A young kid asking about Wildlife Biology.

[Tyler842]

Hey everyone. I am 14 here and I really want to be a Wildlife Biologist.
I also want to specialize in birds and rodents. Is there any sort of job like this and enables me to do field work?

Thanks
~Tyler

[James]

Yes, if your good enough and don't care much about money.

[Doc44]

Tyler,

Contact you state department of natural resources. State parks usually have naturalists who conduct nature walks, bird walks and survey various populations of the park. They often hire seasonal (summer) interpreative naturalists. Great job, live in a tent or cabin all summer and do field biology...got to know some plants too.

What state are you in?

Doc44

Been there done that.

[Tyler842]

I'm in Ontario Canada

[Doc44]

Tyler,

I am not familiar with Canada's parks system but here is a site that sounds like it may be what you are looking for if you are old enough.

Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources

http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/MNR/youthprograms/

Doc44

It never hurts to ask!

[dipjyoti]

Search with IUCN, and be a member of Ramsar Forum. I've some relatives in Canada, I'll ask them.
Thank You.
Dip Jyoti Chakraborty.

[LittleBeaver]

If there are any wildlife refuges where you live, you could try to contact them and ask if you could volunteer. A lot of times they will let you work with the animals there...this is great experience and will familiarize you with animal behavior and care. And something to think about for when you are in college...a lot of university natural resources departments will sponsor college-age students to participate in paid internship programs that assist in any research projects they are doing...some of which involve wildlife biology.

[February Beetle]

You can go a wildlife biology route or you can get a degree in Ornithology or Mammalogy, either way you can choose to work in the outdoors. A family friend has worked for the Army Corp of Engineers and he said there are great jobs there, watching over lakes all day get to be outside all the time. In America anyway the lowest paying jobs are usually out in the field and the higher ones are boring in an office.

I was interested in this for awhile so I've researched some. There is always awesome volunteer opportunities, you just have to look hard enough! Volunteer all you can. Here in KS there is a wildlife rehabilitation center right in my town I didn't know about until a few years ago.

[February Beetle]

Oh, I was going to say there are great jobs like that in the US but they are just hard to get and so many people want them. To get them you have to volunteer for a very long time.

[rebelgtp]

Like others have said there are jobs out there they are just hard to come by. You will more than likely need to volunteer and work on projects while in school before you will seriously get considered for a field job outside of school.
Also what kind of field work in particular you are interested in? I am certified for handling a conservation detection dog in the field and I absolutely love it. Actually going back to school so that I can offer a bit more while working in the field.