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Being ECR in marine science: Results of a survey among early-career marine scientists and conservationists
Ocean research and conservation are still largely exclusive fields, with ongoing issues of racial, gender, class, and geographic underrepresentation. To improve accessibility and retention within these fields, we need to create equitable, just, and welcoming study and work environments. It is therefore crucial to listen to the voices of students and early career ocean professionals (ECOP). We conducted an online survey on the study- and workplace experiences of ECOP, focusing on social obstacles, such as economic strain, unpaid work, and workplace discrimination and abuse. Strong economic barriers to education access were evident in certain geographic areas. Almost half of the reported work time in the field was uncompensated, yet unpaid work rarely translated into career advancement and was often associated with workplace abuse. Dissatisfaction and burn-out rates at the earliest career stages were alarming, and experienced hardship and mental health issues were particularly dire for women and non-binary persons. While most respondents were white and from the global north, meaning the results may not reflect experiences of ECOP in other regions, this study highlights some of the barriers to equity as well as work ethics issues that should be urgently addressed within the field.
From trees to fleas: masting indirectly affects flea abundance on a rodent host
AbstractMast seeding causes strong fluctuations in populations of forest animals. Thus, this phenomenon can be used as a natural experiment to examine how variation in host abundance affects parasite loads. We investigated fleas infesting yellow‐necked mice in beech forest after 2 mast and 2 non‐mast years. We tested 2 mutually exclusive scenarios: (1) as predicted by classical models of density‐dependent transmission, an increase in host density will cause an increase in ectoparasite abundance (defined as the number of parasites per host), versus (2) an increase in host density will cause a decline in flea abundance (“dilution,” which is thought to occur when parasite population growth is slower than that of the host). In addition, we assessed whether masting alters the relationship between host traits (sex and body mass) and flea abundance. We found a hump‐shaped relationship between host and flea abundance. Thus, the most basic predictions are too simple to describe ectoparasite dynamics in this system. In addition, masting modified seasonal dynamics of flea abundance, but did not affect the relationship between host traits and flea abundance (individuals with the highest body mass hosted the most fleas; after controlling for body mass, parasite abundance did not vary between sexes). Our results demonstrate that pulses of tree reproduction can indirectly, through changes in host densities, drive patterns of ectoparasite infestation.