Occupation

Biologists

Human Advantage 70%

Significant human skills needed

AI Automation Risk Low Risk
1.8 / 10

This occupation requires complex human judgment, social interaction, and creative problem-solving that are difficult to automate.

Research or study basic principles of plant and animal life, such as origin, relationship, development, anatomy, and functions.

Also Known As: Aquatic Biologist, Aquatic Scientist, Bioanalytical Scientist, Biological Operations Scientist, Biological Scientist, Biologist, Biology Scientist, Botanist +23 more

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Core Tasks

  1. Prepare technical and research reports, such as environmental impact reports, and communicate the results to individuals in industry, government, or the general public.
  2. Develop and maintain liaisons and effective working relations with groups and individuals, agencies, and the public to encourage cooperative management strategies or to develop information and interpret findings.
  3. Collect and analyze biological data about relationships among and between organisms and their environment.
  4. Program and use computers to store, process, and analyze data.
  5. Supervise biological technicians and technologists and other scientists.
  6. Identify, classify, and study structure, behavior, ecology, physiology, nutrition, culture, and distribution of plant and animal species.
  7. Communicate test results to state and federal representatives and general public.
  8. Prepare requests for proposals or statements of work.
  9. Represent employer in a technical capacity at conferences.
  10. Study basic principles of plant and animal life, such as origin, relationship, development, anatomy, and function.
  11. Review reports and proposals, such as those relating to land use classifications and recreational development, for accuracy, adequacy, or adherence to policies, regulations, or scientific standards.
  12. Develop methods and apparatus for securing representative plant, animal, aquatic, or soil samples.

Supplemental Tasks (9)

  1. Plan and administer biological research programs for government, research firms, medical industries, or manufacturing firms.
  2. Study aquatic plants and animals and environmental conditions affecting them, such as radioactivity or pollution.
  3. Write grant proposals to obtain funding for biological research.
  4. Research environmental effects of present and potential uses of land and water areas, determining methods of improving environmental conditions or such outputs as crop yields.
  5. Study and manage wild animal populations.
  6. Measure salinity, acidity, light, oxygen content, and other physical conditions of water to determine their relationship to aquatic life.
  7. Prepare plans for management of renewable resources.
  8. Teach or supervise students and perform research at universities and colleges.
  9. Develop pest management and control measures, and conduct risk assessments related to pest exclusion, using scientific methods.

Education & Training

Job Zone 5 Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed
Education: Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
Experience: Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.
On-the-Job Training: Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.

Education Level Distribution

Percentage of workers in this occupation with each education level.

Master's Degree
57%
Bachelor's Degree
32%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.
10%
Doctoral Degree
0%

Technology & Tools

Hot Technologies

  • Adobe Photoshop
  • C++
  • ESRI ArcGIS software
  • IBM SPSS Statistics
  • Linux
  • Microsoft Access
  • Microsoft Excel
  • Microsoft Office software
  • Microsoft PowerPoint
  • Microsoft Word
  • Oracle Java
  • Perl
  • Python
  • R
  • Structured query language SQL
  • The MathWorks MATLAB
  • UNIX

Software (57)

  • Agilent Technologies GeneSpring GX
  • BLAT
  • Basic Local Alignment Search Tool BLAST
  • BioKin PlateKi
  • Blue Tractor Software DNADynamo
  • CUBIC
  • Deoxyribonucleic acid DNA sequence analysis software
  • EMBOSS
  • EnzymeX
  • Excavator
  • FASTA
  • FoldX
  • Gene Codes Sequencher
  • Geographic information system GIS software
  • Ingenuity Systems Ingenuity Pathways Analysis
  • JaMBW
  • Joint Prediction of Operons JPOP
  • MacVector
  • Meyer Instruments Optimas
  • Minitab
  • NAMD
  • National Instruments LabVIEW
  • Partek Incorporated Partek Genomics Suite
  • Phrap
  • Phred
  • Protein Explorer
  • RepeatMasker
  • SURFDriver Software WinSURF
  • SequentiX TreeMe
  • SoftZymics VisualEnzymics
  • Software development tools
  • TIBCO Spotfire
  • Textco BioSoftware Gene Inspector
  • The Mathworks SimBiology
  • VayTek VoxBlast
  • Visual Molecular Dynamics VMD
  • Web browser software
  • Wolfram Research Mathematica
  • Word processing software
  • sim4

Tools & Equipment (112)

  • Agar plates
  • Automated microscopes
  • Automatic pipetters
  • Benchtop centrifuges
  • Benchtop lyophilizers
  • Bioreactors
  • Biosafety cabinets
  • Bunsen burners
  • Carbolite ovens
  • Centrifugal evaporators
  • Conductivity meters
  • Deoxyribonucleic acid DNA sequencers
  • Desktop computers
  • Digestion units
  • Digital cameras
  • Dip nets
  • Dissecting microscopes
  • Distillation units
  • Electron microscopes
  • Electronic precision balances
  • Electrophoresis chambers
  • Erlenmeyer flasks
  • Fermenters
  • Fluid scintillation counters
  • Fluorescence microscopes
  • French presses
  • Fume hoods
  • Gas autoclaves
  • Gas chromatographs GC
  • General purpose laboratory test tubes
  • Glass beakers
  • Glass burets
  • Glass graduated cylinders
  • Glass washers
  • Global positioning system GPS receivers
  • Handheld digital thermometers
  • Heated magnetic stirrers
  • Heated stir plates
  • High pressure liquid chromatograph HPLC equipment
  • Homogenizers
  • Inoculating loops
  • Inverted compound microscopes
  • Laboratory analytical balances
  • Laboratory bulb syringes
  • Laboratory dropping pipettes
  • Laboratory forceps
  • Laboratory funnels
  • Laboratory hot plates
  • Laboratory microwave ovens
  • Laminar flow cabinets
  • Laptop computers
  • Liquid handling robots
  • Luminometers
  • Mainframe computers
  • Mechanical laboratory incubators
  • Mercury barometers
  • Micropipettes
  • Microscope digital cameras
  • Microscope slides
  • Microtiter plate readers
  • Microtomes
  • Multiwell microplates
  • Navigational compasses
  • Optical compound microscopes
  • Orbital shaking water baths
  • Pasteur pipettes
  • Personal computers
  • Petri dishes
  • Phosporimagers
  • Plankton nets
  • Plastic cuvettes
  • Plastic laboratory tubing
  • Polymerase chain reaction PCR equipment
  • Portable dataloggers
  • Propane jet freezers
  • Refrigerated benchtop centrifuges
  • Respirometers
  • Safety glasses
  • Safety gloves
  • Safety goggles
  • Salinity meters
  • Scanning electron microscopes SEM
  • Scanning laser confocal microscopes
  • Scientific calculators
  • Shaking incubators
  • Sonicators
  • Specimen collection containers
  • Spectrophotometers
  • Spreading rods
  • Swinging bucket centrifuges
  • Test tube shakers
  • Tissue culture plates
  • Top-loading electronic balances
  • Transmission electron microscopes TEM
  • Triple beam balances
  • Ultracentrifuges
  • Ultramicrotomes
  • Ultraviolet UV transilluminators
  • Ultraviolet UV visible spectrophotometers
  • Ultraviolet water purification systems
  • Vacuum dehydration units
  • Vacuum evaporators
  • Vertical drying ovens
  • Video imaging systems
  • Video microscopes
  • Water flow gauges
  • Water samplers
  • Water-jacketed CO2 incubators
  • Weather stations
  • X ray spectrometers
  • Zoom microscopes
  • pH indicators

Where This Career Leads

Career progression organized by specialty track and experience level.

Biotechnology Research & Development Advanced Manufacturing

Zone 5
Biologists You are here

Plant Systems Advanced Manufacturing

Zone 3
Zone 5
Biologists You are here

Animal Systems Healthcare & Human Services

Zone 2
Animal Breeders 78% match
Zone 3
Zone 5
Biologists You are here

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