The Bat Researcher

This one comes with a personal anecdote. I was on a cross-country, seven hour flight once, and I was seated next to a young guy, who was sitting next to a young woman (who was sitting next to a window.) I was trying to read my contracts book, because I was missing several days of class and wanted to catch up. The two strangers next to me were having a heated discussion about the PowerPoint presentation that they were working on, making it clear to me (and the rest of the plane) that they were, in fact, academics. The guy tried to engage me in conversation several times, and when eventually I gave up on reading and turned my attention to him, I learned a little more about him and what he was doing. 


He was a bat researcher. He was headed to a bat researcher conference. Apparently, there is this giant plague that is wiping out bats everywhere. It's actually kind of sad. I listened to him chat about it for a while, with the understanding that I wasn't going to be able to finish my reading until he got this off his chest. Then, he whipped out his iPhone and started showing me pictures of his bats. Gross. And then he informed me that he was so slammed with work that he had tons of bat blood samples sitting in his refrigerator at home, waiting for him to return.


At this point I was getting uncomfortable and turned back towards my book, only to be interrupted again. "Um?" I looked up at him. "Do you think maybe, when we both get back, you'd want to go out sometime?" 

While bat boy and I never saw each other again, I did find his profession to be quite... unique. 


Average Salary: This guy was in a graduate degree program for Animal Science. Specifically, Bat Science. So he was getting however much money the program stipend plus his research grant totaled. However, once he's a qualified animal scientist, according to my favorite source, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, he will be able to make an average of $64,510 dollars and he will be able to work in academia, scientific consulting, or other similarly vague fields.


Perks: You can probably say whatever you want about bats and people will just assume it's true. Your chances of getting on a nature channel special are greatly increased. You understand the science behind team Edward. You have a personal connection to Count Chocula. You can name your child Stellaluna. You keep Gotham city safe at night. 


Disadvantages: Bat blood in your fridge. 


SAVE THE BATS: there actually is this crazy bat disease going around. You can learn more and donate to save the bats, or learn how to build a bat habitat, or even adopt a bat, at Bat Conservation International