Biology career advice

[RadagastWizard]

Just wondering if there are any icthyologist/marine biologist/zoologists on here with advice on a career in the field

I'm really looking for a mentor as I'm going back to college as an untraditional student and I could use the advice on things like job outlook, what it's like, can you make a living doing it..

 

[Homestead_Dad]

I looked into this quite a bit when I was a senior, what I found out is that most of these jobs are pretty low pay and you are stuck in a lab. Most of the field jobs involve tromping around in mud and swamps. I wanted to dive and explore the ocean. Those jobs are far and few between and the market is super competitive. I got my SCUBA certification dropped out of school and went to work in construction.

I probably got a lot of bad information so take all of what I said with a grain of salt. If I had it to do over again I would have just pursued my dream and made construction my backup plan.


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[RadagastWizard]

Good advice

I'm ok with working in a lab or swamp or even freshwater creeks and rivers

I would like to specialize in fish or work for an aquarium.

I know the job market sucks but I'm just wondering how bad it really is..

 

[CrayolaViolence]

I can't speak on the current job market in this field, but 20 years ago a friend of mine graduate with a 4 year degree marine biology degree (not sure what his specialty was exactly) and the only job he could get was working at petsmarts fish department. Which was sad, cause he was very intelligent and highly gifted. When I asked him about it, he mentioned some of the things that the other poster did. While he wasn't put off by working in a lab he said the job market was just too competitive and jobs in the field (of any kind) were too few.

 

[dmort]

Look into geology. Hydrology has jobs and you end up in the same places as the bio guys. I was a geology major and i spent most of my time outside and afterwards had little difficulty finding jobs in the fields of outdoor education.

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[eastlake]

The job market is real tough even for freshwater. I thought I was made in the shade and that most people wanted to do marine biology and not freshwater biology, I was wrong. Not to mention, this next part is per my advisor/professor, "the bottom fell out of the biology market in 2009 and various environmental agencies had many people retiring and the positions are being filled from within or responsibilities are being distributed amongst existing employees". That's not to say that there isn't work out there, but it may first require extensive volunteer work and I know that with the school bills I have there's not enough time in the day to keep those paid and rack up enough volunteer facetime to get into the fun/good jobs. I wish the best of luck to you and at the very least furthering your education is never a bad thing to do

 

[WatDatThing]

I have a BS in Biochemistry. The pay for biological science degrees is b.s. If you plan on being a scientist, you will need to get a master or a PhD. Otherwise, you are just a lab assistant.

The best job is working for the government performing tests in a lab or in the field. Even then the pay rate is way low comparing to computer field. At the county level, you might be able to get an early promotion to supervisor or manager because you have a BS. The reason I say "best" is because of the benefits, not the pay.

I was a lab rat for 5 years for a pharmaceutical company while I studied to get my computer science degree. I would not recommend anyone to go into biological sciences unless it is a stepping stone to the healthcare or teaching fields.

 

[DonR]

My experience is not recent, but ...

I would encourage you to pursue your education in the life sciences field if it interests you. I received a B.S. in Biology with a Chemistry minor over 40 years ago. I started working in a commercial laboratory a few months before graduation. I spent the first couple of months washing glassware, sterilizing equipment, tidying up the storeroom, etc. I think they wanted to see if I would stick with it. Over the next seven years, I performed many more interesting tasks for that company - working in the field collecting samples and specimens, conducting bioassays, setting up analytical procedures, teaching certification classes, operating a GC/MS system, and ultimately managing the entire laboratory.

Then an opportunity presented itself to go to work in a customer-facing job for a Fortune 50 company with which we conducted business - a manufacturer of laboratory instruments. Today, 33 years later, I still work for that company, administering databases and developing software applications that are used internally by our sales and support people worldwide.

When I decided decades ago to major in Biology, my decision was based on a strong interest in life science. Though I have not directly used what I learned in college Biology and Chemistry classes for a long time, the decision was momentous. Where would I be today if I had not made that decision? I have no way of knowing, but I do know with certainty that I would not be where I am. The road has forked many times, and I have always chosen to follow my interests.

I believe strongly that you should pursue an education and start a career in a field that interests you. Starting pay should not be the deciding factor, and as far as benefits go, enjoying your work is way up there near the top. You cannot know where you will end up, but you are starting out ahead if you are interested in continuing to learn and advance, and willing to take a new direction when the opportunity is presented.

 

[Sk8r]

These kind of jobs often depend on various foundations' funding for the sciences, which is historically not high.

 

[JZinCO]

I work in forestry. I was in natural resource management but now I'm in research and also do consulting on the side.

I have an insight into fish management but not marine biology; you'd take similar courses like ichthyology but focus more on community ecology, population dynamics, etc and have a fairly different view on natural resources than a marine biology program would lead to. That would lead to careers like working for fed and state agencies like fisheries, do population monitoring, etc. Eventually you'd go into program management and spend more time in the office dealing with budgets, logistics, planning as you advance. You'd like start off around 30K and top off around 70-100K (unless you want to work for organizations like the Nature Conservancy in which you'd be paid less but ideally enjoy the job more). So it's fair for middle class living but you'll likely never be a high earner.
I actually wouldn't worry about job prospects. Whenever government jobs decline, the work still has got to get done by public agencies, and developers still have to comply with regulations and laws (NEPA, ESA, etc) so consulting work, which pays alot more, picks up.

So that's fish/fisheries management type of work. Can't offer insight on marine biology.

 

[RadagastWizard]

I work in forestry. I was in natural resource management but now I'm in research and also do consulting on the side.

I have an insight into fish management but not marine biology; you'd take similar courses like ichthyology but focus more on community ecology, population dynamics, etc and have a fairly different view on natural resources than a marine biology program would lead to. That would lead to careers like working for fed and state agencies like fisheries, do population monitoring, etc. Eventually you'd go into program management and spend more time in the office dealing with budgets, logistics, planning as you advance. You'd like start off around 30K and top off around 70-100K (unless you want to work for organizations like the Nature Conservancy in which you'd be paid less but ideally enjoy the job more). So it's fair for middle class living but you'll likely never be a high earner.
I actually wouldn't worry about job prospects. Whenever government jobs decline, the work still has got to get done by public agencies, and developers still have to comply with regulations and laws (NEPA, ESA, etc) so consulting work, which pays alot more, picks up.

So that's fish/fisheries management type of work. Can't offer insight on marine biology.

This is something I've been looking more and more into is a degree in fisheries..

I don't think I'll be able to break into marine biology but that doesn't really bother me.. I like all fish and if I could get into hatcheries or fishery management or researching the effect of pollution on a creek ecosystems etc that really interests me

 

[JZinCO]

Yeah if that's the case I'd start by looking for programs accredited by the American fisheries society. Look at their job board as well as TAMU's fish & wildlife board for career ideas. There are too many folks looking for jobs and it has depressed entry level wages but an MS or gaining a specialty early on will help. I had to steer towards quantitative ecology and biometry (I.e. take extra stats courses!) in order to set myself apart. Learning skills makes you a good tech and learning content in your discipline gets you in the door as an entry level professional. But, with exception for specialists, everything you need to be successful has nothing to do with that specific industry (budgeting, creative problem solving, building trust with stakeholders, etc)

 

[farfromsea]

Ask the schools which companies recruit graduates from their fisheries programs if anything. Some may have government organizations come to the career fairs etc


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[RadagastWizard]

Does having internships with hatcheries or biology assistant etc help you out a lot? I'm thinking of going out of state if I get an internship even if it's unpaid just to get my foot in the door and once I get my bachelors I'll have experience at least...

 

[JZinCO]

It's pretty much expected you put in time as a seasonal or intern. Lots of fun ways to do that though. Nonprofits are always picking up observers to live on ships and track commercial fishing numbers. Google NOAA observer

 

[JZinCO]

Oh and that reminds me, other employees you wouldn't expect include hydropower utilities (esp where salmon are), mining companies (restoration) and logging companies (stream management)

 

[RadagastWizard]

Oh and that reminds me, other employees you wouldn't expect include hydropower utilities (esp where salmon are), mining companies (restoration) and logging companies (stream management)

Can you go to school in one state for example Vermont and then go apply and get a job in Tennessee? Or are you out of the loop..

Basically should I go to college where I expect to get a job?

Example: graduate from Alabama and try to get a job at a Pennsylvania hatchery etc? OR go to school in pa to get a pa job

 

[StephenRU]

You know where you might look into? Biotechnology in the fish industry, e.g. oyster breeding. Here at Rutgers that is a good area.

 

[GoVols]

Find Randy Holmes-Farley's forum on another site and ask him.

 

[RadagastWizard]

Biotechnology seems interesting. It's a little outside of what I'd like to be doing but it seems like it pays better and more job security.. I'll look into that @govols

Do biotechnologists ever work on curing disease for wild animals/fish?