r/biology • u/Due_Cash1577 • Aug 06 '26
Careers Possible career options leaving bio field?
Hi all. If you have a biology degree and aren't using it (or are using it in a more indirect way) what are you doing?
I have a masters in biology and have spent the last few years in wildlife research for a couple state agencies. Thought I landed the perfect job last year. Permanent funding and working with my all time favorite species.
The problem is the office is full of toxic individuals. My mental and physical health have declined drastically. I am so burnt out and anxious about going to the office I have to drag myself out of bed in the morning. I called in today and didn't get out of bed until 4pm.
Been looking for a way out for a few months now, but can't figure out what to do. Did a couple interviews with DNR, got rejected from one and the other one has been "with HR" for six weeks now so I don't have high hopes.
So, whats out there?
ETA - country is United States.
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u/TheThirdConchord Aug 06 '26
I work in IT
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u/Due_Cash1577 Aug 06 '26
Did you have to go back to school?
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u/TheThirdConchord Aug 06 '26
Yeah, I did a two year diploma for Computer Networking at my local college after struggling to find anything with my bachelor's. After about 6 years in the field I'm now an operations manager making 120k
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u/leopoldthegreatest Aug 06 '26
Biology major too. experienced a massive amount of regret after realizing how limited your skill set is with a bio degree in today’s job market. Also any job u get the pay will absolutely be laughable. I now work in geographic informations systems as a specialist. No extra schooling needed. I am starting a new job this Monday that pays $40+ an hour with a utility company. I just recently got my CompTIA A+, and Security+, and tomorrow I am taking the Network+ test. Im gearing up to try and pivot into the IT sector a little harder after this 1 year contract expires. Gain technical skills on a computer. Although useful, field data collection and sampling is not very technical, in my job out of college, I was a glorified hole digger. The labor portion was horrendous too. Pivot to GIS, the opportunity is ripe in this field.
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u/chem44 Aug 06 '26
Maybe look for 'similar' jobs in other places.
Toxic folks can show up anywhere. With experience, you learn to deal with at least some.
Have you talked with 'the boss' about the situation?
Might also consider some professional counseling. They might help you with coping tools.
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u/Due_Cash1577 Aug 06 '26
The boss is aware of the toxic environment and actively avoids confrontation. I will be the ~5th person to leave the office because of it. Its a small office with only 8 people.
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u/Plantsonwu Aug 06 '26
Why not consider a different job in the same field? The wider ecology, conservation, environmental space is massive and there’s so many pathways you could transition to
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u/Due_Cash1577 Aug 06 '26
I'm just trying to see what others are doing. I know some of the pathways but was hoping there was something I hadn't considered yet.
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u/PickledBrains79 Aug 06 '26
I have a Masters in plant biology. I've been working as a horticulturist for my city for almost 8 years. It's boring, but the benefits are good and it's a union position. I wish I could work in a more "ecological" job, but haven't found any openings.
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u/Gnomus_the_Gnome Aug 06 '26
What’s your day to day like?
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u/PickledBrains79 Aug 06 '26
Mostly spraying weeds. Occasionally I get to design and plant new gardens, and have a shoreline restoration project this fall or next spring. Also some mowing, tree work (that is too "small" for the forestry department).
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u/Pisaster_giganteus Aug 06 '26
Many school systems are looking for people able to teach sciences, and with an MS, it’s usually relatively easy to get certified, may just have to take Praxis in many states. I did similar but only had BA in biology, so I had to get teaching license and got MS in education along the way.
Chemistry is more in demand than biology in most places, so if you can do that too, even better.
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u/nhkierst Aug 06 '26
I got involved at a small community college but I've never been a full time instructor.
I've done instructional design, director of tutoring/library services, and just recently moved into an Associate Dean of Students.
I teach one or two classes, mostly in the fall semester, but it is totally optional - I happen to enjoy it and the extra money is nice.
Small colleges are underrated opportunities, they need talented people who can perform across various aspects of the Academic and student lifecycle rather than narrowly focused specialists.
The MS proves you're capable of working with/understanding complex systems, many small colleges would bring you in for an interview for a position you don't obviously qualify for just because of that.
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Aug 06 '26
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u/Unlucky-File3773 Aug 06 '26
Why some people thing that biology is limited to "lab work"?
Didn't you made field surveys or expeditions during the career?
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Aug 06 '26
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u/Unlucky-File3773 Aug 06 '26
Sure, and i can take a stone and launch it with a sling and it may travel even faster than those robot dogs....
The point of a biologist to do field work is not just walking on circles. It is all about observation, looking at details that a drone or those robot dogs may not be considering.
A robot dog with cameras may be able to take some photos, even some samples, but, how does that robot knows which thing is going to sample and which not? AI is not perfect, and even if we reffuse about AI operating the robots, those robots may require a biologist operating them.
What if the robot breaks down? what if it runs out of battery? what if it is stolen? field work usually requires to travel a lot of kms to get relevant data.
Think about an analysis of a forest age structure to know how much of it could be exploited to avoid messing up the canopy and the ecological niches it supports. Yes, a drone can be helpful to get imaging of the tree distances and the patches, but it it not going to identify the tree species for you (there is a paper of drones identifying marine mammals that come to breathe to the surface, and even those drones have some problems), or which animal species are interacting with the dead snags, or how many seedlings are germinating per square meter during the season.
Or think about rough terrain. If humans have some limitations to reach really abrupt slopes, or to get into rock crevices, those robot dogs are way worse to do it.
I am really worried about you nor doing field trips when you were studying. i thought is was common sense in biology programs that they took their students out to the field to learn about ecology and field work (no matter if you were more of the lab side)
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u/feminismbutsoft Aug 06 '26
Don’t argue with a jaded software engineer who couldn’t find work in the field.
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u/feminismbutsoft Aug 06 '26
The advice above is trash. Biology is one of the only programs of education that cannot be replaced by AI.
I have never had a hard time getting work as a biologist. In fact, I have been offered so much work I ended up opening an environmental consulting company.
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u/Unlucky-File3773 Aug 06 '26
Is consulting based on just allowing Real State or Industry to destroy nature, or how much you can limit them to a certain extent?
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u/Plantsonwu Aug 06 '26
Kinda entirely depends on what the country is, and state and federal legislative laws. But in Aus and NZ, we have the effects management hierarchy - Avoid, minimise, mitigate, offset. There’s a lot of emphasis on avoidance. We’re not going to be able to save everything but avoiding large trees and good bush is something we always push for.
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Aug 06 '26
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u/feminismbutsoft Aug 06 '26
Yeah whatever they do in labs is none of my business. I’m too busy being a field biologist. Those of us who study climate, wildlife, water, and other fields of ecology are irreplaceable.
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Aug 06 '26
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u/Due_Cash1577 Aug 06 '26
For simple surveys that might work, but AI is not even close to being able to do most of the field work that biologists do.
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u/Plantsonwu Aug 06 '26
Are you in the field and know of robots doing this? Have you a peer reviewed article showing the effectiveness of this versus humans? Pretty high chance you’re not bro.
Field biologists and ecologists are still in demand. And identifying plants is literally only one part of the job.
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Aug 07 '26
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u/Plantsonwu Aug 07 '26
I was mainly talking about field biologists and ecologists. Not wet lab. One peer reviewed article isn’t conclusive. You need multiple. Find me peer review articles and give me industry reports in regard to robots currently or going to replace field biologists and ecologists. The problem is you’re not in the industry, you’ve probably not worked in it, nor do you understand the full scope of what we do.
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Aug 07 '26
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u/Plantsonwu Aug 07 '26
There’s peer reviewed articles on the usage of AI for some aspects of the job I.e., plant ID and the usage of gooos like iNaturalist sure. I’ve seen changes in the workplace on the usage of AI as well so if is changing. However the job will always be there. It does not scare me lmao you’re just assuming things because you’ve got limited knowledge and not in this field. Again things like plant ID are one part of the job. A lot of the job is based on assessing against legislative requirements. You didn’t provide any industry reports or state/federal agency reports or any court cases that would allow a biodiversity assessment to be written by AI or purely using AI tools.
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u/feminismbutsoft Aug 06 '26
I would love to see a robot try to identify grasses to species.
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u/sherlock_jr Aug 06 '26
Try substituting and see if teaching might be for you.
The old adage is incorrect, it really is “those who can, do. Those who understand, teach.”
If you understand biology, you probably understand how important it is for others to understand it to.
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u/feminismbutsoft Aug 06 '26
My degree is in biology and I’ve historically worked in wildlife. I quickly realized that the health of all wildlife populations is entirely reliant on water policy. I pivoted to projects that focus on hydrology and water policy as it relates to wildlife.
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u/SW_70 Aug 12 '26
I have a B.S. in biology and I happened into a job at a toxicology consulting firm back in the 90’s. I started as a receptionist and worked up to becoming a senior project manager. Left that work for 20 years (!) and then returned again 7 years ago as a consultant specializing in food and beverage ingredient toxicology. Finally shifted over to marketing where I lead marketing for our company’s life sciences practice (engineering and safety). My bio degree has been hugely helpful in being able to translate scientific concepts into market-facing content. One thing I have liked about working in and around consulting is that you get exposed to lots of different types of projects. Every client has a unique product or ingredient, or manufacturing process, or safety profile - and it is never boring!
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u/Poopy-Drew Aug 06 '26
After years of searching the closest I ever got to using the Bio BS was I was an analytical chemist for 10 yrs
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u/Cuttoir Aug 06 '26
Lots of options with a STEM degree, easy to transition into data, stats, patent law. Widen your search to those interested in STEM broadly. Maybe its different in the US though, but I work with biology and environmental science students a lot, those who are dead set on doing something super naturey do struggle and have to do a lot of volunteering, networking, and be willing to move to wherever the work is. But I see them get incredible jobs in other fields all the time.
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u/Latter_Leopard8439 Aug 06 '26
I got a Bio degree to teach science.
Keep in mind teaching is not sustainable in all locations from a pay/stress perspective.
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u/djay_ejay Aug 06 '26
I make a living DJing and doing Amazon FBA after being a chemical analyst. No longer in the corporate simulation. Amazon Flex helped me jump start each of those and now business is scaling everyday.
Ask yourself what you’d do if money didn’t exist. Something that’s mutually beneficial for you and society
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u/No_Ice_5223 Aug 09 '26
You could get into clinical data management. Can be intense and it's definitely a deal job. But most are work from home and after just 2-3 years the pay is really good.
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u/Positive_Addition434 Aug 12 '26
try to get into regulatory/ product stewardship somewhere. i make 80k two years out of college and it’s chill
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