Chris Smit (1994-2000)
I graduated in Forest & Nature Conservation in January 2000, still officially called Forestry by then. But since I see myself more as an ecologist, I usually avoid mentioning that I officially graduated as a forester. In fact, I guess you could call me a biologist as well. I found out that it doesn’t really matter much in the end. It is the courses and theses you do that matter, at least for me they did.
I really started liking my studies during my first thesis on amphibians and their colonisation of ponds. This included lots of nice fieldwork on my own, looking for my favourite animals, driving and hiking around in very nice nature areas and camping in a caravan for weeks. My second thesis was about holly (Ilex aquifolium), as an indicator species for old-growth forests. Again, lots of fieldwork!, apparently my favourite business. But also, how to solve scientific questions? For my last thesis I went to UBC, Vancouver, Canada. I found a project about pollination in boreal forests, just by emailing some professors. To my own surprise, I was allowed to come. I still see this as the most valuable time during my studies.
Finding a nice job was not easy. I was looking for a PhD position, but these were pretty rare in Holland at that time, and I was not even that sure about doing a PhD by then. So, I worked for about a year as a research assistant at Wageningen University, assisting at ecology courses and collecting data for various projects. These were usually jobs for 1 - 2 months only. After that, I found a job for a year, carrying out a review study on the effects of military use and recreation on flora and fauna. I worked for the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature Conservation and Fisheries. Deskwork… I didn’t mind reading about other people’s research. But I was inside all the time, from 9 to 5, five days in a row, and that drove me mad. I needed to get outside and look for birds and plants and all (I have always been a freak, I admit). That’s how I found out that I really wanted to do a PhD in ecology.
I found one in Fribourg, Switzerland and I am still working on it presently. Most of all, I enjoy my freedom to plan and carry out my own ecological studies, which are, of course, done in very nice natural environments. My research focuses on the dynamics of pasture woodlands in the Swiss Jura Mountains, a very nice and extremely species-rich ecosystem, but endangered all over Europe due to intensification and abandonment of management. In the past 3 years, I carried out several field studies, mainly focussed on the hypothesised facilitative effects of unpalatable plants and shrubs on tree establishment in these pasture woodlands. So far, I really enjoyed doing a PhD in a foreign country, although it was not always that easy, having my girlfriend in Holland. Easyjet offers excellent solutions for people in love and financial hardship!
I hope to finish my PhD at the end of August 2005, and I am already starting to look for interesting Postdoc positions and research groups for my next step in science. Life of a scientist is supposed to become harder the further you get, since jobs get rare and competition tough. Well, I guess I am prepared to find out! And may I ever start to dislike this scientific world, I think I’ll try to do something in nature conservation.
Ed: Chris finished his PhD in 2005 and after a research position (postdoc) in Spain he is working as a researcher at the university of Groningen. Check the website for his current research project in Groningen