Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Concentration Professional Expectations

Professional Expectations of Graduate Students

These guidelines were developed primarily to assist graduate students in Ecology and Environmental Biology Concentration program with the successful completion of their graduate program. By its very nature, it is geared largely toward required coursework, committees, administrative issues, and timelines. While these are all very necessary aspects of a graduate program, they fail to address the primary reason students are in graduate school—to be trained as professional scientists. When students completes their studies at Ohio University and prepare for further graduate training or employment, they will not be judged on the coursework they pursued in graduate school. Peer-reviewed papers, grants, presentations, etc. are the criteria that determine the suitability of an applicant for a particular position.

One should keep in mind that his or her professional career as a scientist begins with the initiation of graduate training.

The Ecology and Environmental Biology faculty provide here a brief discussion of items to consider seriously as part of graduate training. Students should consult with advisers, other faculty members, and various texts for additional sources of information and philosophies.

Philosophy of Graduate Education

Graduate school differs dramatically from undergraduate education in as much as research is the primary emphasis (not coursework). The coursework students take is meant to strengthen their knowledge base and to provide them with the theoretical framework and skills necessary to complete their research.

Remember also that you are not here to be taught—you are here to learn. Graduate education is much more self-directed. Material delivered in a lecture or a textbook only represents a fraction of the material you should be reading and thinking about. Use the primary literature, review articles, and other texts to critically consider how paradigms develop in your discipline and work to understand modern problems and issues.

Build a Professional Toolbox

Students should begin building a professional library. Purchase and read as many books as time, money, and energy will permit. Build your library for both breadth and depth; i.e., read widely across disciplines and then build your specific area of research interest with great depth (from introductory texts to the most recent reviews). While these texts will help you with the more immediate needs associated with comprehensive exam and proposal preparation, they will ultimately become part of a professional library that you will rely on heavily for the rest of your professional career as teacher and researcher. Many publishers provide excellent student discounts, so take advantage of the opportunity.

Computer resources are available to students free of charge in most department and university labs. Research labs also provide the necessary computer hardware and software for high-end research applications. However, students need to use this tool with such great frequency and intensity for everyday purposes such as word processing, data analysis, and electronic communication that proprietary usage is almost essential. Therefore, it is highly recommended that students purchase their own personal computer if they can afford to do so.

Build a Curriculum Vita

The curriculum vita (CV) is, for all intents and purposes, a chronicle of scientist's professional career. The CV is the primary instrument that will determine one's fate as a professional scientist (i.e., employed or unemployed). Begin building a CV early. Carefully record all journal publications, abstracts published for papers presented, grants applied for and received, society memberships, invited seminars, graduate coursework, committee responsibilities, workshops attended, etc. Below are several activities that contribute to building a CV, the objective being to build a balance among these areas so that one demonstrates abilities in grants, publishing, and public presentation.

Publish

Publishing in peer-reviewed journals is the most important task of a graduate student. This is how the scientific community judges the merit of the work a student or colleague does. Most job applicants in ecology and evolutionary biology typically have from 7 to 15 publications in peer-reviewed journals listed on their CVs. Every project and experiment one undertakes should be thought of in terms of how it will contribute to a publication. The Biological Sciences Department encourages theses to be formatted as journal articles. To that end, articles that are in review, press or are published can be chapters in the thesis or thesis.

Apply for Grants

Although it is the thesis adviser's responsibility to provide the facilities and initial support for the student's research, the student will be expected to make every effort to seek out and obtain funding for additional research needs.

Grantsmanship is an extremely important skill to develop for the professional scientist. Take a university workshop on grantsmanship or consult several of the very good texts available on grant writing. EEB M.S. students should apply to a variety of local (Ohio University), regional (e.g., Ohio Biological Survey), and national (e.g., Sigma Xi) small grants programs designed largely for graduate research.

Join Professional Societies & Subscribe to Journals

M.S. graduate students, in particular, should be members of at least one professional biological society. Becoming a member of a professional society early in your career has several benefits. First, it is an excellent way in which to stay abreast of recent developments in the field (via the journal). Second, members receive notification for times and locations of annual meetings. Third, members are placed on mailing lists and receive discounts from publishers on professional books. Lastly, students add to their research library, which serves as a valuable resource for themselves and their future students. Again, substantive student discounts are available in most societies for membership and journal subscriptions.

We recommend society membership at two levels. First, join a nationally recognized general society with emphasis on your main field of study (e.g., The Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology, The World Congress of Morphology, The Society for the Study of Evolution, The American Society of Naturalists, The Ecological Society of America, and The Society of Systematic Biologists). Second, become a member of a society that covers the taxa with which you work (e.g., The American Ornithologists' Union, The American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, The American Mammalogy Society, The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology).

Attend Professional Meetings and Present Recent Findings

Students should plan to attend a professional meeting and present a poster or oral paper during their second year. This is an excellent opportunity to meet and talk with many of the people whose work they have been reading over the years. Furthermore, as students near the completion of their degree, meetings are excellent places to make contacts for jobs, doctoral programs, and other opportunities. Presenting a paper gives other people in the field an opportunity to see your work, and frequently they provide helpful comments that can improve your research. There usually are departmental funds for travel to meetings when papers are presented.

A scientist's success is determined by how well they are known within the scientific community. Communication through publications, presentations, and grants is the primary mechanism by which scientists become recognized for their accomplishments. The Curriculum Vitae is a record of a person's accomplishments and communications. If students follow the above suggestions, they will be well-prepared and competitive in the scientific job market.

Expectations of the Student?s Graduate Adviser and Committee

The graduate adviser and committee members should serve as mentors and role models for their students. The adviser's primary role in graduate education is to provide guidance throughout the student's career. The EEB faculty recognize that the amount of guidance depends on the student and their previous training. This document identifies the minimum necessary interaction between students and faculty for the completion of a degree; however, students who can complete this training with this minimal interaction are exceptional. The EEB faculty recommend that students meet with their adviser regularly so that the student's progress can be evaluated on a regular basis. It is the adviser's responsibility to ensure that the student is making reasonable progress in all areas of graduate training. If it is the adviser's opinion that the student is not making reasonable progress, he or she must clearly indicate problems to the student and provide appropriate advice so that the student can either rectify the problem or modify their goals commiserate with their progress. The advice can pertain to all aspects of graduate training, course work, exam preparation, research, teaching, etc.