Customer Reviews

How to Do Ecology: A Concise Handbook

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I highly recommend this book for anyone looking to work in ecology (I am currently an undergrad ecology student).

The book packs a lot of practical information and good food for thought into a quick, pleasant, and even sometimes humorous read.

The authors help you determine what question you should research; discuss aspects of experiment design, implementation, and analysis; give advice on how to put together a good article/presentation/grant proposal; and more.

While there probably is no substitute for actual experience, I think this book will help give me a heads-up about some of the challenges to come in my career.

Reading this book is like having a totally productive and understandable meeting with your advisor, but unlike such a meeting, this book actually exists!

Concise indeed. This book is so oversimplified that it is neither helpful or accurate. We do not get nuanced analyses of contemporary issues in ecological methods. We get no clear guide to the diversity of opinions regarding how to approach ecology as a career and a discipline. Instead, as the title implies, we get a single approach, formed entirely from the authors' opinions. Even with such a simplistic framework, we still get no nuance, no detail, no interesting discussion. Furthermore, the authors' knowledge is somewhat questionable. For example, at one point they refer to Path Analysis and Structural Equation Modeling (never by name, mind you - that would be much too advanced) as brand new but controversial tools. The problem is that they are neither; both got their start among economists in the 1920's.

This book might be useful for a high school student. Or for a high school teacher who wants to delve into experimental ecology with his class. But for a serious professional researcher, even one who is beginning as a grad student? Only if you have no interest in appreciating the richness of approaches that makes ecology a unique discipline.

The title is a little misleading. It would be better titled "How to be a successful grad student in Ecology." Under that title, it does a very good job at explaining what one should think about, do, and how one should proceed as a grad student in their career. The book is a worthwhile read for grad students and new profs.

The only area where I would have liked to see the book expanded is with respect to statistics.

How to do ecology is a very readable book. It covers the essential elements of the task of conducting ecological research. Its major strength is that it puts the process into perspective. The chance of success and failure in research is discussed and it is reassuring to new researchers to hear that things don't always work. It also discusses where to place your time and effort amongst the many competing demands of a graduate or new career researcher. The book provides some very useful guidelines on how to analyse data and begin to transform analysed data into a paper or conference oral presentation. It serves its intended purpose very well and I would recommend it especially to graduate research students.

I found it in the university library and spent a whole afternoon reading it! I was waiting for some books to come from the auto-stacks and found it on the new book display shelf by the circulation desk. It was great luck! There is so much valuable information taking notes was not enough so I ordered it! This is a concise and well-written guide for biology graduate students and even those who have experience in the field. It certainly would improve the level of presentations... I have endured some wretched ones too. My area of work is environmental toxicology studying the effect of endocrine disruptors in a wetland. It is so easy to get lost in the details. I can be too much of a perfectionist and this book already has helped me narrow my focus. Normally, I would have spent weeks working through my perfectionism to arrive at a realistic approach. Enough said.

This book is fantastic for people who want to know about doing ecology well. The book came in brand new condition. Great Buy

This book is a great introduction to do ecology, it is full of good advices that for sure will make a difference in my first research projects. It is very easy to read and even funny sometimes. I read it in just two days, but most probably I'll back to it many times in the next couple of years while doing my research projects.