A career in marine mammal science requires a lot of motivation and it may feel frustrating to some. Before engaging in this field, you may want to participate in one of our research courses and see if the ongoing work conducted by Tethys actually meets your expectations and skills.
How does one become a dolphin researcher?
Jobs
The Tethys Research Institute is a non-profit organisation and operates on a shoestring budget. Therefore, few people receive a salary, and often only for particular projects or for a few months.
Opportunities for paid work are scarce and Tethys projects can continue mainly thanks to the help and support of dedicated students and volunteers. The few paid opportunities that may arise are typically offered to the collaborators, students and volunteers who have been consistently working with us, and have shown appropriate interest and skills.
At present there are no job opportunities at Tethys.
However, if you are interested in working with us you can send a letter of presentation and a CV and we will keep them on file in case any opportunities should arise.
Volunteering
Field work
Research projects have their own director and staff. A few places are available each year for interns who want to help as field assistants. Such experience will prove valuable to anyone hoping to pursue a career in marine conservation biology.
Applicants should:
- have a basic knowledge of English
- be enthusiastic, hard-working, team oriented, and have a positive attitude
- be adaptable, flexible and patient as fieldwork is often weather dependent
- have a genuine interest in pursuing studies in marine ecology and/or conservation (a background in biology or ecology does help)
- be prepared to wake up early in the morning and work long hours on a boat in hot (or cold) weather.
- have basic computer skills and knowledge of the most widespread software packages.
Assistants able to commit for a minimum of 4 weeks will be preferred. Previous field experience and boat handling skills would be advantageous but is not a prerequisite
Tethys collaborators are not given a salary, but room & board may be covered depending on the project's budget.
Tethys collaborators involved in field activities are normally asked to contribute to all aspects of the research, including equipment upkeep, house- or boat-keeping, cooking, dealing with paying participants etc.
If you want to apply you can send your CV and a letter of presentation to Stefano Agazzi specifying your interests, skills, motivation and kind of commitment.
Office work
The Tethys Research Institutes has two offices, one in Milan and one in Venice. The offices mainly deal with administration, contacts with the media, booking, management of archives and databases. Occasionally, they are used for internal meetings. They aren't real laboratories. At Tethys, most researchers work at home or at the field stations, and communication largely occurs through e-mail, Skype or telephone, since they live in different parts of Italy or abroad. And yet, collaborative work does occur and is often effective.
If you are interested in helping with the office work in Milan please contact Stefano Agazzi.
Internships / thesis projects
Since 1986, the Tethys Research Institute has supported the thesis work of several students (see list). Some of them have become steady collaborators of Tethys and are now acting as student advisors themselves. If you would like to apply for an internship with the Tethys Research Institute please check our guidelines carefully.
Guidelines
1.
A basic knowledge of English is necessary to participate in internship
programmes with the Tethys Research Institute (TRI).
2.
Basic computer skills and knowledge of the most widespread software packages
(e.g. Word, Excel, FileMaker) is necessary to participate in internship
programmes with TRI.
3.
Before being accepted as interns, students usually spend a variable period
of time collaborating in the TRI research activities in order to gain
experience and possibly define the subject of their thesis work. This
period is considered as a preliminary phase that may allow to evaluate
the student's skills and motivations. Moreover, this period enables the
student to evaluate difficulties related to cetacean research, logistic
problems, and actual working possibilities. After this period, a thesis
subject may or may not be selected together with TRI researchers. Tethys
takes no responsability for what concerns the final selection of interns,
that depends on several variables and cannot be taken for granted.
4.
Once a thesis subject and methodology is defined, the student should write
a thesis proposal to be presented to the TRI board and to their University
thesis committee or advisor. The proposal may allow to evaluate the student's
skills in scientific writing and literature search.
5.
Only after the thesis proposal has been presented and positively appraised
by the TRI board and by the student's University and TRI advisor, a student
can be officially accepted as an "intern" with the TRI. The
thesis proposal, written in collaboration with the TRI thesis advisor,
should include: background, objectives, materials and methods, feasibility
(including budget and funding opportunities), personnel involved in field
research and data analysis, time table, expected results, literature review.
6.
For independent studies, applicants must obtain the necessary authorization
and permits required for the region in which they propose to conduct their
research prior to initiating the field work.
7.
Only non-harmful research proposals can be accepted. Non-harmful research
is defined as a non-lethal activity which poses a minimum risk to the
health and life of an individual animal. Research which involves handling
animals or invasive techniques is acceptable only if carried out by competent,
experienced personnel. However, the benefits in terms of conservation
that may balance some relatively invasive technique (e.g. remote biopsy
sampling) will be evaluated by the TRI advisor and board on a case-by-case
basis.
8.
A short summary of the research conducted must be submitted to TRI at
the end of each research season.
9.
"Personal communication", "TRI unpublished data",
and similar ways of presenting data collected and analyzed by others are
acceptable only if the persons and institutes involved have approved such
citations. Written authorization may be required at the TRI discretion.
10.
All data originating from the work done by interns in collaboration with
TRI are entirely the property of TRI. In case of publication of all or
part of the thesis data, or in case of a presentation of the data during
a scientific conference or in any other public context, authorship (including
main author and co-authors) is entirely the TRI advisor's decision. TRI
interns should describe in their thesis proposal the limitations for data
publishing that are required by their University (e.g. can the data used
for the thesis be published in whole or in part together with TRI researchers
before the thesis is presented?).
11.
TRI interns are not granted a salary, but may be given a partial refund
of the running costs, depending on the project's budget. However, they
are encouraged to do autonomous fundraising to cover their expenses and
if possible provide the project with additional financial support.
12.
TRI interns should sign a statement where they accept the research and
working conditions taking full responsibility for the risks. Moreover,
the student (or their University) must provide an insurance that covers
the risks of the student when engaged in the field work.
13.
TRI interns participating in field work activities are normally asked
to contribute to all aspects of the research programme, including the
upkeep of materials, house- or boat-keeping, cooking, dealing with paying
volunteers etc.
14.
The final thesis must be approved by the TRI advisor in writing before
presentation to the University.
15.
At the beginning of the thesis, the following statement should appear:
"This thesis has been conducted in collaboration with the Tethys
Research Institute, that has officially accepted me as an intern student".
To apply for internships with the Tethys Research Institute, please contact tethys@tethys.org.
Please read the guidelines above carefully before applying, and make sure that you have a strong motivation.
Master's and Ph.D. research
There are rather few scientists studying cetaceans who are in a position to supervise graduate students, and there is a great deal of interest from potential students. This means that there is considerable competition. Studying cetaceans is difficult and less rewarding (in results per unit time) than research on most other kinds of animals. There are also very few jobs for those with graduate degrees in cetacean work, so it is only for the truly committed.
For information on graduate or other work with marine mammals, see the Strategies for Pursuing a Career in Marine Mammal Science.
A few senior researchers from Tethys may be willing to supervise graduate students, provided that students have appropriate experience and skills. To be seriously considered, a student should also have a full scholarship from an external source covering her/his own costs.
Potential students with mathematical / statistical / modelling / computing skills are the most likely to be considered. Skills in the conservation and management of cetaceans are equally appreciated.
Please contact tethys@tethys.org for further information.
How does one become a dolphin researcher?
by Giovanni Bearzi
My suggestion is to come up with reasonably clear ideas about what you want to do, where and how. Ideally, one should aim to something felt as important, and also feasible based on one’s skills and existing opportunities.
I started working on cetaceans by volunteering on board oceanographic research vessels - looking for dorsal fins and flukes during the day and working in the wet lab during the night. Then I used my father’s small inflatable boat to start a study on dolphins around Losinj, Croatia. Eventually, this became the longest-running study of bottlenose dolphins in the Mediterranean.
Don’t miss opportunities to make experience. You may try to participate in some field or lab activity, doing work as close to your interests as possible to gain practical experience on that particular subject. Find out what is the area where you do particularly well (this may include lab work, photography, statistics or even management, environmental policy, public awareness). If you ‘feel good’ doing something and have a sense of being ‘at home’ whenever you do that, then you may have found your own specialty. Go for it, and try to develop a specific project or an interesting proposal to motivate other people and attract funding.
Do not rely too much on letters and CVs. Try to meet the relevant people in person, at their offices or even in the field. Attend marine mammal and marine conservation conferences, visit various institutes and NGOs. Show that your choice of working with a person or organization is motivated and based on some kind of ‘affinity’.
Research courses organized by Tethys can be a reasonable first step for gaining basic experience, knowing how you feel on a boat or at a field station, chat with researchers and possibly identify your areas of interest. You may consider trying different experiences and research groups before deciding what works best for you. In any case, do not put everything in somebody else’s hands: the choice should be yours.
As a general rule, you have better chances of success if you do something based on enthusiasm and passion, and you do not lose sight of your goals along the way.
Useful link:
Strategies
for Pursuing a Career in Marine Mammal Science