How does one become a cetacean researcher?
My suggestion is to come up with reasonably clear ideas about what you want to do, where and how. Ideally, you should aim to something felt as important, and also feasible based on your skills. Don’t miss opportunities to make experience. Try to participate in some field or lab activity, doing work as close to your interests as possible to gain practical experience on that particular subject. Find out what is the area where you do particularly well (this may include lab work, field work, writing, photography, statistics or even management, environmental policy and public awareness). If you ‘feel good’ doing something and have a sense of being ‘at home’ whenever you do that, then you may have found your own specialty. Go for it, and try to develop a specific project or an interesting proposal to motivate other people and attract funding. Do not rely too much on letters and CVs. Try to meet the relevant people in person, at their offices or in the field. Attend marine mammal and marine c
