Field Team - Researcher

I was living and working with Echo's field team for 12 weeks this past summer in Bonaire, and it was a truly formative experience. As an undergraduate student, I received funding from my university to conduct research which would culminate in a 10-page academic paper.

We would wake up at 4:30 in the morning every weekday to get to the field. I loved adapting to the schedule of the parrots: napping in the middle of the day (when it's hottest) and returning to the field in the afternoon after lunch. The weekends were free for resting, grocery shopping, and exploring the nearby town and beach. We met the locals, built relationships with them, and learned some Papiamentu in the process.

I gained so many skills from working with the field team. Just to name a few: data collection, GPS navigation, building natural anchors for rappelling, carrying out health checks on parrots in and out of the field, and installing camera traps. My research was subject to the kind of work we were doing as the season progressed, but I focused on careful data collection throughout my 12 weeks there (according to the strategies that my supervisor already had in place from previous seasons). We fostered some chicks in July in order to increase survivability, and this ended up being the focus of the paper that I wrote upon my return to the States.

Never had I worked in conservation before, but my passion for adventure and the important work we were doing with Echo was what kept me going during the long, hard work days. Make no mistake, the field work is exhausting -- but it is incredibly rewarding for those who are highly motivated. I highly recommend this role for anyone who is excited to immerse themselves in a communal-living situation, dive into meaningful field research, and get poked by cacti every day. The parrots are cool too!