Because of the increasing changes in the environment, a career as an ecologist is an important venture, especially for an earth-science oriented person with a love for nature and animals. With the number of ecological disasters escalating every year there is an ever increasing need for ecologists and people trained in ecology. Along with these disasters there are hundreds of animals and plants that are disappearing off the planet everyday. There is also an increasing demand for a person with the training to take care for, rehabilitate and then return to the wild injure animals, which is the prime responsibility of an ecologist. Ecologists mainly study the ways in which mankind is destroying the natural ecosystems of the earth and how people can help to revive them. Louise Miller once said that,". . . the ecologist is the one that brings together the study of all natural systems- earth, air, water, plants, and animals. Connections between living organisms and effects of their interactions are ecologists' concerns. . . . .The balance of nature, wherever it occurs, is what you will investigate and analyze"(17). Since a career as an ecologist is usually long term, there are certain characteristics a person should have in order to maintain a successful career.
One of these characteristics that is the most important is patience. Patience is important because as an ecologist a person will have to at some point in their career talk to another person who knows nothing of or about ecology.
Another reason why patience is important is because through the first years of being an ecologist finding and possibly attempting to tag an animals or gathering research material will be the main jobs of that person and will take a very long time to accomplish. For a person who is just starting out as an ecologist, manual dexterity is just as important as patience. However, later on in a career as an ecologist, many traits will have