Ecology Research

[Oasis]

Hows it going guys,
I'm just wondering how many of you did ecology/enviornmental research during your undergrad as opposed to clinical/mollecular stuff. If so how did you like it. Some of my friends have been telling me its a waste of time and that more technical research "looks" better. Frankly, I think the research I will be doing next quarter is just alot more fun, and I dont care if it looks particularly good or not. I'd like to hear others perspective on this.

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[Amy B]

Research is research. Don't do what "looks", do what you want to do and what you are interested in. Have fun!!!

 

[DrJ2B]

Hey Oasis!

I say go for it. It is research nonetheless and the fact that you like it makes it even more worthwhile. I know a lot of premed who did research because they felt it was a requirement and they did not enjoy it. Cheers to you for not caring what others think. I participated in a summer program in the Amazon this past summer where some premeds did research on mercury in the water and atmosphere due to goldmines and its effects on the fish and people. I found it very interesting. I worked with an indigenous group and studied its concepts of death and dying which was more anthropological than hardcore science. I loved my time there and I had a lot of fun. I would say totally go for it. Have fun!


---DrJ2B

 

[uniqueseraph]

Oasis,

Have you taken ecology and lab? Personally, it's not my thing to go out in the sun and do field work. They do a lot of it- counting an organism, tagging and labeling them. I personally did not like ecology as compared to doing something like human disease, cell research, etc. I would say that although I agree with your friends that clinical/molecular looks better, go for what you enjoy. It sounds like you really do like the research field and it's great that you don't care about whether or not it looks good. Also to keep in the back of your mind while doing the research: find some way to relate what you gain from research that semester to medicine if you had an interview. Go for it!!

 

[Herpeto]

I have done research in ecology, mammology, chemistry and molecular biology/genetics. It is good to gain experience in a couple of different disciplines. The ideal scenario would be to work on ecologically related field research during the warm months and molecular research during the winter. I believe as long as you do some kind of research you will learn the necessary steps in experimental design, execution and analysis.

I am extremely interested in continuing my ecologically related research both during and after medical school. Medicine will provide the finances and time opportunities many other careers won't in terms of continuing my research. Of course, if I still plan on becoming a CT Surgeon it may become difficult.



Herp

 

[DrBodacious]

Hi Oasis,

I've done ecology research. As a freshman I was undecided as to what facet of biology I wanted to go into. I was open to anything from ecology to medicine. I got a job in an ecology lab my freshman year, doing grunt work for a PI. The job was really boring but on campus and convienient. Then I decided to do my senior honors thesis in this lab, even after doing research for credit in a neurobiology lab, because I thought the project would be easier to accomplish something (I already had an idea of what to do). I also have research experience from an pharmacology internship. So ecology isn't my only research. But I'm hoping the fact that I've explored other careers while in college, and then made my decision to go to medical school, might look good on my application. Plus it shows that you are involved and interested in something scientific. Doing any sort of research will look good. If you have time I would work in some sort of bio-medical research too, because that is what will be most relavent to a career in medicine. You do gain alot of good skills from ecology research however. The experimental designs and statistical analyses you do can be quite similar, for example.

 

[FowlersGap]

ecology research doesn't look good?
that's bull
well a lot of premeds don't undersand how important it is to be aware of the world around you i guess...
i spent three weeks in the outback studying conflict management in ants and conspecific acoustic attraction in birds
it was awesome and the best experience of my undergraduate career
it made my education more complete and i talked about it at one of my interviews and the person that interviewed me (a gross anatomy prof) actually studies ants
you'll find that some med school profs have a background in ecology
so go for it cause its more interesting to me than pipetting or creating gels
you're actually seeing your question being answered right in front of your eyes

 

[exmike]

Originally posted by FowlersGap
ecology research doesn't look good?
that's bull
well a lot of premeds don't undersand how important it is to be aware of the world around you i guess...
i spent three weeks in the outback studying conflict management in ants and conspecific acoustic attraction in birds
it was awesome and the best experience of my undergraduate career
it made my education more complete and i talked about it at one of my interviews and the person that interviewed me (a gross anatomy prof) actually studies ants
you'll find that some med school profs have a background in ecology
so go for it cause its more interesting to me than pipetting or creating gels
you're actually seeing your question being answered right in front of your eyes

Fowler you're COMP bound? Congrats on the post SMP success!

 

[GoodMonkey]

i dropped out of a phd program in aquatic/global change ecology to go to medical school. i spent a lot of time in undergrad and grad school (and working on the side/consulting) doing aquatics research (also have biomed and biotech in there, too) playing on a boat, in a river, or in a wetland with algae. i loved the fieldwork and had a great time. didn't pursue it b/c 1) i don't like - make that can't STAND - statistical manipulation and paper-writing on the off-field season and 2) i was working in a free clinic when i was considering leaving grad school and that tipped my scale towards med school.

interviewers were really into hearing about my work in ecology - most people (especially in the medical field) have never heard of someone going to grad school to study algae and aquatic toxicology.

i did what i did because i liked it and was interested in it - couldn't give a hoot what med school admissions committees thought of my experiences at the time; and while applying i felt that they just strengthened/made my application interesting - if they didn't like them, or didn't feel they enriched me or made me a better potential physician or scientist or person, then, well, that school wasn't for me. i knew why i wanted to go to medical school, i had a lot of clinical exposure to back up that assertion, and i had confidence in my application. i believe things of this nature all work out, if you're really doing what you want to be doing and know why you're doing it. do what you love.

just my $0.17

 

[LoneCoyote]

I did the bulk of my research in an ecology lab, studying mutualism and plant/insect interactions. When I started studying biology that is what I was interested in and my interests eventutally evolved to medicine, but I never stopped working in the ecology lab until I graduated. I also did research in art history and in immunology/environmental toxicology. So far I have only been directly asked in interviews about the e-tox/immunology work because that is the only biomedical research I did. But like GoodMonkey said, I think the ecology research was a lot of fun, interested me intellectually, and was really good for my development as a scientist and critical thinker. I also did a lot of clinical work, which is what I talk about as my main motivation for medicine. But I talk about all the research experiences I had as things that pointed me in the direction of medicine because they were challenging and stimulating. If you like ecology go for it. I think having research experience, making connections with a professor and other scientists is very helpful, regardless of the field it is in.

 

[finnpipette]

Ecology research is great! I did research on the Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve next to Stanford. You can have the best of both worlds. I did studies on macroinvertebrate populations in the creeks...but if you want something more pre-medy. My friend specialized on viruses affecting oak trees and specific mutations that aid in resistance. It's the same as working with human diseases....PCR, gels, and all that good stuff...except that you're out in the woods tagging trees and observing deer running along. Go for it!

 

[Oasis]

thanks for posting guys,
yeah the field work aspect of the research is definately appealing. I will be able to go to costa rica for a couple months during the summer for this project, which i think will be an awesome experience. Anyway, im only a freshman so I still have time to explore alot of different areas of biology later on. By the way, have any of you heard about or participated in an organization called EarthWatch? If you did, id love to hear your experiences.

 

[umass rower]

I'm not quite doing ecology research, but it's definitely not medical research either. I'm in a biomechanics and physiology lab that works with fish, amphibians, and reptiles, mostly. Both of the interviewers at the one school I've interviewed at seemed interested in it. I think it caught their attention because it was something unique that they didn't know much about.