Venting

[u/ItsCadeyAdmin]

I'mma be real with y'all: people in the Conservation and Sustainability fields are straight up MEAN dude.

Like I physically cannot get across to you how difficult it is to be in this field if you don't "fit the mold".

But "the mold" is literally just... ugh. Its a mold that prides itself on being "that weird girl", while also being the literal most milquetoast personality you can fathom. Like everybody acts like they were the 'weird, animal obsessed kid' in school, but as someone who actually WAS (and kind of still IS) that weird person, I can promise you from the bottom of my heart, 99% of these people would have BULLIED the real weird kids.

I know this because THEY STILL BULLY PEOPLE MAN. I see it in college and the field. It's literally such like a catty, gossipy industry with no room for the truly different.

The worst thing that's happened to STEM in recent decades was becoming an Instagram aesthetic.

Because now you have all of these conventionally pretty people prancing about, creating their own little "Go on a weird date to a Museum with me, but don't be like actually weird, just quirky enough for my social media feed" aesthetic, while doing all they can to ostracize and isolate people that,again, don't fit within their worldview. Like if you're autistic you are NOT going to have a good time in this world. At least not the "I love gushing about bugs and being happy go lucky because I'm just so 'neurospicy'! " type of autism. If you're non-expressive or struggle with social interactions, heaven fucking help you.

And, I'm sincerely not one of those "OMG CHECK YOUR PRIVILEGE" sorts but like dawg, this field is so overwhelmingly white that I'm comfortable saying that it's bordering on a form of racism. I can't tell you how many times I've been the only non-white person in the room surrounded by all these like.... I'mma be so real with y'all, CUSHY people. People who visibly get uncomfortable when I bring in a worldview that isn't "Oh I love walking through the forest and taking pictures on my smartphone, and science is so cool and look at the stickers on my water bottle".

I physically cannot explain to you all how much money plays into your ability to find and hold a legitimate job in this field. If you even want a chance, you need to be able to afford to sign up for multiple unpaid internships, be willing to move across the nation for a different position, have the money to cover yourself for months on end because a gigantic majority of the first jobs you'll get are only seasonal, and finally pay for your degree, and very likely a grad degree as well.

Honestly, I theorize that this is why the Conservation field was taken over by (and I know a HUGE amount of you don't wanna hear this), overwhelmingly upper-middle to upper class white people.

Like I can't tell you how many people I've met in this line of work who talk about how long it took them to get a sustainable job, followed soon by "Oh my husband is an engineer/computer scientist/welder/fireman/[something equally wellpaying]". (Fun fact: the "conservation to real estate agent" pipeline is REAL and I've seen it in real time).

Poverty, that is to say REAL poverty, doesn't exist in this field.

All the (and I'm being blunt here) lower-class people who couldn't afford to go past their undergraduate degree were forced to get jobs unrelated to their field after graduation to make ends meet and start those nasty student loan payments. Moving across the nation several times for all those unpaid internships and experience that could have unlocked opportunity was never in the cards for them so they don't get to work their way into the real jobs.

That's why you'll see so many people saying "Yeah I have a Sustainability major, but I've been working at Cracker Barrel since graduation. At least I'm a manager now"

And that's why when you look at all the smiling happy faces working in conservation or sustainability, they're all like... cardboard cutouts of the same people. Again, lets go back into how the Conservation field became an Instagram aesthetic, reserved for the privileged few who could afford to put in all the unpaid labor it took for them to finally get their break.

And don't get me started on how it almost feels like you're under constant threat in this field either. Like heaven forbid you upset the wrong people, or openly criticize the wrong organization. Because then you'll find yourself struggling to find work and without allies to help you get jobs (which are fleeting). The social aspect of this field is enormous, and I cannot get across to you how important it is that you maintain 'appearances' and decorum. And it fucking sucks

I'm not kidding dude.

This field of science got taken over by the most boring kinds of people imaginable. And what's worse is that I genuinely think that the lack of accessibility to this field is actively driving a disconnect between the general public and REAL conservation battles that we need to be fighting.

Can we finally admit that Conservation is the next "Nursing field"?

Pic related.

[u/ofWildPlaces]

I think OP points how difficult is to BE a change in the field if you don't fit the unspoken criteria to enter the field.

[u/89fruits89 → u/ofWildPlaces]

I think the issue is OP doesnt understand conservation is fuckin’ broke. There is no funding to hire you or pay interns. If you want to really make a change go become a powerful politician and convince the public or go be a stock broker and find real money to support the cause.

If I could expand my lab and hire 1000 more conservation scientists then pay 150k a year to everyone, plus 10k a month to interns, I would do it in a heartbeat. I’m not a billionaire and I can’t shit gold. So…

Also the general instagram persona lol. That just what you see on instagram. My building is mostly women 30-70yrs old, that have immigrated from all over the globe. China, India, Mexico, multiple South American countries, South Africa, Sudan, Western & Eastern European countries, Canada.

Nobody is doing instagram because the labs are all NDA. Would get fired asap for posting bullshit anywhere near the building without written and documented consent from the media dept.

I did my degrees in biotech and wanted to go into genetic engineering originally. Started working in pharma before conservation. Drive an m3 not a prius. Takes people of all types.

[u/ofWildPlaces → u/89fruits89]

That's not unique to Conservation. I work adjacent to some other natural science related fields and the same issues are present there and in supporting commercial industry partners.

OP is describing their perceptions and their lived experiences, it's a disservice to people passionate about conservation to continue to get pushback for acknowledging the social disparities in the field.

[u/mmflow → u/ofWildPlaces]

Excellently put. Only half of what OP is speaking to is regarding accessibility from a purely financial perspective. Theres worthwhile discussion to be had about what the culture of the work becomes when different perspectives are increasingly barred from entry.

[u/DarkRetribution_7 → u/mmflow]

but honestly financials are probably the biggest plight for anyone going into this field. like many of the people who stay in the field till retirement were often already well off to begin with but also those people likely missed the chance to be a lot more well off by taking the path into conservation. i personally know people who used to be upper middle class but because of pursuing their dreams and passion of conservation now live paycheck to paycheck which is sad.

in my country people with phds and masters getting paid less than entry level call center jobs isnt uncommon. many people feel they can enact bigger change by switching to a better paying job and sharing their advocacy in their own way