This is ONE place, where I felt a lot of weird nonsense was going on. I encountered quite a few goofy people! Lots of backstabbing, stupidity, and perfidy, especially from the management.
The interview process was a bunch of scripted questions. Looking back at that, I recall on question pertaining to how one would deal with conflicts. That place has LOTS of conflicts! Having moved on to a position, where I have far better pay, more respect, and less stress, I just leave behind the people quarreling among themselves. There is NO need for me to “swim in their soup”!
Reading through the other comments presented, I also agree that the data is compromised. It is bad data, and I doubt that this will be of much value to those that do real science in ecology. Then, those datasets are taken, running lots of ad hoc statistical tests on it with no specific hypothesis in mind, then simply reporting whichever effects result. This is nicely summed up by the oft-repeated analogy of the “Texas sharpshooter”, who takes his revolver and randomly riddles the side of a barn with gunshots, then swaggers over to paint a bullseye around the few bullet holes that happen to be near to one another, claiming that's where he was aiming all along. The bottom line is that the NEON project is a waste of taxpayer’s money!
Looking back to my time there, I found that place is run by a bunch of narcissists (and some psychopaths). As I perceived the the many indicators of its pervasiveness, I adjust my expectations and destiny. I reminded myself that the more negative person tends to bring down the healthier one. That said, protect yourself! Avoid that place! As I read through the comments, I arrived at the following conclusion regarding seasonal employment: keep your obligations with the people as minimal as possible! These are not safe people!
Last, this IS a very chaotic environment, and it seemed as if the managers never seemed to get their act together. The following quote seems to describe the NEON “business plan” to a T: “The point of breaking ground is to begin to build something. If all you do is break ground, you end up with a lot of holes in the ground, but no buildings!” -- Ottoline Leyser
