Working hours are also highly variable. Biologists working in the classroom or laboratory can expect a regular 40-hour workweek. Sometimes when conducting experiments, biologists need to work around the clock or late evening hours to record and monitor the progress of their work. Those conducting field observations or experiments usually work at the convenience of the animals and plants that they are studying, so times or work and hours may vary considerably.
Employment Statistics And Major Employers
More than 90,000 biological scientists are employed in nonacademic jobs in the United States, and an additional 25,000 work in academia. About 40 percent of all biologists were employed by the federal, state, and local governments. In the federal government, biologists found employment at the Department of Agriculture, working for the U.S. Forest Service, and Extension Service. At the Department of the Interior, biologists work for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Park Service, and the Bureau of Land Management. Other agencies and institutes hiring biologists include the U.S. Public Health Service, and the National Institutes of Health. Those wishing to work internationally can contact the Peace Corps or the International AID program in the Department of Agriculture. Refer to "Tips For Job Hunters" for a full description of most of these government departments and agencies.
About 30 percent of all biologists work in the private sector. Biologists are employed primarily in the pharmaceutical industry, agribusiness, hospitals, offices of physicians, or research and testing laboratories. The continuing advances in biotechnology should greatly expand employment opportunities in basic research as companies compete to patent new discoveries and genetic alterations.
Biologists are employed in colleges and universities across the nation as researchers, teachers, and tenured faculty members. The majority of medium to large-sized schools offer classes in biology or a biology degree program. Biologists, particularly those possessing a Ph.D., often conduct their own in-dependent research and teach the topics that most interest them.
The remaining biologists work for nonprofit organizations or are self- employed. The Nature Conservancy, which runs more than 1,400 nature pre-serves throughout the United States, Canada, and Latin America hires a good number of biologists. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) also employs some wildlife biologists. At present, a large share of its resources are being used in Latin America where the WWF has helped create and monitor a number of national parks and wildlife preserves. Other organizations that employ biologists are the Wilderness Society, the Sierra Club, and the National Wildlife Federation.
Salary Statistics
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, median annual earnings for bio-logical and life scientists were about $31,300 in the early 1990s. About half of those surveyed earned between $20,700 and $45,200, while about 10 percent earned more than $55,600. In a 1992 salary survey by the College Placement Council, beginning salaries in private industry for biology and life science students with a bachelor's degree averaged $21,851 per year. In the federal government in the early 1990s, biological scientists earned an average salary of $41,754. The average salary for an assistant biology professor is $37,017, while full professors earn $62,531, on average.
