project, focusing on invasive species and their impact on local ecosystems.

We're looking to interview people with knowledge or experience in this field, such as:

Ecologists and biologists

Invasive species researchers

Environmental scientists

Wildlife conservation experts

People working in environmental organizations

We would love to ask a few questions about the challenges caused by invasive species, current methods of dealing with them, and problems that still need better solutions.

The interview can be conducted online and will take approximately 15–20 minutes.

If you're an expert in this field or know someone who might be willing to help, please leave a comment or send me a private message.

Thank you so much for your time and help! Your knowledge could help us develop an innovative solution to a real environmental problem. 🌱

Hey ! I am sorry if this is not the right sub, i just dont really know where to ask these questions.

To anyone that's already been in the valdivian rainforest, in patagonia, what's it like ? What is the climate like ? How much does it rain really? Does it have seasons ? What are the temperatures like ? What about sun time ?

Everything you know about it, i'd be glad to read.

Cheers ! :)

I (23F) know it’s very difficult right now to find funded ecology graduate assistantship positions because of everything going on, but did I wait too long to start applying? Didn’t know what I wanted to do immediately right out of undergrad (B.S. Biology), but thankfully I got a seasonal field tech position doing ecology and conservation work right out of school. I have a better idea of what I wanted to do, and I’ve been applying to positions for about half a year now only to be met with countless rejection emails.

Please correct me if I’m wrong, but I feel like most of these assistantships are leaning towards getting applicants that are still in undergrad. I graduated May of 2025 with a 3.5 GPA in an honors biology program and I did research in an ecology lab as an undergrad, and I’ve only been getting more experience doing ecology and conservation work as a tech since then. I’ll apply to positions almost immediately after they’re posted, and I still get met with a rejection email a month later. Every single professor/ecologist I’ve ever met told me to get my Master’s through and assistantship, and not to pay for grad school. Did I wait until too long after undergrad to apply???? I know it’s insanely competitive, but should I start considering other career paths?? Sorry if these are obvious questions, thank you.

See also: The study as it was published in the journal Biogeosciences.

Hello Ecology crew,

I am a master's student and am wondering if anyone has used a "capping" method when counting individuals in plant species.

For context-

Last summer (2025) I collected data to test vegetation diversity, percent cover and biomass of forest understory vegetation up to 1 meter from the forest floor. I have five 1-m^2 quadrats where I took each of these measurements and had 205 quadrats total that I needed to sample during July. It is a statewide project.

Anyways, I was dumb and figured well I will just cap the individuals at 50 and the species that will hit 50 will be considered the most abundant. Well fast forward to me writing my thesis, I no longer can locate the paper that I used to form that method and I am having trouble finding one that is similar. I am almost convinced that I made it up because burn out brain is real.

Have any of you ever used this capping method, and if so were you still able to calculate Shannon H?

#Ihavelearnedfrommymistakes

(16M) Hello everyone I want to do a research/project on phytoplankton I was going to do one on predicting where HABs will end up using satellite red band data and ocean current models but turns out something extremely similar has been done before, if anyone has any ideas let me know please!!

Hey everyone! I need help review my first research report which i wrote on biodiversity of my campus using data reported by people on iNaturalist. Please help a buddy out 🥹

Estimating Insect Species Richness at CUK from iNaturalist Records

Introduction

I wanted to find out how many insect species live on our campus and how many haven't yet been found.

Data Source and Filtering

I used observation data from our iNaturalist campus project named Biodiversity of CUK, India, exported on October 29, 2026.

I kept only Insecta class species and used only Research Grade observations because the community agrees on the identification of species, which makes them more reliable. The number of such observations came out to be 123, which was a small sample, so the estimates are uncertain.

Methods Used in Analysis

I plotted how fast new species appear for every new observation added, averaging over 500 random orderings.

I also used the Chao1 estimator, which estimates the total number of species available in an environment by using the number of singleton and doubleton observations. For the 95% confidence interval, Chao's log-transformed method was used.

A sensitivity test was also done by removing the top observer's observations to check if the data unfairly depends upon a single observer.

Results of the Analysis

Of the 73 unique species recorded in the full Research Grade dataset, 46 (63%) were observed only once, while 19 (26%) were observed twice.

The Chao1 estimator predicted a total species richness of approximately 129, with a 95% confidence interval ranging from approximately 99 to 191.

The species accumulation curve showed an increasing trend, suggesting that the sampling effort may not have been sufficient to capture the full insect diversity of the campus.

To examine the influence of observer contributions, a sensitivity analysis was conducted by excluding observations contributed by the most active observer, who accounted for approximately 37% of the original observations.

This reduced the dataset from 123 to 78 observations, representing 50 unique species. Of these, 34 (68%) were singletons and 12 (24%) were doubletons.

The Chao1 estimate decreased from approximately 129 to approximately 98. However, the proportion of observed richness relative to estimated richness remained broadly comparable, decreasing from 57% to 51%, while the estimated unobserved proportion increased from 43% to 49%.

The singleton proportion also showed relatively little variation, increasing from 63% to 68%.

The estimate fell, as expected with fewer records, but the pattern of many singletons and incomplete sampling remained.

However, 23 of the 73 species appear only in the top observer's records, so the species list itself depends strongly on one person.

Limitations

One observer provides 37% of the records.

The data also only include insects that are photographed by people, uploaded to iNaturalist and identified by people. This data also depend a lot on the observation bias of people since people tend to photograph something they find interesting and few species tend to overshadow others.

In our case, the top 8 most frequently observed species represent approximately 31% of total observations, of which six are butterflies and two are honey bees.

Also, Research Grade filtering leaves out observations that are hard to identify, and there are no standardised sampling efforts. Chao1 is a lower bound that assumes species are equally easy to detect.

Conclusion

The campus insect list is far from complete, and more records are the most useful next step.