why I love my job

My job at the Montana Natural History Center is one I enjoy for many reasons, not least of which is that my duties vary widely and I don't, generally, have a chance to get bored.  Other reasons (in no particular order):

**On a day when I'm running around like a crazy person trying to make sure everything's in order for our fundraiser (coming up later that week), my co-worker Alyssa, who's in charge of Camo the gophersnake, asks me to make sure that Camo has eaten his (dead) mouse for the week, and, if not, to fish it out and put it back in the freezer for next time.  (Thankfully, Camo ate his mouse!)

**I get to answer questions like, "Would MNHC be interested in taking my rock collection/seashells/bird's nest/skull?"

**My parents-in-law collect dead birds for me to put in the MNHC deep freeze, in the hopes that one day they'll be stuffed and put on display or used for a taxidermy workshop.

**I walk in the kitchen one January morning to find a dead great blue heron thawing on the floor, so it can be folded up to fit in the freezer.

**One of our bowls in the kitchen is designated as "Camo's bowl" and is used for defrosting his weekly mouse meal.

**Community members not only bring us rocks and skulls, but occasionally live animals, including chipmunks, birds, and spiders.  The chipmunks and birds we care for as best we can, or send along to more appropriate places, but we currently have 2 (live) black widow spiders in jars with very secure lids.

**I love and support MNHC's mission of educating people about the natural world.

**I get paid to do things like spend hours outside teaching kids about insects, scout local natural areas for field trips or other programs, learn about birds/bugs/skulls/aquatic insects/botany/winter ecology, record Field Notes in the KUFM studio on the UM campus, and, oh yes, once a year I get paid to dress up, spend an evening with amazing people, and watch community members give generously of their resources so that MNHC can keep teaching people about the world around them.

**When searching for materials in our (huge) program storage area, I may come across anything from a stuffed mountain goat to fossils to a walrus skull to ancient books on natural history.

**Every day is casual day.  I dress up sometimes because I like to, not because I have to.

**My co-workers are intelligent, wonderful people, who are first-class nature geeks.  I fit right in!

**My co-workers and I often get distracted by flowers and bird calls, and we always have a field guide near at hand for reference.

**I am always learning something new!

**Greg gets to teach/lead field days at MNHC a few times a year.

**I have learned more about the birds and plants and ecosystem of my place in the two and a half years of working at MNHC than I did in the four years of my graduate program.  Part of that, of course, is due to Greg.  But I have found a new passion in learning not only the names of the plants and animals around me, but in learning how they all fit together in this place I now call home. 

**I get to see firsthand the generosity of people from the Missoula community.  Those with monetary resources give generously.  Those with fewer funds still give a little.  Those with time (even a little bit) give in so many ways.  Right now I have dozens of volunteers who spend 5+ hours per day outdoors, teaching 4th graders about nature.  We've had some pleasant days this month, but many have been cool and rainy, and yet these volunteers layer up, pull on their wool socks and waterproof boots, their gloves and raincoats, and go on out there with energy and good cheer.

**I have gotten to know some of kindest, sweetest, most compassionate people I've ever met. 

**Not only do I get to satisfy the scientist in me, I also, as of now, get to use my writing and editing abilities as well, as the VERY-soon-to-be new editor of the Montana Naturalist magazine.  Exciting!

Even when I'm in the midst of the more busy and stressful times of year (e.g., NOW), I love the work, and, in general, feel energized rather than sapped by the busyness.  Though I admit, I'm looking forward to the winter months and the relative calm they bring.

I am so very grateful to love what I do.