The Importance of Mentoring and Adaptability Among Fisheries Professionals: Learning Survival Skills from Coyotes

Fisheries professionals can learn from animals such as the coyote when contemplating what is needed to survive the constant and accelerating changes occurring in the world and particularly in our profession.  We are taught the skills we need from those who have experience.  Within the professional world, we call people who teach us survival skills our mentors.  Mentors are akin to the coyotes family group or pack: we count on them for our survival.  Mentoring is critical to the survival of both coyotes and fisheries professionals.  Students and young professionals need to seek mentors who recognize the value of diversity and the need for a wide array of skills in order to adapt to changes into the future.