What do you think?
Rate this book
How to Do Ecology: A Concise Handbook
Most ecology books and courses focus on the facts and the concepts. While these are essential, many young ecologists need to figure out how to actually do research themselves. How to Do Ecology provides nuts-and-bolts advice on how to develop a successful thesis and research program. This book presents different approaches to posing testable ecological questions. In particular, it covers the uses, strengths, and limitations of manipulative experiments in ecology. It will help young ecologists consider meaningful treatments, controls, replication, independence, and randomization in experiments, as well as where to do experiments and how to organize a season of work. This book also presents strategies for analyzing natural patterns, the value of alternative hypotheses, and what to do with negative results.
Science is only part of being a successful ecologist. This engagingly written book offers students advice on working with other people and navigating their way through the land mines of research. Findings that don't get communicated are of little value. How to Do Ecology suggests effective ways to communicate information in the form of journal articles, oral presentations, and posters. Finally, it outlines strategies for developing successful grant and research proposals. Numerous checklists, figures, and boxes throughout the book summarize and reinforce the main points. In short, this book makes explicit many of the unspoken assumptions behind doing good research in ecology, and provides an invaluable resource for meaningful conversations among ecologists.
Science is only part of being a successful ecologist. This engagingly written book offers students advice on working with other people and navigating their way through the land mines of research. Findings that don't get communicated are of little value. How to Do Ecology suggests effective ways to communicate information in the form of journal articles, oral presentations, and posters. Finally, it outlines strategies for developing successful grant and research proposals. Numerous checklists, figures, and boxes throughout the book summarize and reinforce the main points. In short, this book makes explicit many of the unspoken assumptions behind doing good research in ecology, and provides an invaluable resource for meaningful conversations among ecologists.
145 pages, Paperback
First published July 24, 2006
22 people are currently reading
187 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
August 1, 2019
Now I can do ecology.
February 16, 2021
A must-read for Every Ecologist!!
This very much needed book provides suggestions to researchers or students on how to approach ecological research effectively. I have been working on Ecology for the past two years but it such a vast, complex subject that I believe I would always call myself a "trying ecologist" . This book, lent to me by my boss, helped me to know distinctly about the techniques I have been following subconciously and other ways that were quite new to me.
>In the first chapter, the authors speak about the importance of research questions. Having clear, defined objectives, however, do not restrict yourself.
>In the second chapter, they speak about posing questions to observe patterns, approaching manipulative experiments, and building a model.
> Chapter three is all about using experiments to test your hypotheses. Importance of appropriate controls, effective treatment methods, replication of independent units, and ability to randomize and intersperse your treatments.
> Chapter four speaks about analyzing your data but not be enslaved by the p values. Understanding statistics is an added bonus, the primary motive is to be out there with the organism or landscape and understanding certain biological processes. There is also a great need for alternate hypotheses and not many ecological processes can be explained only through binary values. The authors also speak about the limitations of statistics in accepting negative results.
>The fifth chapter is about exploring your scopes and randomization of your study. Disentangling multiple variables, compounding patterns, and understanding cause-and-effect relationships.
>Writing, reading. The sixth chapter talks about the importance of these two for a researcher. While writing is a habit we must create daily, learning to read again and the right way is equally important. By reading, they mean reading research papers; deciding the topic (review papers are an excellent entry), knowing what you want to take from the papers.
> Chapter 7 talks about connections with colleagues, subordinates, and superiors. For more inspirations, joining a local or international eco-clubs is a great option too.
> Lastly, they speak about publishing papers in the final chapter.
This very much needed book provides suggestions to researchers or students on how to approach ecological research effectively. I have been working on Ecology for the past two years but it such a vast, complex subject that I believe I would always call myself a "trying ecologist" . This book, lent to me by my boss, helped me to know distinctly about the techniques I have been following subconciously and other ways that were quite new to me.
>In the first chapter, the authors speak about the importance of research questions. Having clear, defined objectives, however, do not restrict yourself.
>In the second chapter, they speak about posing questions to observe patterns, approaching manipulative experiments, and building a model.
> Chapter three is all about using experiments to test your hypotheses. Importance of appropriate controls, effective treatment methods, replication of independent units, and ability to randomize and intersperse your treatments.
> Chapter four speaks about analyzing your data but not be enslaved by the p values. Understanding statistics is an added bonus, the primary motive is to be out there with the organism or landscape and understanding certain biological processes. There is also a great need for alternate hypotheses and not many ecological processes can be explained only through binary values. The authors also speak about the limitations of statistics in accepting negative results.
>The fifth chapter is about exploring your scopes and randomization of your study. Disentangling multiple variables, compounding patterns, and understanding cause-and-effect relationships.
>Writing, reading. The sixth chapter talks about the importance of these two for a researcher. While writing is a habit we must create daily, learning to read again and the right way is equally important. By reading, they mean reading research papers; deciding the topic (review papers are an excellent entry), knowing what you want to take from the papers.
> Chapter 7 talks about connections with colleagues, subordinates, and superiors. For more inspirations, joining a local or international eco-clubs is a great option too.
> Lastly, they speak about publishing papers in the final chapter.
November 27, 2024
This is a book I wish I would have read earlier. It should be put in the hand of every student even considering pursuing a graduate degree in ecology/biology/earth sciences.
I have been talking recently, with friends and colleagues about the in accessibility of science. If you don't personally know someone who has gone through the whole graduate research process, there is really no other way to find out about all of these unwritten rules of how to get into and be successful in this field. Career offices and guidance counselors rarely understand the nuanced differences between graduate school for science students (that aren't medically focused) and other programs. Professors often don't think about telling their students about it (for some reason). And figuring it all out through trial and error (like I did) can result in a huge waste of time and money. This book attempts to bridge that gap and puts an ecological/biological mentor in every student's pocket. Invaluable. I highly recommend.
The book is small, short, and easy to read, but truly covers pretty much every aspect of being a grad student from how to pick a PI and graduate school, to how to design and interpret results from experiments (and the strengths and weaknesses of different experimental and statistical approaches), to advice on presenting your work in journal, presentation, poster, and grant proposal forms. Yes, it is basic. But it is ALWAYS beneficial to reinforce the fundamentals of your craft, and for anyone between the undergrad and early-graduate levels, it will contain very helpful advice.
I have been talking recently, with friends and colleagues about the in accessibility of science. If you don't personally know someone who has gone through the whole graduate research process, there is really no other way to find out about all of these unwritten rules of how to get into and be successful in this field. Career offices and guidance counselors rarely understand the nuanced differences between graduate school for science students (that aren't medically focused) and other programs. Professors often don't think about telling their students about it (for some reason). And figuring it all out through trial and error (like I did) can result in a huge waste of time and money. This book attempts to bridge that gap and puts an ecological/biological mentor in every student's pocket. Invaluable. I highly recommend.
The book is small, short, and easy to read, but truly covers pretty much every aspect of being a grad student from how to pick a PI and graduate school, to how to design and interpret results from experiments (and the strengths and weaknesses of different experimental and statistical approaches), to advice on presenting your work in journal, presentation, poster, and grant proposal forms. Yes, it is basic. But it is ALWAYS beneficial to reinforce the fundamentals of your craft, and for anyone between the undergrad and early-graduate levels, it will contain very helpful advice.
October 14, 2021
Squarely aimed at students of the discipline or those already in the profession, this concise but highly valuable book achieves what it sets out to do - teach readers the practice of ecology as an aspiring academic or professional would need to know. Research is the foundation and core of science, and the authors compiled notes from an actual class on the step by step process, from posing questions to answering them through experimentation, data gathering and analysis, followed by communicating the results in both written and oral formats.
Highly recommended especially for graduate science students for the practical advice from insiders on the how to succeed at being a scientist.
Highly recommended especially for graduate science students for the practical advice from insiders on the how to succeed at being a scientist.
Read
July 11, 2025useful
October 24, 2025
Legit so helpful and good 😭
April 12, 2011
Lots of really handy advice. Glad I read it before starting grad school. Wish I'd read it before starting my undergrad research.
December 24, 2019
I just finished my first read through of this book with a couple of undergraduate mentees. This is a book I wish I would have read before starting my graduate degree. This contains a lot of useful nuggets of information about the scientific process, presenting your findings, and navigating the early stages of a career. This book had some useful reminders for me, and I think my undergraduate mentees gleaned a lot. I plan to continue to use this as an introduction to science/ecology with future undergraduate technicians!
September 20, 2022
An accessible introduction to big-picture thinking for graduate students and early-career researchers approaching ecological research. Provides straightforward and useful guidance in formulating research questions and executing science communication. This is a reference I would like to keep on my shelf to refer back to. The authors focused heavily on examples from plant and landscape ecology; this book could have benefited from examples from a wider ranger of disciplines within ecology.
February 5, 2019
What a great book! Fun and easy to read it is full of good advise, helpful little tips and grand wisdom. How many books actually have wisdom inside? This one does. If you want to be a biologist, buy it and read it. You will smile along the way. (not just for Ecology grad students - its stated audience)
May 23, 2020
Absolutely wish I had read this before I started my masters. So many of the unwritten rules of academia, some ecology specific and others not. This deserves a reread and some note taking for sure.
Reading this should be the first thing a grad student does when they get to university, 11/10.
Reading this should be the first thing a grad student does when they get to university, 11/10.
July 18, 2017
Useful and strangely entertaining
November 18, 2018
Boring but informative. Read for school.
April 12, 2019
Well written and useful. Takes a thoughtful approach to all of the elements that go into being a successful grad student / ecologist.
July 7, 2020
Very helpful and concise for the scientists trying to approach ecology and systems thinking. Will definitely be a reference for future publications.
January 31, 2021
A succinct guidebook into what research in the field of ecology entails. Excellent at what it aims to accomplish.
May 10, 2022
Quite quick and clear
January 23, 2024
great for if you are a student doing higher level ecology!!! so insightful and helpful… i want to buy my own copy now heh…
July 18, 2022
Wish I read this at the beginning of my undergraduate but still incredibly relevant at postgraduate and will continue to be throughout any stage of practicing ecology. The stages of researching, writing and publishing are demonstrated so clearly. The author's also do such a fantastic job at reminding us that ecology can and should be a creative and passionate discipline.
I'll continue to revisit this book for many years.
I'll continue to revisit this book for many years.
August 22, 2012
I liked this. A quick read. Great advice, nothing totally earth-shattering, but worth the read nonetheless. We can all use reminders now and then.
August 6, 2013
Good intro to many subjects. Useful for first year grad students but would have been more useful if it had been longer.
February 4, 2021
A solid primer for the budding ecologist, with a healthy emphasis on the unspoken rules within the industry.
November 14, 2022
How To Do Ecology is an approachable read that presents important elemental tools for anyone considering research in ecology for grad school. I am very happy that I read this book.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews