Environmental laboratory technician vs scientist

The differences between environmental laboratory technicians and scientists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become an environmental laboratory technician, becoming a scientist takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a scientist has an average salary of $97,344, which is higher than the $40,682 average annual salary of an environmental laboratory technician.

The top three skills for an environmental laboratory technician include lab equipment, water samples and sops. The most important skills for a scientist are chemistry, data analysis, and patients.

Environmental laboratory technician vs scientist overview

	Environmental Laboratory Technician	Scientist
Yearly salary	$40,682	$97,344
Hourly rate	$19.56	$46.80
Growth rate	9%	17%
Number of jobs	58,055	62,467
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 66%	Bachelor's Degree, 60%
Average age	38	41
Years of experience	2	4

What does an environmental laboratory technician do?

Environmental laboratory technicians are professionals who are responsible for testing all contaminants that may affect the environment and the health of both humans and wildlife. These technicians are required to prepare and test samples such as gases, soils, water, and industrial wastewater to determine the level of pollutants or identify the sources of contamination. They must discuss and report the summary of the data from test results with supervisors and customers. Environmental laboratory technicians must also design monitoring programs and set up equipment when working in the field.

What does a scientist do?

A scientist is responsible for researching and analyzing the nature and complexities of the physical world to identify discoveries that would improve people's lives and ignite scientific knowledge for society. Scientists' duties differ in their different areas of expertise, but all of them must have a broad comprehension of scientific disciplines and methods to support their experiments and investigations. They collect the sample for their research, record findings, create research proposals, and release publications. A scientist must know how to utilize laboratory equipment to support the study and drive results efficiently and accurately.

Environmental laboratory technician vs scientist salary

Environmental laboratory technicians and scientists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Environmental Laboratory Technician	Scientist
Average salary	$40,682	$97,344
Salary range	Between $29,000 And $56,000	Between $67,000 And $140,000
Highest paying City	-	Redwood City, CA
Highest paying state	-	California
Best paying company	-	Airbnb
Best paying industry	-	Technology

Differences between environmental laboratory technician and scientist education

There are a few differences between an environmental laboratory technician and a scientist in terms of educational background:

	Environmental Laboratory Technician	Scientist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 66%	Bachelor's Degree, 60%
Most common major	Biology	Chemistry
Most common college	University of California, Berkeley	University of Southern California

Environmental laboratory technician vs scientist demographics

Here are the differences between environmental laboratory technicians' and scientists' demographics:

	Environmental Laboratory Technician	Scientist
Average age	38	41
Gender ratio	Male, 60.9% Female, 39.1%	Male, 56.9% Female, 43.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.5% Unknown, 5.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.8% Asian, 10.5% White, 56.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0%	Black or African American, 6.5% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 9.8% Asian, 26.3% White, 53.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%
LGBT Percentage	8%	8%

Differences between environmental laboratory technician and scientist duties and responsibilities

Environmental laboratory technician example responsibilities.

Manage daily RCRA inspections and mechanical, electrical, and electronic equipment preventive/corrective maintenance procedures.
Support short and long term projects meeting establish deadlines such as the upcoming revisions to the USP heavy metals testing.
Initiate and maintain paperwork in accordance with FDA guidelines and perform investigations for any deviant results.
Perform internal audits of laboratories in accordance with current standard operating procedure of good laboratory practices and FDA regulations.
Assist HAZWOPER technicians with logistical support for operations on project operations including research of facilities and vendors need for project completion.
Monitor temperature and pressure of production distillation towers

Scientist example responsibilities.

Lead a cross-functional team to return an HIV combination product to market on random-access instrument.
Design the VERIS HIV-1 quantitative PCR assay which achieve Conformit Europ enne (CE) marking.
Manage an elemental analytical laboratory that include operating, maintaining and troubleshooting an ICP-OES, ICPMS, MXRF, and IC.
Develop and manage third party claim investigations and contractor remedial oversight for various insurance companies.
Manage study protocols and study conduct, intimately involve in the toxicology and pharmacokinetic study protocol development process.
Manage sample inventory via in-house laboratory information management system (LIMS) and implement additional systems for sample and chemical organization.

Environmental laboratory technician vs scientist skills

Common environmental laboratory technician skills

Lab Equipment, 9%
Water Samples, 8%
Sops, 6%
Environmental Samples, 6%
Test Equipment, 5%
Environmental Lab, 4%

Common scientist skills

Chemistry, 9%
Data Analysis, 7%
Patients, 7%
Molecular Biology, 4%
Cell Culture, 4%
Java, 3%

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Environmental Laboratory Technician
Environmental Laboratory Technician vs Scientist

Updated January 8, 2025

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