Careers- job outlook in Conservation Biology in the US

Hey, I am not employed in one, but I've spent a lot of time with advisors and faculty doing their best to keep me from going into environ science! (they ultimately just decided not to sign off on it while reminding me I'd be in college as a super-senior to finish it!)

Also- This is a wildlife biologist I follow that produces content centered on biology and helps students learn about the field- she rn is taking questions about anything, so it might help to check her out.

First, it's growing, but there are only 90,000 people employed in the most general sense of environmental science and specialist.

Environmental science is an umbrella label for a multi-disciplinary scientific field that involves anything studying the environment. At my college, if you are majoring in environmental science, you need to pick one of four concentrations- aquatic ecology, for instance.

From my faculty-

Finding a job where you are a scientist, and just a scientist, and paying the bills- that's the holy grail and incredibly rare. My professors typically did five years of seasonal work and regular part-time jobs before finally getting adjunct positions or full-time professors.

A few alumni got field tech positions, but while talking to students in the environ department- in hindsight, it makes them wonder why you need a Ph.D. to work as one. Guess that's part of the whole thing with the climate conservation corps. A lot of vital work just needs a bit of training to do.

A common job for my college's graduates is working in the water processing plants. But those plants will hire anyone with a high school diploma. My friends studied renewable energy, but ultimately needed to get an electrician certification to work as solar panel installers, wind turbine techs, etc.

/r/conservation Thread