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+## Getting experience as a budding botanist/ecologist 🌲
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+Here’s a list of ways you can progress your skills as a botanist and/or ecologist outside of formal studies, while getting some exercise and meeting lovely people at the same time. Items are skewed towards south-eastern Australia but can be applied elsewhere. I’ll add more items as I think of them. 🌻
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+(1) **Practice your species ID while hiking, walking the dog, etc. Some tips and opportunities:**
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+- An article I wrote on plant ID: [How to identify an Australian native plant](https://weareexplorers.co/how-to-identify-a-plant/)
+- For Melbournians: Eat That Weed runs workshops on how to find edible introduced plants in urban areas
+- [Merlin Bird ID](https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/) is a great app for learning local birds. Apparently BirdNET is also good
+- [eBird](https://ebird.org/home) is great for practicing bird ID via online quizzes
+- Use [iNaturalist](https://www.inaturalist.org/) to connect with other naturalists and make species ID more fun
+- Learn about [ethical orchid photography](https://landscaperecovery.com.au/blog/roger-8mkyj-htzsx)
+- Grasses are common but particularly hard to ID, so that’s something to give a go if you like a challenge and want to be very useful to other biologists
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+(2) **Local volunteering. For example:**
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+- Help researchers with lab and field work. You can contact them directly and ask if they need help with anything (find them via Twitter or university websites). Here are some Facebook pages where they sometimes post, asking for help: UTas Biology Volunteers; Deakin University Ecology Volunteer Register. They should cover accommodation and food expenses for any overnight or longer trips that you help with.
+- Some university clubs and societies run volunteer trips to do things like control invasive species, plant trees, and survey flora and fauna. They can be quite active. In 2012, [Monash University Biological Society](https://www.facebook.com/monashbiolsoc) ran at least 25 such trips around Victoria.
+- Volunteer with community volunteer groups. For example: Landcare groups, Wildcare groups, Bushcare groups, Cragcare groups, Trackcare groups, Pacific Black Duck Conservation Group, Western Port Seagrass Partnership.
+- If you have a car, become a Wildlife Rescuer (e.g., [Bonorong Wildlife Santuary](https://www.bonorong.com.au/wildlife-rescue-training-signup) in Hobart needs rescuers and periodically runs training)
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+(3) **Get good at being confident, comfortable, and safe in the outdoors. Some examples of things that help with that:**
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+- Buying or hiring a PLB/radio/etc and learn how to use it if you’re going on hikes where there is limited phone reception
+- Going on hikes organised by Facebook and university outdoors groups
+- Learning to use a GPS device and/or navigate with a compass
+- Organising hikes for a group of friends and navigating for them (including easy and chill 2 km walks along the beach)
+- Being prepared if a snake bite happens (think about clothing/environment/etc, do your first aid course, carry a snake bandage, carry a phone and PLB, etc)
+- Knowing how to avoid/being prepared for blizzards and other situations that cause hypothermia
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+(4) **Skills and qualifications that can be relevant to certain field biology and conservation jobs:**
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+- Chainsaw use and maintenance
+- Four-wheel driving
+- Scuba diving and/or free diving
+- Firearms licenses and training
+- Boat licenses
+- First-aid and CPR training, or even better, do a Wilderness First Aid course (I always hear high praise about it)
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+---
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+Written by [Carolyn Vlasveld](https://carolynvlasveld.github.io/)