I liked how supportive and kind the environment was!
What I wish was different
I don’t wish anything had been different.
Advice
Be open to learning and hanging out with coworkers!
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One person found this helpful
Field Technician
July - August 2022 • Hatteras, NC
What I liked
I had a wonderful time working with all my fellow field technicians! Gaia provided a perfect working environment that allowed all employees to feel comfortable, heard, and worked to keep everyone happy and well knowledged about what their job was.
What I wish was different
Advice
Gaia offers many research sites, I would recommend looking at all of their available options to see which location sounds the best to you!
1
One person found this helpful
Field Technician
July - August 2021 • Jackson, WY
What I liked
My experience as a field technician with Gaia Environmental Consulting was full of learning, adventure, and hard work. This was a great summer job, especially for someone my age. Personally, my favorite part of this job was spending two weeks in a National Park and getting paid to be there...I know, too good to be true, right? I love traveling and seeing new places but, as a college student, it is hard to afford travel. I also really enjoyed this job because it was a learning opportunity in a field that I am not studying. It was really interesting and a great opportunity to explore the environmental consulting field for a couple of weeks. Additionally, the people I worked with on this trip were awesome. We all went out to dinner after work several nights that we were there, explored numerous different lakes in the park, and went on an absolutely breathtaking hike to Delta Lake on our day off. Such a wonderful experience!
What I wish was different
The only thing that I would have wanted was to have more time to explore the park and go on more hikes. But it was a job not a vacation, so I really don't think I would have changed anything else!
Advice
I would advise investing in some chacos or tevas. I wore these for the entire trip, and they were perfect for the amount of walking I was doing and also for swimming. I would also recommend bringing some tupperware for your hotel room--I may or may not have used the ice bucket from the hotel room to eat out of...not recommended.
1
One person found this helpful
Field Technician
July 2021 • Jackson, WY
What I liked
My experience with GAIA working as a Field Tech in Grand Teton National Park was an incredible learning experience. Personally, I hadn't had any field work experience prior to going to Grand Teton, and being able to use the opportunity to dip my toe into data collection experience over a two week trip helped me to solidify the desire to pursue more work like this. One of the best qualities of the trip was having the opportunity to work on a short term ( two week) basis because this gave me the freedom to gain new experience while maintaining my current job. The team was also incredible and welcoming, we spent a lot of time together in the field and back at the hotel, often going out to dinner together and spending our day off exploring the park.
What I wish was different
If anything could have been different, I wish I could have had the time to take more trips with the team. It can be challenging to balance the travel with other work, especially since I was working full time at my other job. It would have been nice to get a better understanding of all of the work GAIA does and be trained on some different collection techniques at other sites, but unfortunately it didn't work with my schedule a the time.
Advice
Be prepared for anything. You're outside, rain or shine, all day so make sure you're prepared with clothes, extra water, food, etc. It may seem silly to be packing a bag every day but when the weather turns you'll appreciate thinking ahead.
