Mixing Number Crunching with Fish Squeezing and Duck Plucking

While fish and wildlife graduate students collect a stunning amount of data; few, if any, have any training, education, or experience in how to handle or store that data.  This has frequently resulted in million dollar research studies storing and managing hundreds of thousands of data points using the mind-numbingly inefficient and startlingly error-prone capabilities of programs like Microsoft Excel.  While many reasons exist for a general lack of proper database usage in student research, the two most prevalent excuses tend to be a steep learning curve and simply not knowing any better.  To address these needs, for the past two years I have taught a data management and introduction to Microsoft Access seminar to university students and to promote wiser data management practices in their research projects.  It has been a rewarding experience to see students realize that how they handle numbers in an office is every bit as important as how they handle fur, fins and feathers in the field.