• Question: What was being an ecologist like, what sort of things did you do?

    Asked by Top scientist to Carolyn, Peter, Richard, Sara, Siana on 16 Nov 2015.
    • Photo: Richard Unwin

      Richard Unwin answered on 16 Nov 2015:

      Hi Top.

      I’ve never been an ecologist, so can’t say for sure. I hope it involved travelling to some far flung exotic tropical first, although it’s equally important to look at ecology closer to home.

    • Photo: Carolyn Nielsen

      Carolyn Nielsen answered on 16 Nov 2015:

      We studied ecology as part of my Biology degree and this did involve going to South Africa on a field course for two weeks and staying on a game reserve there. We had practical classes learning how to assess vegetation and wildlife, then had group project at the end for a few days. My group looked at how burning (as a form of land management) affected the types of mammals living in certain areas of the park. This involved walking around counting the number of droppings we saw and identifying which animals they came from. So I became quite good at telling apart zebra and giraffe poo! There was a local ranger with us to keep an eye out for the rhinos.

      It was a really amazing trip!

      Are you thinking about ecology?

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