Ecologist vs wildlife biology technician

The differences between ecologists and wildlife biology technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both an ecologist and a wildlife biology technician. Additionally, an ecologist has an average salary of $50,369, which is higher than the $34,231 average annual salary of a wildlife biology technician.

The top three skills for an ecologist include data collection, GPS and GIS. The most important skills for a wildlife biology technician are GPS, wildlife habitat, and GIS.

Ecologist vs wildlife biology technician overview

	Ecologist	Wildlife Biology Technician
Yearly salary	$50,369	$34,231
Hourly rate	$24.22	$16.46
Growth rate	1%	1%
Number of jobs	7,026	6,726
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 69%	Bachelor's Degree, 74%
Average age	40	40
Years of experience	2	2

Ecologist vs wildlife biology technician salary

Ecologists and wildlife biology technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Ecologist	Wildlife Biology Technician
Average salary	$50,369	$34,231
Salary range	Between $33,000 And $76,000	Between $25,000 And $45,000
Highest paying City	Fresno, CA	-
Highest paying state	Alaska	-
Best paying company	Volkert	-
Best paying industry	Technology	-

Differences between ecologist and wildlife biology technician education

There are a few differences between an ecologist and a wildlife biology technician in terms of educational background:

	Ecologist	Wildlife Biology Technician
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 69%	Bachelor's Degree, 74%
Most common major	Biology	Biology
Most common college	University of California - Davis	University of Florida

Ecologist vs wildlife biology technician demographics

Here are the differences between ecologists' and wildlife biology technicians' demographics:

	Ecologist	Wildlife Biology Technician
Average age	40	40
Gender ratio	Male, 64.5% Female, 35.5%	Male, 42.3% Female, 57.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.0% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 8.6% Asian, 10.4% White, 72.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 3.2% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 9.0% Asian, 10.3% White, 71.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	10%	10%

Differences between ecologist and wildlife biology technician duties and responsibilities

Ecologist example responsibilities.

Create and manage multidisciplinary, interagency research teams.
Perform surveys for target species including vascular and non-vascular plants, fungi, and lichens using BLM and USFS protocols.
Issue gas and oil drilling permits on BLM land.
Record and monitor nest locations using a marker system and GPS.
Navigate through surrounding desert and massive mountain ranges using GPS and aerial topographic maps.
Help with park events and or activities, occasionally put on patrol for the park

Wildlife biology technician example responsibilities.

Research new techniques to properly manage invasive species such a common carp.
Survey historic sites for NSO, great gray owl, and northern goshawk according to establish protocols.
Guide crews to remote settings using only map, compass, and GPS to set up NSO call stations.
Measure small land areas for surveying elk and deer populations.
Map vegetation and plant community types on aerial photographs and GIS.
Employ GIS to document the results of monitoring efforts and to make management recommendations.

Ecologist vs wildlife biology technician skills

Common ecologist skills

Data Collection, 10%
GPS, 10%
GIS, 6%
Technical Reports, 6%
Data Management, 5%
Data Entry, 5%

Common wildlife biology technician skills

GPS, 29%
Wildlife Habitat, 21%
GIS, 13%
OWL, 10%
Data Collection, 8%
ATV, 7%

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Ecologist vs Wildlife Biology Technician

Updated January 8, 2025

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