Outside Online
advertisement
  • Home
  • Travel
  • Gear
  • Bodywork
  • Culture
  • Blog
  • Videos
  • Podcasts
  • Photos
  • Archives
  • Subscribe
Subscribe to Outside Magazine


You Are Here:   Home  >>   ODD JOBS

Survival Guru

Today's Question
What is the best way to get water if I'm lost in the desert? answer

What's the most reliable tool for starting fires? answer

Greasy Rider

Today's Question
What one equipment change can I make in my home to reduce my water usage most? answer

Why do you drive a grease-powered car, and should I do it too? answer

Videos
  • Jack Johnson Cover Shoot
  • Grand Canyon: 3D IMAX
  • Climbing El Capitan
  • Castaway:
  • Episode 1: The Arrival
  • Episode 2: The Quest for Fire
  • Episode 3: Mmm...Slime Nuggets
  • Episode 4: "Last Night, a Crab Tried to Eat Me."
Ask Dave
  • What kind of dog will make me look manlier? answer
  • Is there a sport that safely combines my twin passions for guns and kayaks? answer
  • How come most of the world's cultures enjoy eating goat, but Americans don't? answer

Online Favorites

  • "Into Thin Air"
  • Best Adventure Books
  • The O Files: Unsolved Mysteries
  • Dream Towns
  • Dream Jobs

Special Issues

  • Family Road Trips
  • Interactive Colorado
  • Literary All-Stars
  • Adventure Lodges
  • Oceanic Endeavors
  • Adventure Goddesses

Photo Galleries

  • Malia Jones
  • Amanda Beard
  • Julia Mancuso
  • Women Who Rock
  • Kelly Slater
  • Olympic Cities
  • Exposure: Sara Carlson
  • See All Galleries
share this article del.icio.us DIGG Facebook StumbleUpon

Outside magazine, December 1999 Page: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10

Environmental Lawyer | Green Detective | Environmental Activist | Winter Alpine Ranger | Smokejumper | Forester | Avalanche Forecaster | Race Organizer | Sponsored Athlete | Sailing Instructor | Ski Patroller | Equipment Tech Rep | Tent Designer | Bike Shop Associate | Expedition Doctor | Small-Plane Pilot | Trip Scout | Location Scout | Landscape Architect | Underwater Photographer | Geologist | Marine Biologist | Naturalist | Ethnobotanist | Archaeologist | Odd Jobs: Eight way-out pursuits to satisfy the rebel within

ETHNOBOTANIST

  • The Work: Be like Dennis Alan from The Serpent and the Rainbow and trek to remote jungle outposts on the prowl for medicinal plants, herbal remedies, and other unique characteristics of the local flora. Pick up tips from local shamans; then log research hours in the lab or the herbarium. Or sign on with the USDA, tracing old strains of wheat, corn, and potatoes.
  • Time Outside: 20-50 percent.
  • Payback: Academics earn $40,000-$100,000 a year. Sign on with a private company like San Francisco-based ShamanBotanicals.com, which collaborates with native healers in 70 countries to develop dietary supplements, and you could bank more.
  • Prerequisites: For many nonprofit positions you need only basic botany skills, a valid passport, and a quiver of immunizations. For an advanced degree, check out Tulane University (504-588-5374; www.tulane.edu/~eeob).
  • Networking: Log on to the Center for International Ethnomedical Education and Research Web site (www.cieer.org) for a list of training programs and conferences.
  • Peon to Pro: There are plenty of able botanists, but few have mastered the "ethno" angle. Stand out among more than 200 American ethnobotanists by building a rapport with healers.
  • Drudge Factor: International travel inevitably brings intestinal woes. "Running to the outhouse every ten minutes," says Steve King, vice president of ethnobotany at ShamanBotanicals, "is not a pleasant experience."
  • Outlook: The field is well watered by pharmaceutical companies, college course offerings are sprouting like, well, weeds, and following the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity, foreign nations have begun documenting their flora and fauna—good news for ethnobotanists enlisted to help with the inventories.

ARCHAEOLOGIST

  • The Work: Tough it out on campus for nine months a year, then morph into Indiana Jones and supervise summertime digs around the world. Or work as a contract archaeologist for a private company or the government, surveying and excavating building sites and federal lands.
  • Time Outside: 30 percent.
  • Payback: Academics, $35,000-$100,000; contractors, $60,000.
  • Prerequisites: A B.A. in archaeology, history, or anthropology for contract work—but you'll need a Ph.D. from a school like the University of Pennsylvania (215-898-7461; www.sas.upenn.edu) for the rest.
  • Networking: The Society for American Archaeology (202-789-8200; www.saa.org) posts private and academic job openings.
  • Peon to Pro: 15 years to tenured prof or chief investigator.
  • Drudge Factor: Think highbrow blue collar: digging with axes.
  • Outlook: Jobs are scarce in academia, but the National Historic Preservation Act, a law that requires archaeological surveys be conducted on federal lands before ground can be broken for construction, has created a steady market for contract work.


ODD JOBS
Eight way-out gigs to satisfy the rebel within

Cryptozoologist
Mythical-beast sleuth Loren Coleman, 52, has a job worth envying—the hunter of Bigfoot and the Himalayan yeti treks the backcountry and interviews eyewitnesses. "So many flakes used to contact me about strange sightings," he says, "I had to get an unlisted address."

Truffle Hunter
Tramping through French and Italian forests on the prowl for these underground delicacies can be lonely work—just you, your shovel, and your hypersensitive-snouted pig, to sniff out the fragrant fungi. "It's every man for himself," says Rick Benito, an Atlantan who imports white and black truffles for www.freshcaviar.com. "But first you have to train the hog."

Surf Researcher
Be like University of California wave scientist Bill O'Reilly, 39, whose offshore duties include planting undersea sensors along the southern California coast. Back in his lab, he crunches data to create a surfer's road map to the biggest breakers. Next stop: Hawaii.

Venetian Gondolier
Poling through canals is the easy part. It's landing the job that's a grind: "They pass it down from family to family," says Carlo Santoro of the Italy-America Chamber of Commerce. Those determined to buck centuries of Old World tradition should enroll at Venice's famed Academy of Gondoliering (011-39-041-529-871).

Hurricane Chaser
Get paid to ignore evacuation orders! That's what Lt. Karl Newman does when he straps himself into a turboprop research plane and flies straight into the eye of the storm, bringing first-hand wind and weather data back to the University of Miami meteorological center.

Navy SEAL
In this have-a-nice-day world, you've got to love a place where they answer the phone, "Naval Special Warfare Center, this is a nonsecure line!" Consider it a job for hard-core, hard-body adventurers who are partial to mapping coastal shallows, trekking jungles—and blowing up enemy bridges.

Treehouse Architect
Tap into a soaring market for high-end, high-up forts. Take your cue from Pete Nelson, who runs Seattle's Treehouse Workshop (www.treehouseworkshop.com) and nets $2,000-$20,000 for each treehouse he builds.

Butterfly Ambassador
Wildlife conservation meets international diplomacy: Enlist in the Butterfly Sanctuary Foundation, brainchild of University of Minnesota ecologist Karen Oberhauser, and lobby Mexican officials and villagers to preserve the winter turf of 200 million migrating monarchs. —P.S.

Photo: Louis Psihoyos/Matrix

Reported by Gillian Ashley, Jill Davis, Eric Hansen, Nate Hoogeveen, Joe McCannon, Marc Peruzzi, and Danielle Wolffe. Edited by Katie Arnold.

Page: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10



BlogVideosPodcastsPhotos
TODAY'S NEWS UPDATE!
South Pole Quest: A Taste of What's to ...
After a day of weather on Tuesday so warm that the men were stripping down to their long ...

Update from U.N. Climate Talks in ...
The United Nations is in the midst of a 12-day conference on climate in Poznan, Poland featuring...

More Blogs:
  • Material Girl: Gift Guide, Part One
  • America's Best Races: Vote Now!
  • Obama Names Richardson as Commerce ...
  • Featured Blog: Green Issues
  • Blog Home
The Peacemaker
Greg Mortenson works to build schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Greg Mortenson video Watch

winter gear video
Winter Gear
winter filming video
Winter Film
ROM video
The ROM

More Videos:
  • Russell Coutts
  • Gym Jones
  • Dean Potter
  • Photo Guide
  • See all Videos
Gone Missing
The crew of the Travel Channel's newest show talks about filming in Papua.
Gone Missing podcast Listen

Mike Rowe Speaks
Mike Rowe talks about his long strange trip to TV's dirtiest dream job.
Mike Rowe podcast Listen

More Podcasts:
  • Q&A: Climbing El Capitan
  • Q&A: Maggie Anthony On Son Eric Volz
  • Q&A: Photographer Danny Clinch
  • Q&A: "Coca Is It!" Author Joshua Hammer
  • See all Podcasts
Malia Jones photo gallery
Malia Jones
pirate photo gallery
Pirates
Rwanda photo gallery
Rwanda

readers  photo gallery
Readers
Julia Mancuso photo gallery
Julia Mancuso
Amanda Beard photo gallery
A. Beard

More Photos:
  • Cousteaus
  • Cuba
  • Rally Car
  • Submit Your Own Photo
  • See all Photos

advertisement




Subscribe to Outside Magazine!

advertisement
Crocs Inspiring Soles

special featrues

Gear Spotlight: Adventure Electronics
Our esteemed Gear Guy hones in the FAQs of the digital world in this exclusive archive.
The Green Issue
Earth Day may fall in April, but global awareness should be a 365-day concern. Let us help you stay focused.





Vacation Packages

More Travel Deals
  • Save 50% on packages to thousands of destinations
  • Thanksgiving flights from $166
  • Last Minute Deals for travel this weekend or next
  • Ski destinations packages from $181
Sign up for our Travel Deals Newsletter


More From Outside Online

Outside August 2008

  • Best Towns
  • Jeff Lowe
  • Burma Cyclone
  • Triathlon Training

Special Issues

  • 2008 Summer Buyer's Guide
  • 2008 Winter Buyer's Guide
  • Outside Blog
  • Unsolved Mysteries

Outside July 2008

  • Andy Roddick
  • Fitness Special
  • Summer Road Trips
  • Canadian Adventures

Online Exclusives

  • Spooky Spots and Terrible Tales
  • Literary All-Stars
  • Oceanic Endeavors
  • Adventure Goddesses

Outside June 2008

  • Malia Jones
  • Weekend Escapes
  • Satellite Radio
  • Joe Papp

Online Favorites

  • Outside Gear Blog
  • Gear Guy
  • Fitness Q&A
  • Adventure Adviser

Outside May 2008

  • Anderson Cooper
  • Best Jobs 2008
  • Surf Genius
  • Russell Brice

Outside Classics

  • Into Thin Air
  • The Whale Hunters
  • Raising the Dead
  • The Long Way Home


Vacation Ideas from The Away Network

Outside's Best Towns 2008

  • Crested Butte, CO
  • New Orleans, LA
  • Portsmouth, NH
  • Washington, DC
  • Rest of the Best

Gay-Friendly Vacation Guides

  • Asia
  • Europe
  • South America
  • United States
  • All Vacation Destinations

Best Fall Foliage

  • Black Hills National Forest
  • Glacier National Park
  • Great Smoky Mountains
  • Monongahela National Forest
  • Shenandoah National Park

Trip-Planning Tools

  • Cheap Flights 101
  • Cheap Hotels 101
  • Compare Rates
  • Travel Insurance Tips
  • Vacation Rentals Index

Top Scenic Drives

  • California's Deserts
  • Mountain Tours
  • Upstate New York
  • Weekend Road Trips
  • See All Drives

GORP's Fall Outdoor Guides

  • Where to Camp
  • Where to Fish
  • Where to Hike
  • Where to Mountain Bike
  • All Fall Guides

GORPTravel Trips

  • Active Resorts
  • Horses & Riding
  • Nature Observation
  • Culinary Tours
  • Volunteer Vacations

Fall Travel Guides

  • Active Travel
  • Cultural Travel
  • Outdoor Travel
  • Romantic Travel
  • All Monthly Travel Guides



  • Home |
  • Travel |
  • Gear |
  • Bodywork |
  • Culture |
  • Videos |
  • Podcasts |
  • Photos |
  • Archives |
  • Feedback |
  • RSS Feeds |
  • Subscribe to Outside Magazine |
  • Join/Login




  • About Outside |
  • Advertise |
  • Terms of Use |
  • Subscription Services |
  • Sponsorship Policy |
  • Outside Info |
  • Site Map |
  • Press Room

  • Outside Magazine Media Kit |
  • Photo Department |
  • Privacy Policy |
  • Contact Us |
  • Contributor's Guidelines

Partner Sites:
  • Away.com |
  • GORP.com |
  • Orbitz |
  • Cheaptickets |
  • ebookers |
  • HotelClub.com |
  • RatesToGo.com |
  • asia-hotels.com |
  • Outside's Go


©1994-2008 Mariah Media Inc. All rights reserved.
Reproduction of material from any pages without written permission is strictly prohibited.