Fancy Scientist with Dr. Stephanie Manka

Productivity seems to be more of a career-oriented topic, but this is actually really important in wildlife and conservation work, and it’s something that is often overlooked.

When I was in graduate school and working as a postdoc, I often felt so overwhelmed with all the work I had to do. I know that many other people out there feel exactly the same way. There’s several reasons for this.

First, there’s just a lot of problems to work on regarding wildlife and conservation. Human population growth keeps increasing and therefore we continue to have issues with habitat destruction and loss, human wildlife conflict, and of course we have climate change to name a few. There are just so many things for us to work on! 

Another big component is about the support – or should I say the lack of support. To effectively work on the increasing number of problems we have, we really need the funding to be able to hire for a lot of positions to employ people to help solve these.

But we don’t have that in wildlife and conservation work. Our field is very poorly funded compared to other fields. Although the data and trends show that conservation nature jobs are increasing. They’re not increasing at the same level as people who want to enter the career or graduate. In other words, there’s more work out there with fewer people doing the work meaning professionals have to do more work for each job than they used to. 

It’s really important, therefore, that we be productive so that we can efficiently work on conservation and wildlife problems!

On top of that, conservation and wildlife work carries an emotional “weight” that can make it difficult to work sometimes. 

In the past few years, I became an entrepreneur running the Fancy Scientist (i.e. the blog you are reading right now!). I have listened to a lot of entrepreneurial podcasts, audio books, and have taken many courses. The mindset between scientists and entrepreneurs is incredibly different. Scientists can learn so much from the entrepreneurial world about how to be more productive. The processes behind many of the things that we are doing in the science/conservation arena is a slow and inefficient way to do things.

In this podcast, I share with you my biggest tip. It’s the most important tip and it will likely surprise you. 

Get a free chapter of my book “Getting a Job in Wildlife Biology: What It’s Like and What You Need to Know” to see how I can help you in your career: https://stephanieschuttler.com/getting-a-job-in-wildlife-biology-book/ 

Want to learn about cool animals, conservation, and get tips about careers in wildlife biology, science, and more? Subscribe to my channel: https://www.youtube.com/StephanieSchuttler and join my email list: https://stephanieschuttler.com/ 

I’d love to meet you. Connect with me on social media:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/FancyScientist

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fancy_scientist/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fancyscientist/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/fancyscientist/pins/

Join the “Getting a Job in Wildlife Biology” Facebook group to connect with other aspiring wildlife biologists, post your questions and get free advice: https://www.facebook.com/groups/gettingajobinwildlifebiology

In mid 2020 when COVID shut so many things down ( virtually everything), a lot of people lost their volunteer positions, internships, or seasonal positions, and they felt that it really set them back in their career in terms of getting experience. Some people are still having a hard time finding openings because of COVID.

Back then, I did an episode (#7) on three things you could do to still get experience and skills. Since I talk to so many people who are still struggling, I thought it would be great to give a whole episode on this - with more things and with my previous suggestions more flushed out.

If you just want to or are in the process of becoming a wildlife biologist, ecologist, conservation biologist or just want to do some science-ing on your own, these seven tips will really help you out. 

On this podcast, I am really about empowering people and I've learned over the years to take full responsibility for myself. What that means is that no matter what happens in the external world, there's always something you CAN do. In fact, one of my favorite mantras is "what can I do?"

We live in such an amazing time where information, education, instructional videos, even courses, are all at our fingertips.

We live in such an amazing time where information, education, instructional videos, even courses, are all at our fingertips.

Get a free chapter of my book “Getting a Job in Wildlife Biology: What It’s Like and What You Need to Know” to see how I can help you in your career: https://stephanieschuttler.com/getting-a-job-in-wildlife-biology-book/ 

Want to learn about cool animals, conservation, and get tips about careers in wildlife biology, science, and more? Subscribe to my channel: https://www.youtube.com/StephanieSchuttler and join my email list: https://stephanieschuttler.com/ 

I’d love to meet you. Connect with me on social media:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/FancyScientist

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fancy_scientist/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fancyscientist/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/fancyscientist/pins/

Join the “Getting a Job in Wildlife Biology” Facebook group to connect with other aspiring wildlife biologists, post your questions and get free advice: https://www.facebook.com/groups/gettingajobinwildlifebiology

Hello everyone. And welcome to the Fancy Scientist. We’re still pretty new into the new year, about the end of January. And I am going to talk about the importance of having a vision for the longest time. 

I did have certain goals, but they were either pretty obvious or pretty short term.

And I didn’t have an overall vision. So when it came to graduating and then looking for a job. I quite honestly felt lost. And I know I am not alone. I talk to a lot of graduates, a lot of students, and so many of them feel lost today. We’re going to go deeper than just goal setting. Although I am going to talk about goals.

And we’re going to talk about what I mean when I talk about vision, how I created my vision, some questions that I use to help define my vision. 

And just how important vision has been for me in terms of letting me get things done, enjoy my life, feeling accomplished, feeling productive, and really working on the things that matter to me and my career.

So let’s not hesitate anymore. But actually I do want to say no matter where you are, when you’re listening to this podcast, if it’s January, if it’s August, you can start. So don’t wait for the new year. Get started today. Okay. Let’s talk about how to create a vision for yourself.

For full show notes click here.

Get a free chapter of my book “Getting a Job in Wildlife Biology: What It’s Like and What You Need to Know” to see how I can help you in your career: https://stephanieschuttler.com/getting-a-job-in-wildlife-biology-book/ 

For full show notes click here.

Want to learn about cool animals, conservation, and get tips about careers in wildlife biology, science, and more? Subscribe to my channel: https://www.youtube.com/StephanieSchuttler and join my email list: https://stephanieschuttler.com/ 

I’d love to meet you. Connect with me on social media:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/FancyScientist

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fancy_scientist/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fancyscientist/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/fancyscientist/pins/

Join the “Getting a Job in Wildlife Biology” Facebook group to connect with other aspiring wildlife biologists, post your questions and get free advice: https://www.facebook.com/groups/gettingajobinwildlifebiology

Hi guys. I am back. Yes. It's been a minute. If you are a regular listener to this podcast, you will remember. At the end of September, I said I was taking a break originally. I had planned to just take October. But I ended up taking off until now. Now when I say take a break, I wasn't completely taking a break.

I was really focusing my time on other things. So I did take a break from the podcast from pretty much all social media and. YouTube as well. So today I am going to talk about the beauty and the power in taking breaks. And it's really about saying no to, to something else. A lot of times it's not even you, in this case, it was say no to me, but a less important part of me at the time.

So we're going to talk about saying no how to say no. The importance of saying no. How to say how to know what to say no to that's a lot of nos. And then I'm also going to give you an update on what I've been doing and where I see the fancy scientist going for this new year in 2022. I love new years. It is such an exciting time because there is just so much possibility.

Now that's true. Anytime of the year, you can, if you're listening to this in August, you can declare a new year right now. And in fact, I use a three month planner that kind of lets you do that. But. It's just a day, but I do love the fact that like, we're all on the same page with feeling this energy of a new year.

So new year. New version of you and I am going to empower you today to say no and offer you my experience on how awesome it was to say no to myself and some projects and say yes to other projects. So let's get started with the episode.

For Full show notes click here.

Get a free chapter of my book “Getting a Job in Wildlife Biology: What It’s Like and What You Need to Know” to see how I can help you in your career: https://stephanieschuttler.com/getting-a-job-in-wildlife-biology-book/ 

Want to learn about cool animals, conservation, and get tips about careers in wildlife biology, science, and more? Subscribe to my channel: https://www.youtube.com/StephanieSchuttler and join my email list: https://stephanieschuttler.com/ 

I’d love to meet you. Connect with me on social media:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/FancyScientist

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fancy_scientist/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fancyscientist/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/fancyscientist/pins/

Join the “Getting a Job in Wildlife Biology” Facebook group to connect with other aspiring wildlife biologists, post your questions and get free advice: https://www.facebook.com/groups/gettingajobinwildlifebiology

Listen to the Fancy Scientist Podcast: 

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/fancy-scientist-material-girl-living-in-sustainable/id1509587394 

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/29swiuHG4TWKbS9gRZrORW

Is age really just a number? 

But not me! Instead I developed a mindset to appreciate my age and be grateful for every day I have here.

In this podcast, I talk about some major life changes for me – turning 40, changing careers, and going through a divorce. Most people think these things are scary. And while I do have my fears, for the most part I am so excited and happy for these changes. 

I didn’t always think this way though. In fact, I used to think the opposite. I share with you my words of wisdom from 40 years on the planet, why aging isn’t that scary, and what I wish my younger self had known back then. Better late than never!

If you’re going through life changes, about to embark on something scary, or just going through the ups and downs of life, this podcast is for you.

Get a free chapter of my book “Getting a Job in Wildlife Biology: What It’s Like and What You Need to Know” to see how I can help you in your career: https://stephanieschuttler.com/getting-a-job-in-wildlife-biology-book/ 

Want to learn about cool animals, conservation, and get tips about careers in wildlife biology, science, and more? Subscribe to my channel: https://www.youtube.com/StephanieSchuttler and join my email list: https://stephanieschuttler.com/ 

I’d love to meet you. Connect with me on social media:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/FancyScientist

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fancy_scientist/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fancyscientist/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/fancyscientist/pins/

Join the “Getting a Job in Wildlife Biology” Facebook group to connect with other aspiring wildlife biologists, post your questions and get free advice: https://www.facebook.com/groups/gettingajobinwildlifebiology

This is a science podcast, so why am I talking about work-life balance? Because so many scientists are bad at it!

I can’t even tell you how many scientists brag about working 60 or even 80 hours a week. It seems like everyone is doing it. But there’s a great cost…

This begs the question – is it possible to be successful as a scientist and work 40 hours a week? Or even less? Actually have a life outside of science? 

The answer is YES. 

In this podcast, I talk about how you can achieve work-life balance while still being a successful scientist. 

Get a free chapter of my book “Getting a Job in Wildlife Biology: What It’s Like and What You Need to Know” to see how I can help you in your career: https://stephanieschuttler.com/getting-a-job-in-wildlife-biology-book/ 

Want to learn about cool animals, conservation, and get tips about careers in wildlife biology, science, and more? Subscribe to my channel: https://www.youtube.com/StephanieSchuttler and join my email list: https://stephanieschuttler.com/ 

I’d love to meet you. Connect with me on social media:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/FancyScientist

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fancy_scientist/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fancyscientist/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/fancyscientist/pins/

Join the “Getting a Job in Wildlife Biology” Facebook group to connect with other aspiring wildlife biologists, post your questions and get free advice: https://www.facebook.com/groups/gettingajobinwildlifebiology

Everyone should have a mentor when trying to achieve something difficult in life. In science, mentors are unavoidable. 

They play an essential role. You need research experience to become a scientist, and mentorship is a central part of that research experience. In fact, in graduate school, your training and research is really built off of your advisor (AKA your mentor) and not courses or classes. 

Therefore, choosing a good mentor is crucial for your success as a scientist. And to be honest, being a scientist myself and having worked with many other scientists, finding a good one can be hard – it’s not the default. It’s also hard to tell if someone is going to be a good mentor before you start working with them. 

In this episode of the Fancy Scientist podcast, I offer you six key factors that I’ve found to make a great mentor. I reminisced on all of my past mentors – good and bad – and pulled out the characteristics that they had that helped me grow as a scientist the most. I also talk about what you can do to be a good mentor if you have students or oversee employees. 

Even if you aren’t in science, you can still benefit from this episode. Finding a good mentor has been critical to my own health and career as an entrepreneur. 

Specifically, I’ll talk about:

• Why having a good mentor is crucial to your success and you can’t do it alone (or at least as fast)
• The six things that are most important in a mentor – even if they are hard to take or you may not like them at first
• My experiences dealing with mentors who were very honest with me
• What you can do to be a good mentor yourself
• and MORE!

Get a free chapter of my book “Getting a Job in Wildlife Biology: What It’s Like and What You Need to Know” to see how I can help you in your career: https://stephanieschuttler.com/getting-a-job-in-wildlife-biology-book/ 

Want to learn about cool animals, conservation, and get tips about careers in wildlife biology, science, and more? Subscribe to my channel: https://www.youtube.com/StephanieSchuttler and join my email list: https://stephanieschuttler.com/ 

I’d love to meet you. Connect with me on social media:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/FancyScientist

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fancy_scientist/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fancyscientist/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/fancyscientist/pins/

Join the “Getting a Job in Wildlife Biology” Facebook group to connect with other aspiring wildlife biologists, post your questions and get free advice: https://www.facebook.com/groups/gettingajobinwildlifebiology

Last week on the Fancy Scientist podcast, I went over what graduate school was like and what it’s all about. This week, I talk about how you can have a successful year. 

Graduate school is not like undergrad. You can’t just study hard and do well – there’s so much more to it. 

I give away my 4 most important tips for you to set yourself up for a successful academic year. Even if you are not in graduate school, or even in this career, almost all of these tips translate into any career.

These are the tips I wish I had starting out! Seriously, it would have made life so much easier for me – so don’t miss out. 

For full show notes click here.

Get a free chapter of my book “Getting a Job in Wildlife Biology: What It’s Like and What You Need to Know” to see how I can help you in your career: https://stephanieschuttler.com/getting-a-job-in-wildlife-biology-book/ 

Want to learn about cool animals, conservation, and get tips about careers in wildlife biology, science, and more? Subscribe to my channel: https://www.youtube.com/StephanieSchuttler and join my email list: https://stephanieschuttler.com/ 

I’d love to meet you. Connect with me on social media:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/FancyScientist

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fancy_scientist/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fancyscientist/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/fancyscientist/pins/

Join the “Getting a Job in Wildlife Biology” Facebook group to connect with other aspiring wildlife biologists, post your questions and get free advice: https://www.facebook.com/groups/gettingajobinwildlifebiology

It’s the beginning of the school year so I thought it would be the perfect time to talk about where aspiring scientists go to train to be scientists: graduate school. 

Whether you are getting your Master’s or Ph.D., the experience is vastly different than undergraduate or K-12 education. In fact, I don’t think I truly understood what science was until I went to graduate school. 

In this episode of the Fancy Scientist podcast, I talk about what graduate school is really like. Even if you aren’t a scientist or aspiring scientist, I talk about how people train to be scientists, which is incredibly important to understand given there is, unfortunately, public distrust in scientists and the scientific process. 

If you’ve ever wanted to go to graduate school or are just getting started, this episode is perfect for you to listen to. 

For full show notes.

Get a free chapter of my book “Getting a Job in Wildlife Biology: What It’s Like and What You Need to Know” to see how I can help you in your career: https://stephanieschuttler.com/getting-a-job-in-wildlife-biology-book/ 

Want to learn about cool animals, conservation, and get tips about careers in wildlife biology, science, and more? Subscribe to my channel: https://www.youtube.com/StephanieSchuttler and join my email list: https://stephanieschuttler.com/ 

I’d love to meet you. Connect with me on social media:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/FancyScientist

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fancy_scientist/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fancyscientist/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/fancyscientist/pins/

Join the “Getting a Job in Wildlife Biology” Facebook group to connect with other aspiring wildlife biologists, post your questions and get free advice: https://www.facebook.com/groups/gettingajobinwildlifebiology

The inspiration for all of my writing and videos stems from animals. So often people want to become a wildlife biologist because they want to help animals. They envision themselves conducting important research to grow populations or captive-rearing animals for reintroductions. But I’ve learned through all of my years of research, that to really help animals we need to take a look at ourselves. 

And the truth is all animals will be affected by climate change – including us. So if we really care about animals, we have to think and do something about these larger issues and we can’t only talk about species-specific problems. 

For my Earth month series, I’m kicking it off by talking about this big issue of climate change. Most Americans now recognize it is human caused and that we need to so something about it. Many are even experiencing climate anxiety and/or grief. 

I recently read an article about how doing something about climate change can actually alleviate grief. I thought now would be the perfect time to empower you all with actions that you can do to help alleviate climate change. 

In this week’s podcast, I offer you 21 different ways you can contribute to fighting climate change starting off with the most impactful things you can do based on research to the ones you still should do, but that have less of an effect. 

The key is to always move towards progress – not perfection. It is way better to have lots of people taking action imperfectly than few people getting it all right. 

For full show notes click here.

Get a free chapter of my book “Getting a Job in Wildlife Biology: What It’s Like and What You Need to Know” to see how I can help you in your career: https://stephanieschuttler.com/getting-a-job-in-wildlife-biology-book/ 

Want to learn about cool animals, conservation, and get tips about careers in wildlife biology, science, and more? Subscribe to my channel: https://www.youtube.com/StephanieSchuttler and join my email list: https://stephanieschuttler.com/ 

I’d love to meet you. Connect with me on social media:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/FancyScientist

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fancy_scientist/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fancyscientist/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/fancyscientist/pins/

Join the “Getting a Job in Wildlife Biology” Facebook group to connect with other aspiring wildlife biologists, post your questions and get free advice: https://www.facebook.com/groups/gettingajobinwildlifebiology