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Career Guidance for Myrmecology


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#1 Offline OgienChomik - Posted April 8 2018 - 3:03 PM

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Hello I've just joined this forum today and have already posted somewhat my introduction in the member introductions forums. ( http://www.formicult...from-dfw-texas/) Recently I've decided to go with a major in entomology as I've found that I really enjoy studying bugs, more specifically the super organisms like ant colonies and such. I've been looking into generally what an entomologist makes and found that they make the least of the zoology fields. I'm getting really good grades right now as I get my basics out of the way so I can transfer, hopefully, to Texas A&M and did a little research into what else I can do and found that instead of majoring in one thing and minoring in another I believe I could pull off actually doing a double major, one in entomology and the other in something else. I do plan to get a PhD in both fields but as to what that something else is, I need some guidance on from anyone who has gone down this path or something similar in their own lifetime.

 

I was thinking doing the second major in agronomy or something agricultural based so I could work more closely with ants and do more research on super organisms but, I'm not sure what will help pay the bills better in the long run. I know for a fact that I'm looking at a decently sized student loan to take care of when I get out and I know I really want to at least go into entomology. If I can I'd like to work closely with super organisms which may mean working with pesticides(I know this is frowned upon but I can not deny what would possibly pay the bills better, but I have ideas of making safer pesticides for ant colonies that do not require killing the colony and instead the pharamones that the ants produce, though getting the funding for it would be hard to do...) but if it's not recommended then that would be ok too since I would still have fun keeping my own ant colonies at home.

 

Anyone that's been down this path and has done their research before I would appreciate some guidance and understanding on the field I wish to dive into, thanks in advance!



#2 Offline ctantkeeper - Posted April 8 2018 - 6:04 PM

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I'm currently struggling with the same problem at the moment. I want to turn my love and fascination for eusocial insects into a career, but have also taken into account that jobs in that particular feild are often hard to come by and are seldom lucrative. I'm in college right now and plan to get a major in Ethology with a possible secondary major in Micro-biology.  






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