“My career-defining project was a dud.” What ecologist Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant did to turn a big setback into a roaring success

Rae Wynn-Grant planned to make a name for herself in wildlife ecology by spearheading a high-profile study of lowland gorillas in the Congo Basin. The only problem was when Wynn-Grant? ventured into their habitat to collect data, the gorillas proved elusive.?

The high-profile study was supposed to garner her prestige. But what should have been a career-defining moment ended up being a devastating dud.?

Feeling uncertain and insecure, Wynn-Grant returned to her seemingly less exciting work studying the ecology of? grizzly bears in Montana where she saw the similarities with her gorilla project. She realized she could make an impact in the field immediately working with the conservation of grizzlies instead of venturing to the albeit more exotic Central Africa.?

Working with the grizzlies “right away would actually give us scientific information that could inform the conservation of lowland gorillas or other species,” Wynn-Grant said.?

That’s why she became an ecologist, after all.?

“For far too long I was under the impression that I needed the prestige of a project in order to get the recognition from it,” Wynn-Grant said. But she soon realized that, “recognition comes from the quality of the work.”?

After years of successfully researching the bears and other animals in the region, she gained the recognition she had sought earlier in her career.? Her childhood dream also came true when she was asked to co-host a new version of the nature documentary series Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom.

“Nothing would have changed if I hadn't understood that prestige does not denote value,” Wynn-Grant said.?

Tune into this episode of Catalyst to see how Wynn-Grant put her ego aside and recalibrated what was important to her.

And Subscribe to Catalyst for more stories of people whose journeys were shaped by setbacks.

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