What exactly does a career in animal behavioral studies involve?
A. I would encourage you to read some of the career materials posted on the website of my professional organizations, the Animal Behavior Society and Society for Conservation Biology. Q. What caused you to choose this as a career? A. When I was a sophomore in college, I read Jane Goodall’s book “In the Shadow of Man”. As a kid, we always had lots of animals around the house and I was fascinated by them. I spent wonderful summers at my uncle’s cattle ranch in British Columbia. I knew there was more to nature than looking at slides through a microscope in biology class, or cutting up a fetal pig in anatomy. I thought…”is it really possible to make a living doing what one loves to do, watching and learning from animals?” That started me on the path. But then I distinctly remember when it was that I decided to follow it as a career. I was sitting next to a pond in the moor at the Max Plank Institute for Behavioral Studies in Seewiesen, Germany. Four goslings were nestled under my sweater
