By Jonathan Walter

Many ecologists spend substantial time conducting research in the field – but for some of us, our skillsets (e.g., statistics, mathematical models, data science) lend themselves to a different, more indoor career. Here’s what a typical workday might look like:

6:00 AM: Start the day with coffee on the couch. Gaze longingly at my green sturgeon art; wonder if I’ll ever see one in the wild.

7:00 AM: Get dressed. Glance at my hiking boots collecting dust as I reach for my wing-tips.

8:00 AM: Arrive at the Center for Watershed Sciences. Wave at Carson as he is loading nets and hip waders into the back of a pickup truck, getting ready for the field as I walk into the building. Grumble to myself about the air conditioning being set too low.

8:05 AM: Park myself in front of my extra-large monitor and tile my (computer) desktop windows so I’m ready to code.

9:17 AM: Peek at the narrow triangle of blue gray sky visible out the window between my giant monitor and the adjacent buildings for the n^th time.

11:06 AM: Scribble down some fun math to figure out later.

12:00 PM: Lunch time! Eat leftovers on a picnic bench so I can get my vitamin D.

12:59 PM: Back at my desk for a Zoom meeting. Set a picture from a hike as my virtual background – maybe people will think it’s from the field?

1:04 PM: QA/QC some new fish movement data for the Pacific Aquatic Telemetry Hub (PATH) database. 

3:30 PM: Math time! Work on tidying up the stuff I scribbled down earlier (writing in LaTeX of course). Continue endless internal monologue about whether the assumptions that make the math simple enough to be do-able are actually reasonable.

5:00 PM: Shut down the computer and head home. Hope there’s a good hockey game on TV! 

About the Author

Jonathan Walter is a Senior Researcher at the Center for Watershed Sciences. A (jokingly) self-described “indoor ecologist,” Jon specializes in developing and applying statistics and mathematical models to study the dynamics of aquatic organisms and ecosystems.

Further Reading

An interview with Jon Walter. 2024. California WaterBlog. https://californiawaterblog.com/2024/11/17/pathways-to-research-an-interview-with-jon-walter/

Walter Lab Website: https://jonathan-walter.github.io/

* To celebrate 15 years of the California WaterBlog during this season of giving, consider making a gift to the Center to help us create more meaningful opportunities for students across our programs.