What random skill has been useful in your job?

Ask a Biologist Monday 1/22/24

Answers from Biologists:

• Baking-good food is one of the top morale sources for individuals and teams.

• Kayaking as a hobby got me a job doing water bird monitoring.

• Haunted house crowd control-keeping my cool in high stress environments.

• Changing tires, especially in remote field settings.

• Driving with a trailer/ working heavy equipment of any kind.

• Basic mechanical skills.

• Basic construction/repair (plumbing, electrical, carpentry, mechanical).

• Duct taping joeys back into wallaby pouches.

• Basic technical drawing to design equipment.

• The ability to talk to condescending men and not curse.

• Anatomical illustration.

• Keeping a straight face when people are being dumb.

• Houseplants translates to growing plants in a greenhouse for experiments.

• Drawing.

• Any sort of mechanical ability.

• Tool use.

• Tying knots-joining boat lines, fixing traps, securing truck loads.

• Defensive driving.

• Emotional intelligence.

• Backing up trailers.

• Using basic power tools to fix and build stuff.

• Understanding local slang/dialects. It’s easier to talk to land owners and people at outreach events.

• Humor. Sometimes you just gotta laugh at bad field days.

• Basic maintenance skills-learning how to do repairs on everything from gates to sinks to mowers.

• Basic carpentry/welding/electrical skills.

• Small engine repair.

• General carpentry/small tool skills.

• Having a good sense of direction/ability to read a map.

• Driving a vehicle with manual transmission. Handy for some older field trucks.

• Mechanical knowledge and being able to fix things when they break.

• How to fix fence.

• Welding/general mechanical skills.

• Drawing.

• Reading the sun/light/stars.

• Drawing-the most universal way to communicate and design what we want to build.

• Empathy.

• Towing and backing trailers.