Jack755555
Arachnopeon
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2011
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- 3
Would anyone recommend any books or classes to be a an arachnotologist?
Getting a job as a arachnotologist
- Thread starter Jack755555
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Drezno
Arachnopeon
- Joined
- Apr 20, 2012
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- 42
What kind of education do you already have? You will need a graduate degree (probably a doctorate) in something like zoology to even stand a chance of becoming a professional arachnologist, so an obvious first step would be getting a bachelors in some something like biology (and getting really good grades).
Just so you know, there are basically no jobs available for arachnologists. I don't just mean that the job market is tough, more like there is seriously almost no chance you will ever get a paid job as an arachnologist. It is considered a useless field by most people, which is part of why we are so lacking when it comes to scientific knowledge of tarantulas. Your best bet if you want to study tarantulas, which I assume is the case since you are posting here, would be to get a graduate degree in something like toxicology and then conduct your research on tarantula venom (basically you should get a degree in a broader, more "useful" field and then try to bring spiders into whatever youre studying). I don't mean to be discouraging, but you've probably got a long road ahead of you. Check out some scientific journals on arachnology (Journal of Arachnology, etc) to see if this is something you really want to commit to.
Just so you know, there are basically no jobs available for arachnologists. I don't just mean that the job market is tough, more like there is seriously almost no chance you will ever get a paid job as an arachnologist. It is considered a useless field by most people, which is part of why we are so lacking when it comes to scientific knowledge of tarantulas. Your best bet if you want to study tarantulas, which I assume is the case since you are posting here, would be to get a graduate degree in something like toxicology and then conduct your research on tarantula venom (basically you should get a degree in a broader, more "useful" field and then try to bring spiders into whatever youre studying). I don't mean to be discouraging, but you've probably got a long road ahead of you. Check out some scientific journals on arachnology (Journal of Arachnology, etc) to see if this is something you really want to commit to.
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- Sep 20, 2009
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If you can discover an interesting evolutionary or ecological story for which tarantulas are the main player, you can certainly study tarantulas for a living. Unfortunately, the natural history of tarantulas isn't clearly known (taxonomy alone isn't well done), there's not a lot of interest in them, and there aren't any genetic tools for the group. Tarantulas also make a pretty poor study system (long generation time, no interesting and obvious traits).
Or you can be like me, study ecology and evolution in another system and just keep a crap ton of tarantulas as a hobby.
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- Oct 13, 2011
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yeah unfortunatly if there was a real degree most the people on this site would do it.... 
Ezantu
Arachnopeon
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2012
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- 11
There are actually several arachnology graduate programs around the country. The Journal of Arachnology keeps a directory of them here: http://www.americanarachnology.org/AAS_grad_studies/AAS_grad_studies.html
Most people in arachnology, however, are studying Araneomorph spiders since they are the more diverse group (diversity is the reason there aren't any scorpion or amblypygid jobs either).
Like everyone else has said, your best bet would be to go into a related field (tox, ecology, or entomology) and occasionally bring Ts into it. On the other hand, there is something to be said for not working where you play...
Most people in arachnology, however, are studying Araneomorph spiders since they are the more diverse group (diversity is the reason there aren't any scorpion or amblypygid jobs either).
Like everyone else has said, your best bet would be to go into a related field (tox, ecology, or entomology) and occasionally bring Ts into it. On the other hand, there is something to be said for not working where you play...