Careers of Backcountrypost.com

Washed up infectious disease (molecular epidemiology) researcher here. Dropped out of academia to switch to analytical laboratory software IT with a longer term goal of working remotely. Now work remotely as a software product manager for an IaaS company and live in a tiny town in SW UT, spending much of my summers in the Sierra and WY (smoke permitting). Still crunch epidemiology data and read journal articles once in a while for "fun".
 
The user name provides a hint or two. . .
I grew up in a family business as a mechanic working on construction equipment. I enjoyed my time playing/working on Caterpillar big boy toys but knew technology changes would make it challenging for small independent businesses like ours to grow/prosper. The obvious thing to do was apply, get accepted, and graduate from Veterinary School. . . which I did. Fifteen years later I'm running my own practice and starting to have some time to travel again. I grew up in a rural environment and have always had a love for the outdoors; that continues today but our 200 acre farm lacks the topography that can only be found farther West. I realize dozers, track hoes, and wheel loaders can be the enemy when it comes to the environment -- my love of machines and the wilderness walks a line of progress vs. preservation. At the end of the day though I would much rather watch the sunset in the backcountry instead of having a view from the tractor cab.
 
Washed up infectious disease (molecular epidemiology) researcher here. Dropped out of academia to switch to analytical laboratory software IT with a longer term goal of working remotely. Now work remotely as a software product manager for an IaaS company and live in a tiny town in SW UT, spending much of my summers in the Sierra and WY (smoke permitting). Still crunch epidemiology data and read journal articles once in a while for "fun".
I need to talk to you! Perks of academia is more education I am looking for options. IT is one I was considering.

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I graduated from UVU with a degree in digital media. My original plan was to move to California and work in the film industry doing special effects. It didn't take long however to realize that life was not conducive to having a life...... I wanted to marry and have a family and still live my life, and the 80 hour work weeks that hollywood usually requires was not going to cut it. I managed to get very lucky and find a local job here in Utah doing 3d animation for medical device companies. The pay isn't as good as working on films, but since I am located in Utah I am actually much better off than having a higher salary and being located in California. The hours are normal, and I get benefits and decent PTO. I have been at that company now for 10 years this November with no plans for changing anytime soon.
 
Retired ... But now a fun job Summers as contract Emergency Medical Technician for the USFS on wildland fires...... Previously USFS in timber prep/sales and range management, US Postal service as a mail carrier....
 
Lol..... Back to Ogden....and I'm getting ready to move in new house in island park, Id......... permanently as ogdrn is to crowded
That's funny. I was near downtown Ogden earlier this week and marveled at how quiet it was compared to Salt Lake.

Island Park is certainly a better choice though.
 
That's funny. I was near downtown Ogden earlier this week and marveled at how quiet it was compared to Salt Lake.

Island Park is certainly a better choice though.
Come to island park.....to hear quiet....
 
Some of my park ranger friends talked me into getting a degree in geology and I just signed up. I probably had an insane or weak moment because this means another few years of hard work.
But since I love lava and rocks it all makes sense. Welcome second career.
Now I need to find a paid internship this summer in a cool park to work, lol. ;)
 
Come to island park.....to hear quiet....
I've got an uncle with a cabin up there. Stayed there a couple times. So quiet in that forest.

Grandparents' former cabin up near Wade Lake was also great for those reasons. If I could live anywhere, somewhere in the stretch of highway from Ashton Hill to Ennis, MT would be the near the top of my list.
 
Another nerd here. I've been working primarily on cancer radiation therapy systems for the last 20 years or so. Some coding, a lot of making sure we don't accidentally hurt any of the people we're trying to help, and a lot of shuffling paperwork with the FDA. The last 7 have been working from home, which is cool. I've always enjoyed camping, but I didn't get into it seriously until last year. As is often the case, it took a series of unfortunate events to provide some perspective. Once my youngest flies the coop, I'll be joining most of you in the southwest!
 
This was a fun thread to read! I'm late to the party here, having been on hiatus from BCP for about a year so I am just now seeing / reading / enjoying this and learning more about people I remember from when I was here before, and new people who've joined since I was gone.

I'm a statistician / data analyst / research scientist free-lance consultant, which was something I started doing around 2009 in order to gain more free time for recreation (I can survive comfortably on far less than 40hr/wk, and time is more important to me than money).

Before that, 20+ years as a mathematician / statistician for research institutes & think-tanks, primarily in the Wash DC area. Not what my degrees were in, but it was a financially fortuitous detour while raising a family.

But, alas, as as freelancer, work has been drying up and I've been mostly unemployed the past few years. (Most of my experience is in fields that generally rely on public sector / govt funding, and budget appropriations for these sciences have *ahem* not been favorable of late.) So perhaps transitioning back to working for someone else again. :-( We'll see. I'm still trying to milk the part-time teat as long as possible, to give me time to play while these geriatric joints are still cooperating.

If someone would just pay me to examine topographic maps for 4-8 hours a day..... *sigh* Surely that kind of job must exist somewhere, right?
 
Currently a school teacher and a Fire Chief of a small volunteer fire department. Construction for about 15 years. Still dabble in it for odd jobs. Went to school to be a respiratory therapist and did that for about a year. Made some mistakes in college choice for that and didn’t have a future there plus my family didn’t like the night shifts. Spent some time as a heavy equipment operator for a custom hay farmer.


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But, alas, as as freelancer, work has been drying up and I've been mostly unemployed the past few years. (Most of my experience is in fields that generally rely on public sector / govt funding, and budget appropriations for these sciences have *ahem* not been favorable of late.) So perhaps transitioning back to working for someone else again. :-( We'll see. I'm still trying to milk the part-time teat as long as possible, to give me time to play while these geriatric joints are still cooperating.

What about data sci jobs?
 
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This was a fun thread to read! I'm late to the party here, having been on hiatus from BCP for about a year so I am just now seeing / reading / enjoying this and learning more about people I remember from when I was here before, and new people who've joined since I was gone.

I'm a statistician / data analyst / research scientist free-lance consultant, which was something I started doing around 2009 in order to gain more free time for recreation (I can survive comfortably on far less than 40hr/wk, and time is more important to me than money).

Before that, 20+ years as a mathematician / statistician for research institutes & think-tanks, primarily in the Wash DC area. Not what my degrees were in, but it was a financially fortuitous detour while raising a family.

But, alas, as as freelancer, work has been drying up and I've been mostly unemployed the past few years. (Most of my experience is in fields that generally rely on public sector / govt funding, and budget appropriations for these sciences have *ahem* not been favorable of late.) So perhaps transitioning back to working for someone else again. :-( We'll see. I'm still trying to milk the part-time teat as long as possible, to give me time to play while these geriatric joints are still cooperating.

If someone would just pay me to examine topographic maps for 4-8 hours a day..... *sigh* Surely that kind of job must exist somewhere, right?

Langdon, good to see you back..
 
Yep, cool thread.

For my day job I am the Director of Marketing for a pretty big physical therapy company in Utah, Idaho and Montana called Mountain Land Physical Therapy. I do websites, graphic design, photography, videography, copywriting, social media, company events and anything else that fits into the brand of the company.

I also run Backcountry Post which can be quite the job at times, especially the side projects that have come out of it. 4 out of the last 5 years I worked as a sort of guidebook author; hiking, photographing and writing up trail guides for Intermountain Healthcare for their Healthy Hikes program. That was a fun gig but it looks like they're taking at least a year off from adding new content. Over the 4 years I did 250 trail guides for them so they have a nice library. I also work on quite a few other projects through my side business (Sandstone Logic), including some other company's websites, photography gigs (real estate and headshots) and some other outdoors-related projects. Between the two jobs I'm usually busier than I'd like so I'm kind of looking forward to this year being pretty light so I can spend more time outdoors. But every time I say that...
@Nick did you start Backcountry post?
 
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