A UC Davis undergrad taking a community and regional development class contacted me to talk about my career in the climate change field. One of her questions was:
If you were meeting someone entering into the same field of work as you do, what advice would you give them?
So I started a jot list and ran it past some colleagues working on different levels in the climate change field (or adjacent to it) to get their input. Here's what we devised:
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| Photo by pixellaphoto (CC0 1.0) |
1. Find a Niche
- Narrow your focus - Climate change is a "wicked" problem, meaning a problem that is complex and intractable, having multiple intersecting impacts across many fields that require coordination to address. I call it an "everything" problem, since there is almost no field that it doesn't touch. Because of the sprawling nature of the problem, it's important to figure out what impact or aspect of the problem you are most passionate about and follow that passion.
- Consider internships and graduate programs to help you hone your focus. A lot of natural resource management (and related long-term climate planning) is done by government agencies, so consider interning there. Even if you want to go into consulting eventually, you will be more marketable as a consultant with government contacts. On-the-job training programs like CivicSpark or the California Climate Action Corps (AmeriCorps programs) might be good options to get your foot in the door in local government. State agencies are filling in positions with student interns during a time of budget shortfalls. Check out the California Department of Water Resources Student Employment Program and State Water Boards Student Programs, for example. In terms of the federal government, at the moment that is a tricky place to work on climate issues, but the workforce attrition there might mean there are more opportunities for interns to try to pick up the slack. It might be interesting to check out the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) hub at Sacramento State (which I'm told takes UC Davis students). Check out the "Pathways" internships at USAjobs.gov to find USGS opportunities (here is the USGS web page about its "Pathways" opportunities).
- Become a subject matter expert (SME)! In governmental contexts it can take relatively little to become a SME. Especially as part of a policy support team for an elected official, having read a few articles on a subject can make you functionally a SME.
2. Network
- Push yourself outside your comfort zone to network. "Cold call" (or cold email) someone in your alumni network doing interesting work. If you might want to work in politics or policy, reach out to the environment desk staffer in your congressional representative's office to find out how they got into that position. Contact a researcher who is taking an innovative approach. Ask all of them "who else should I talk to?"
- Find mentors and peer support. Schedule regular check-ins (monthly or quarterly) as you go through the job search process. Ask them to review cover letters and other application materials for you.
- Support your professional friends! Go to their presentations at conferences. Offer to proofread cover letters and application materials. Send them congratulations when they get a new position. Introduce them to contacts who might be helpful. Tell them about interesting new opportunities. We all build each other up!
- LinkedIn - update your profile before every big networking event and connect with the people you meet at the event right afterward (and if possible send a note with the request to connect that says "it was nice talking to you at [name of event]! People get a lot of requests and it might take them a month to see your request, so jog their memory).
- Professional networks - these are groups committed to trying to bring new people into their field of focus. For all of these groups, if you see something they are organizing that you want to attend, you should contact them -- I'm sure they will find ways for you to plug in without requiring you to pay dues (like having you work the registration table at an event).
American Society of Adaptation Professionals (ASAP)
National Association of Environmental Professionals (NAEP)
Women’s Environmental Network (WEN) of the San Francisco Bay Area
3. Keep Learning
- Climate change is a problem that is constantly evolving, so it's important to keep expanding your understanding and stay on top of current events in the field. Go to conferences and workshops. Take a community college class on something you don't understand well. I took a community college course on ocean dynamics ("Intro. to the Marine Environment") and it has helped me understand some of the scientific fundamentals of the climate challenge and the importance of quality data, for example getting current data on conditions using satellites and high-tech aircraft. If you are interested in sea level rise, go learn about erosion processes. If you are interested in wildfire, learn fire science (for example, watch some of the presentations on the California Fire Science Consortium YouTube channel).
- Social media - subscribe to some of the climate-related feeds on BlueSky. A lot of the scientific and science communication community I previously followed on Xwitter moved to BlueSky and it is a great way to stay on top of topical news. I would recommend sticking to the science-oriented feeds and sidestepping the activism-oriented feeds (just because you can get that information in many places on social media, whereas BlueSky has become a refuge for the academic community and I don't know where else on social media to find that information).
- Cultivate side interests. You never know where those might lead!
- Some useful things to study that are not climate change-specific:
- Statistics and survey methods (so you can read news reports critically)
- Long-term planning tools that manage deep uncertainty like the participatory scenario planning tool (can help you find a "least regrets" approach, such as when interacting a climate-specific parameter on one axis with a sociopolitical parameter on the other axis - read about a participatory scenario planning workshop I ran with natural resource managers in 2011)
- GIS mapping (to tell the story of a policy problem visually)
- Unconscious bias and behavioral economics (so you can market policies in an inclusive and effective way)
4. Take Care of Your Mental Health
- In this field the tools are not right-sized to the problem. You will always be dancing with feelings of anxiety, despair and grief as you progress in your understanding. Don't do it alone: find your peers dealing with similar feelings and take solace in community.
- Find small things to do that make you feel like you are contributing to the solution on a daily basis, even as small as composting or using more environmentally friendly cleaning products in your kitchen. Go meat-free one day a week. All of these little steps would make a huge difference if everyone did them, and that's a reason to model those steps for your social group. Remember that the most important thing to do to change our climate future is to vote for leaders who listen to science and take action to address climate impacts. Being a "Get Out the Vote" volunteer is a climate action. Do things to remind you that you are part of a movement.
All Hands On Deck!
A certain amount of global warming is locked in because of how the ocean acts as heat storage, so we can't "stop" climate change," but we can all contribute to a better future in a changed climate. It's all hands on deck, so I hope these tips help you find your way down the climate career pathway.
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