A Modest Proposal
If we intend to turn out not just scholars, but whole people who create
and use knowledge to make a difference, how would we do it? Is
there a teachable moment in the lives of students who want careers in
conservation biology? I believe that there is, and that it most often occurs
between the undergraduate experience and graduate school. At
this point in their development, most young people have a fair grasp
of one or more disciplines but only a vague idea of what they want to
do with their lives. Many have taken a lien on future income to pay
for their undergraduate degree. At that point, however, their choices
generally narrow down to staying in school supported by a combination
of scholarships and loans or employment. But a small minority
goes on to the Peace Corps and other service organizations, often with
illuminating results. Most describe such experiences as life changing,
because of exposure to different cultures, ideas, and particular persons.
The impact of such exposure has little to do with formal learning
and everything to do with coming to see the world through different
eyes. Whether they go on to graduate school or employment,
most have been profoundly deepened by the experience and understand
themselves and the world in ways not otherwise possible.
This suggests a possible alternative to the standard academic career
track. The time between undergraduate education and graduate
school is a great and mostly untapped time to influence young people
before they commit to one career or another. What do they need?
More than further exposure to the professoriate, they need exposure
to people doing great things with courage, stamina, and creativity.
They need mentors and role models, and these are most often found
among those actually changing the world. Instead of career planning,
they need a deeper and more vivid concept of what it means to live a
life of service and commitment in what surely will be the most fateful
period in human history. They need a compass to chart a life course
that combines intellect, heart, judgment, and professional skills.
There are a few precedents for this kind of experience, including the
Watson Fellowship program and the Ashoka Network of social entrepreneurs
assembled by Bill Drayton (Bornstein 1998).
I propose that such models be used to develop programs that
broker a mentoring arrangement between undergraduates wanting
careers in conservation and a group of extraordinary practitioners in
the field. Such a program would entail the development of a selection
process to identify applicants; the selection of a group of conservation
practitioners; the creation of an application process that would match
the two; and administration and assessment.