Becoming an Ecologist

John A. Wiens turned a childhood interest in birds into a career in ecology. He served on the faculties of Oregon State University, the University of New Mexico, and Colorado State University, where he is University Distinguished Professor Emeritus. He then worked for the Nature Conservancy as chief scientist. His work emphasizes the ecology of birds, landscape ecology, and conservation.

• AcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Charting Pathways1. In the Beginning: Emerging of Interests2. Molding of Interests3. Starting on the Pathway to Becoming a Scientist4. Defining a Pathway5. Beginning an Academic Career6. Expanding My View of Grassland Birds7. Extending the Pathway: The International Biological Program8. Scrambling for an Explanation: Climatic Instability and Ecological Crunches9. Detouring to Another Pathway: Modeling Bird Bioenergetics 10. Moving from Grasslands to the Arid Shrubsteppe11. Challenging the Paradigm12. Changing Places: Pathways and Practicalities13. Testing the Paradigm: Are Australian Bird Communities Different?14. Shifting Directions in the Shrubsteppe15. Finding Things Out: Field Experiments in the Shrubsteppe 16. Becoming a Landscape Ecologist17. Dealing with Scale18. Following the Landscape Ecology Pathway19. Traveling Along Pathways with Students20. Pulled onto a Seabird Pathway 21. Dealing with Advocacy: The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill22. Shifting Pathways to Conservation23. Bolstering Conservation Science in the Nature Conservancy24. Doing Conservation Science25. Writing into RetirementConclusions: What Are the Lessons for Today’s Aspiring Ecologists?Appendix: Scientific Names of Species Mentioned in TextNotesBibliographyIndex

This book explores what it means to be an ecologist, showing that it is a lifelong venture that can entail many pathways. Providing examples from his own journey, Wiens conveys deep knowledge about how an ecologist’s career can change over time, just as the field of ecology has developed over the years.