What Do Wetland Ecologists Do?

by Clayton Browne, Demand Media Google

Ecology is typically defined as the study of the relationships between organisms and their environment. Ecologists are biologists or other life scientists who specialize in the study of ecosystems and how they relate to each other. Many ecologists specialize in a specific ecosystem, such as desert, woodland or wetland ecologists. Wetland ecologists study the plants and animals of wetlands and the relationships between them.


Almost all wetland ecologists have a bachelor's degree in biology, zoology, ecology or another life science. A significant number also have at least one graduate degree. Most ecologists employed by colleges and universities have earned their doctorate, which includes writing a dissertation based on original research in their area of interest.

Field Research

The large majority of ecologists spend a good bit of time in the field doing research. For wetland ecologists, this means research projects based in swamps, bayous, estuaries and tidal flats. Wetland ecology research runs the gamut from taking plant and animal censuses to analyzing water or soil samples to determine pollution levels to restoration planning and assessing the impact of mitigation efforts.

Data Analysis

The data collected during field research has to be analyzed to be of scientific value. In some cases, this can be as simple as entering data in a few fields of a database and producing some tables and charts as visual aids; in other cases data analysis can be extremely time consuming, involving laborious data entry or sophisticated statistical treatments.

Presenting Results

Like all scientists, wetland ecologists eventually present their work to their superiors, as well as their peers and the scientific community at large. Wetland ecologists employed by state or federal agencies typically submit research reports to agency heads; those employed in academia often present their research at conferences and then look to have the results published as an article in a peer-reviewed journal.

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