Working Lands Conservation employees 4 hard-working field technicians to help conduct our research. Not everybody knows what it means to be a field technician. It’s not a common job, not like a waiter or accountant or lawyer. When people ask what we do, it’s never an easy answer and we always get some funny looks. So today we decided we would share with you what a field technician does and what a day of work looks like for us.

The work day starts when the sun comes up because there’s a lot of work to get done before it gets too hot. We drive out to our field sites and once we get there, our crew divides and conquers. What each crew member does depends on their field of expertise and what tasks we need to accomplish that day. Our basic work includes measuring and classifying vegetation. What do we mean, measuring vegetation? Well, we take a measuring tape, measure the height of 245 plants and then classify it as a grass, forb or sedge. Some additional work includes identifying 100 plants by species name and collecting biomass. Every few weeks, we also collect water samples from various streams across our study area. We test these samples for E. coli and also take a few measurements like how much flow each stream has, what the temperature of the water is, or how much dissolved oxygen is in the water.

Our crew members all love doing science and learning new things about the land, so doing the research is rewarding enough. But the best part about our job is our office space. The office lacks walls and a roof, the AC only functions when the wind picks up, and it’s crawling in bugs and critters. There’s no WiFi or cell service and the office mates can be really smelly. But there’s a constant aroma of sage and a never ending source of vitamin D. Not to mention, you will never find an office as quiet and peaceful as ours. But the very best part about it is that there is a killer view from every inch of our office.

It’s a very unique office space, not like any other. It’s also not a suitable office space for everybody. Our crew is a special group of people that don’t mind working without WiFi and cell reception or the lack of AC. We’re a tough bunch that isn’t phased by the exposure to the elements or the constant bug bites. We feel claustrophobic inside and could never imagine being tied to a desk for 40 hours a week. We find peace among the sagebrush and feel inspired to work harder when we watch Mother Nature hard at work herself. While our work might feel repetitive sometimes, there’s no two days at the office that ever feel the same.

Life as a Field Tech