"If I wasn't so determined I couldn't have done it. I found almost no help in the beginning. It all came from myself and friends outside the university."

When she started her course of study two things shocked her: The birds were not important, in and of themselves. They were treated as examples of theories. Secondly, science quantifies everything. Everything is turned into numbers and equations. I thought I'd go to school and learn about birds. I learned to manipulate numbers and make graphs and do statistics. There was no way around it."

Her determination kept her going until her third year. "It turned around for me when I decided to do conservation biology. If you want to know the effect of logging on a bird you have to do it by numbers. I don't have the same kind of reaction to quantitative thinking that I did. It can be really useful. Also I found a way to work in science so I don't have to do terrible things to animals."

Marilyn got a grant to conduct her own research project. During the summer, she got up at 5:30 in the morning and went and sat in one of three different forests. Her job was to recognize by sight, or sound, the birds that showed up in the vine maple gap she was watching and to make a scientific record of her findings. Her study, Vine Maple Gaps and Bird Diversity in Lower Mainland BC, is part of a whole series of research designed to figure out how to plant trees so that they can continue to support the diversity of species that live in forests. She achieved her goal of having someone pay her to watch birds.

These are not easy fields for women to break into, but women have done it. You don't have to be a pioneer. The following is a list of contacts for more information.

Contacts:

Trades Exploratory Program for Women
Kate Pelletier, Coordinator, Women in Trades/Special Initiatives, School of Trades Training BC Institute of Technology (BCIT) 432-8233 Toll free 1-800-667-0676

Women in Trades and Technology,
Operations and Blue Collar Work (WITT)
National Network, RR#l, Winlaw V0G 2J0 226-7624

This organization can put you in touch with Women in Trades and Technology in your area. They publish a newsletter and you can get on the mailing list.

South Island Women in Trades and Technology
5741 Titan Place, Sooke V0S 1N0 474-1128

This is an answering machine responded to by volunteers. They will try to answer any question or point you in the right direction, but it might take them a while to get back to you.

Lower Mainland Women in Trades and Technology,
Operations and Blue Collar Work (WITT)
Kate Pelletier, contact person at BCIT 432-8233 Toll free 1-800-667-0676

Society of Canadian Women in
Science and Technology (SCWIST)
Resource Centre #2423-515 W. Hastings St. Vancouver, V6B 5K3 291-5163

This centre has videos, newspaper clipping files, books and magazines. They can put you in touch with women and women's organizations in science and technology.