All too often students begin fieldwork full of anticipation and high hopes for big adventure, only to end up burned out and on their way home within a month.
This has inspired me to write a post about what it takes to survive primate behavioural research for people who may be considering taking this "road less traveled by" in the future. I won't water it down for you; primate research is not for everyone. Fieldwork is an uphill road, overloaded with obstacles that will test your personal strength every step of the way. (Perhaps there's a reason we opted to leave the forest and culture up our lives, oh so many years ago :). But if you've got what it takes to push yourself beyond the comforts of the average everyday world, and you're interested in finding out just how strong an individual you really are, then studying primates is one of the most inspirational and rewarding jobs available!
Think you've got what it takes? Here are my tips for what it takes to survive the jungle and spend your days with our closest living relatives:
5. Cleanliness. - Parasites, cockroaches, rats are everywhere. Field station living conditions are usually quite poor. If you don't keep yourself, your stuff, your space clean - you will get sick.
4. Humility. - If you are a foreigner coming in to a rural area to study primates, then you are a novelty. Local people will point out every wrinkle/pimple/tummy roll, abstract flaw, or interesting detail about you. If you take it personally, you will lose your sense of self. Take it in stride. They're not trying to hurt you. They're just paying attention.
3. Reason and Balance. - The more time you spend in the field, the more time you spend away from the rest of the world (loved ones, local/world news, Western luxuries). Fieldwork can be mentally isolating and lonely, not to mention physically grueling and exhausting. It's your responsiblity to ensure you don't stop living as soon as you arrive. Be reasonable about your workload, and seek balance between your scientific endeavours and your time outside the forest. Be friendly with locals, maintain your hobbies (or start new ones) as best you can. Give yourself time to reflect on your excursion and enjoy the exotic surroundings around you. Thinking about what's going on everywhere else that you are not will only get you out of the field and back home sooner. The more time you spend contacting home to make yourself feel better, the less time you spend creating a life for yourself where you are now.
2. It takes guts. - The forest is scary. Sometimes REALLY scary. Yes, there are deadly snakes, spiders, bears, wild dogs, wild pigs, elephants, big cats - but the chances of seeing them are rare. Stay focused. If you let yourself get distracted, your imagination will eject you from the forest faster than any animal could ever chase you out.
And the number one thing it takes to study primates...
1. LOVE PRIMATES. - Whatever species you choose, you must love them. They must fascinate you. Being homesick sucks. Being lonely sucks. There's too much stuff to deal with day in and day out in the field if you actually sit down and think about it (parasites, rats, snakes, bears, elephants, proding local people, inefficent meager living conditions, crowded food markets instead of grocery stores, strange (sometimes unappetizing) food, no 'Western' luxuries, limited contact with the rest of the world, enormous annoying insects). But you came here for the primates. If you don't find motivation in just being with them everday, if you aren't interested in always seeing them to find out what they're up to, then you will not make it. You have to love the primates; when they are what matters most, it's much easier to overcome all the obstacles you will face just to see them. And those little moments you spend with them (when sibilings embrace; when everyone's lounging in the tree canopy; when they get startled by your sneeze; when a curious juvenile smacks a nearby squirrel to see what it will do) will become some of the most precious moments of your adventurous life.
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