Environmental laboratory technician vs staff scientist

The differences between environmental laboratory technicians and staff 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 staff scientist takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a staff scientist has an average salary of $93,941, 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 staff scientist are data analysis, research projects, and molecular biology.

Environmental laboratory technician vs staff scientist overview

	Environmental Laboratory Technician	Staff Scientist
Yearly salary	$40,682	$93,941
Hourly rate	$19.56	$45.16
Growth rate	9%	17%
Number of jobs	58,055	121,054
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 staff scientist do?

The primary role of a Staff Scientist is to develop and manage scientific research projects with minimal supervision. They are also responsible for the technical and budgetary aspects of scientific research projects.

Environmental laboratory technician vs staff scientist salary

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

	Environmental Laboratory Technician	Staff Scientist
Average salary	$40,682	$93,941
Salary range	Between $29,000 And $56,000	Between $63,000 And $137,000
Highest paying City	-	Redwood City, CA
Highest paying state	-	California
Best paying company	-	Etsy
Best paying industry	-	Technology

Differences between environmental laboratory technician and staff scientist education

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

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

Environmental laboratory technician vs staff scientist demographics

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

	Environmental Laboratory Technician	Staff Scientist
Average age	38	41
Gender ratio	Male, 60.9% Female, 39.1%	Male, 67.8% Female, 32.2%
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, 6.2% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 9.4% Asian, 26.5% White, 53.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%
LGBT Percentage	8%	8%

Differences between environmental laboratory technician and staff 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

Staff scientist example responsibilities.

Lead efforts to replace a critical radioactive immunoassay with a non-radioactive format to measure clinical samples.
Manage clinical sample testing using MSD and ELISA in LIMS, including data review and approval using LIMS.
Assist in managing and maintenance of HPLC and Prep-HPLC systems to ensure maximum productivity for the process development group.
Manage pediatric dose development project, technology transfer project and alternate API supplier qualification project on budget and on schedule
Assist with RNA and DNA extractions from FFPE tissue and blood.
Supervise temps performing HPLC assays and validations during development and production campaigns under GMP conditions.

Environmental laboratory technician vs staff 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 staff scientist skills

Data Analysis, 9%
Research Projects, 7%
Molecular Biology, 5%
Next-Generation Sequencing, 4%
Statistical Analysis, 4%
RNA, 4%

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Environmental Laboratory Technician
Environmental Laboratory Technician vs Staff Scientist

Updated January 8, 2025

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