What random skill has been useful in your job?
Ask a Biologist Monday 1/22/24
Answers from Biologists:
Baking-good food is one of the top morale sources for individuals and teams.
Kayaking as a hobby got me a job doing water bird monitoring.
Haunted house crowd control-keeping my cool in high stress environments.
Changing tires, especially in remote field settings.
Driving with a trailer/ working heavy equipment of any kind.
Basic mechanical skills.
Basic construction/repair (plumbing, electrical, carpentry, mechanical).
Duct taping joeys back into wallaby pouches.
Basic technical drawing to design equipment.
The ability to talk to condescending men and not curse.
Anatomical illustration.
Keeping a straight face when people are being dumb.
Houseplants translates to growing plants in a greenhouse for experiments.
Drawing.
Any sort of mechanical ability.
Tool use.
Tying knots-joining boat lines, fixing traps, securing truck loads.
Defensive driving.
Emotional intelligence.
Backing up trailers.
Using basic power tools to fix and build stuff.
Understanding local slang/dialects. It’s easier to talk to land owners and people at outreach events.
Humor. Sometimes you just gotta laugh at bad field days.
Basic maintenance skills-learning how to do repairs on everything from gates to sinks to mowers.
Basic carpentry/welding/electrical skills.
Small engine repair.
General carpentry/small tool skills.
Having a good sense of direction/ability to read a map.
Driving a vehicle with manual transmission. Handy for some older field trucks.
Mechanical knowledge and being able to fix things when they break.
How to fix fence.
Welding/general mechanical skills.
Drawing.
Reading the sun/light/stars.
Drawing-the most universal way to communicate and design what we want to build.
Empathy.
Towing and backing trailers.
