What comes next....

So I got a bazillion questions about graduate school and 'future' plans over break, and I anticipate a truck load or two more over Christmas break. Which is fine, I am more then happy to talk about it. One of the things that keeps coming up is

'I'm planning on grad school in the fall, not totally sure where yet. I've applied for funding and don't know anything yet.'

I know, it's not very exciting, and most of you don't know what to ask next, but I just figured I'd explain what I do know.

I have applied for a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, it's a competitive fellowship program that could fund me through graduate school. (If you are bored and want to read my application essays...here you go personal statement, previous research). But it's really competitive so there are no promises, but I feel like I have a good fighting chance. Those two essays were some of the hardest I've written, partially because since my first year of college I've largely just don't scientific writing and also because it's hard to sum up your heart, soul and total life story and motivation in just two pages. I still feel like I left a lot out, but the awesome people who helped me with it here at Tech were happy with it, so I guess I am too :) I'll be find out sometime next spring if I got it or not. In the meantime I'm talking to several faculty members at a few schools and might be pursuing other funding options as well.

Grad school for me will probably start with a masters of science degree, hopefully in wildlife ecology and management or a related field (such as wildlife biology, or natural resources management). I am also looking at getting a PhD, but as of this moment I'd like to do each degree at a different institution, so lets not get ahead of ourselves, one degree at a time :)

A Masters in wildlife typically takes 2-3 years, depending on the research time needed. One challenge of wildlife ecology research versus say physics or engineering is that often data collection can only take place at a certain time of year. For instance if I want to study a certain birds' migration I have to study them while they are migrating, which is probably only 2-3 months out of the year, this can make things more challenging, but should also be a lot of fun :).

I'd love to work on a project with Virginia Rails or Soras, or really any secretive marsh bird, looking at some sort of migrational timing, habitat or behavioral aspect of their biology. Though I'm really open to working with just about anything.

So there you go, perhaps that helps a few of you with your questions since I know my field of work is foreign to many. Just ask me about what birds I've seen lately...because I'm sure I can come up with some great stories!