New Journey: Not going gentle into the good night
By Doug Beard, Senior Advisor, Rooted Waters Consulting
One year ago today, I started my retirement journey. It turns out I wasn’t entirely ready to retire, but given the circumstances I was fortunate to have that opportunity. I was certainly ready for a new challenge and that ended up being retirement.
Here are the things I really loved about my first year of retirement:
I get my mornings back. I’m a very early morning person, but when you work you feel rushed in the morning to run out the door with toast in hand. Spending the morning reading, exercising and planning the day is rewarding.
Not being rushed to finish activities when you get tired, because you can always finish it tomorrow.
No computers lugged along on travel makes the trip seem so much more delightful, when not worrying about what’s happening at work.
The ability to pick science projects you are interested in and actually having time to engage with them.
But I do miss some parts of working. I most miss:
The people. I had a wonderful group of people to work with — creative, fun, made me challenge my thinking.
Learning, especially once I took the climate gig. I’ve always said the day I stop learning is the day I die. I love to learn new things and working challenged me to do that. It was pretty rare a day that I didn’t say to myself, “I did not know that.” I still read a lot, but it’s not quite the same.
The sense of purpose. Yeah, I know that should change when you retire, but I believe deeply in conservation (especially fish and fishing). And yes, I still do what I can, but it’s not the same footprint I had when working.
I’m happy being retired, but as Dylan Thomas says “Do not go gentle into that good night” (of course I originally heard this in the movie Seabiscuit, but I digress). I’m still passionate about fish and fishing, freshwater and the biodiversity within, and how all these are impacted by climate change. I am excited to stay engaged with conservation and climate work through my new role with Rooted Waters. But until then, time to water the raspberries!
Doug Beard retired in May 2025 after 15 years as the Director of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Climate Adaptation Science Center (National CASC). He is now a Senior Advisor with Rooted Waters Consulting LLC and a scientist emeritus with the USGS. Doug also continues to contribute his extensive expertise in fisheries biology through roles with the Intergovernmental Science Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis Working Group on Guidelines on Core Data for Climate-Resilient Inland Fisheries (GO FISH).
