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Name of Professional: Trevor Tanner

Profession: Wildlife Biologist

Company: Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

18 September 2019

Interview Assessment #1

My first interview was with Mr. Tanner, a Wildlife Biologist, who works for the Texas

Parks and Wildlife Department. From the meeting, I was hoping to gain a better understanding of

what a wildlife biologist accomplishes on a day-to-day basis, what his background is in order to

get his current job, and how much work he does with conservation. I also really wanted to learn

about how much time is spent in the field interacting with the animals, since this is where my

true passion lies.

I asked Mr. Tanner about some of his projects and they were quite fascinating. Living in

Frisco, it’s hard to realize what's being done all around you in neighboring counties and jobs.

Some of his most interesting projects he shared with me was measuring the fetus of a deer to find

out at what point in the winter they were bred and catching bats for research using a type of

“harp” trap. The “harp” trap utilizes hundreds of fishing lines that the bats bounce off of and then

fall into a sack. What I also found interesting and exciting is that Mr. Tanner spends about 70%

of his time out in the field, which is exactly what I want. He mainly works alone, but has the

ability to work as a team to complete projects such as deer surveys and other research, which

actually sounds perfect. However, Mr. Tanner told me I really needed to figure out exactly what

I wanted to do, and also to research the different degrees of different colleges. Now Mr. Tanner

grew up on a ranch and hunting so this job is perfect for him. However, it's making me think
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more about the specific field I want to go into and what kind of animals I want to work with. I

think I would like to work with more exotic animals so I really want to do some interviews with

professionals more in that area. When I asked about his education he told me that his bachelor

degree he got was in Ecology which later on he found almost irrelevant, however, his Masters in

Wildlife Management mostly prepared him for his job. Therefore, I really want to look at

colleges that I’ve thought about attending and reevaluate their programs and see if that’s what I

really want.

One of my questions I asked Mr. Tanner had to do with how to be successful in the field

and what kind of traits are needed to be successful in this career.. So, one thing he told me,

which I already mostly knew and won’t be too hard for me is that you have to go where the job

is. There’s a good chance you won’t find the job you want in your hometown or where you’re

living at the moment. Luckily for me I haven’t started a family so it would be easier for me to

move around after college, which sounds pretty exciting actually. Mr. Tanner also mentioned

some important traits needed to be successful in this job, including, dedication, time

management, and the willingness to be continuously learning. While I consider myself a very

dedicated person, especially when I love something as much as animals, I could definitely work

on my time management, although so far this year I've been better and hopefully I will learn how

to better manage my time this year. I love that in such a job you’re continuously learning,

because what's the point in having a boring job where you're not advancing yourself and

becoming more knowledgeable. A piece of advice which surprised me was he told me to know

my plant species, which going into a field of wildlife doesn’t interest me very much. Regardless,

all of these animals interact with the plants and are their source of energy, which makes so much

sense. Also, when you’re educating landowners and the community and people ask you what a
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plant is it’s important to know what they are. I really enjoy learning these small details of the job

that I would never think about.

Some of the cons Mr. Tanner mentioned of his job include that the Texas Parks and

Wildlife Department requires Wildlife Biologists to send in a detailed weekly report and then a

monthly report, which can be quite tedious. Also, Mr. Tanner has had 16 years of experience and

while I won’t say what he makes, it’s definitely not amazing. However, Mr. Tanner was very

enthusiastic about his job, he absolutely loves his job and can’t believe he gets paid for it! So for

him, similar to myself, it’s not about the money, we love the animals and want to help the

environment and our society make the environment a better place for the animals. Although,

there are some mundane activities that need to be done, that comes with all jobs, but luckily here

the job outweighs the bad.

I found my first interview to be very helpful and insightful for the coming weeks and my

future. After this interview, I want to focus more on the exotic side of wildlife conservation,

which will be hard seeing as we are situated in suburban Frisco, Tx, but I will persevere and not

give up. However, I am very glad I had this interview because it opened my eyes to what's

happening around us in the community, and what I need to focus on in the future.