How Clarkson Helped Students Find Their Ecological Passions and Live Their Dreams

by Clarkson University
April 8, 2022

Clarkson Biology Professor Tom Langen and five of his students recently published a paper that can serve as a how-to guide for students to become professional ecological field technicians. The article, published by the Ecological Society of America (ESA), investigates what it takes to be a professional ecological or environmental technician, or else how to supervise a team of field techs. This is an impressive accomplishment for Langen’s students, who are either former or current students of his from Clarkson.

Langen got the idea for this article when former student Wil Halstrom contacted him to ask how to get an ecological job. “He wanted a job as an ecology field technician, and was having trouble landing a job,” Langen said. “He wanted advice.” Dr. Langen then contacted some former students to see if they could help Halstrom, and they gave him much more information than he had anticipated. Langen realized that he needed to document the responses.

Professor Langen took the word “advice” to a new level, and decided to write a paper with his former students, who had all been Clarkson undergraduate or graduate students who had a common interest of working in ecology. Dr. Angelena Ross, Alicia Lamb, Wil Hallstrom, Jesse Boulerice, and Jessica Beach were selected for their field experience and their “interesting professional stories.” 

Read more: https://www.clarkson.edu/news/how-clarkson-helped-students-find-their-ecological-passions-and-live-their-dreams

Read the Bulletin paper: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/bes2.1985