tigeression

Hi all. I'm in a bit of a quandary- hoping you guys can help me out a bit! I'm essentially a bioinformatics/biotech person, with a keen interest to get into wildlife research. However I don't have any research experience whatsoever in this field. I'm looking at labs at the mid to lower tier that does wildlife research using more of computation/lab work and less of field work. Undergrad Institution: Reputed Engineering University in India Major(s): BiotechnologyMinor(s): NAGPA in Major: Not sureOverall GPA: 3.32 after conversionPosition in Class: Not sure Master's Institution: Reputed Public University in IndiaMajor(s): Bioinformatics and BiotechnologyMinor(s): NAGPA in Major: Not sureOverall GPA: 3.32 Type of Student: International/Asian, FemaleGRE Scores : Q: 160 V:155 W: 4.5 B: Not taking TOEFL Total: 115 Research Experience: Undergraduate thesis in neurobiology from a reputed research institute in India (~3 months) Master's research in host-pathogen network analysis at my post-grad institute (~5 months) Awards/Honors/Recognitions: Graduated with honours Pertinent Activities or Jobs: 1 year industrial experience as a research associate in biological data curation and analytics at one of Asia's largest contract research organization Any Other Info That Shows Up On Your App and Might Matter: Had a lot of debating experience during my undergrad days and even managed the deb soc Most faculty have a good opinion about me, therefore LORs shouldn't be a problem Have no publications; just a poster presentation of my Master's research work Applying to Where: PhD in EEB University of Florida University of Texas, A&M Penn State I'm currently expanding the list, but I honestly have no clue about my prospects, if I'm aiming too high or low, etc. As you can see, I'm all over the place with my research focus, but that was mainly because I was trying to figure out what really fascinated me. Would really appreciate a few thoughts/comments on this. As an aside, how much is an industrial work experience valued while applying for an academic program?