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The differences between environmental protection specialists and environmental scientists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both an environmental protection specialist and an environmental scientist. Additionally, an environmental scientist has an average salary of $60,208, which is higher than the $59,771 average annual salary of an environmental protection specialist.
The top three skills for an environmental protection specialist include hazardous waste, CFR and DOD. The most important skills for an environmental scientist are environmental compliance, data collection, and GIS.
| Environmental Protection Specialist | Environmental Scientist | |
| Yearly salary | $59,771 | $60,208 |
| Hourly rate | $28.74 | $28.95 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 26,135 | 56,425 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 81% |
| Average age | 39 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
The duties of an environmental protection specialist depend on their line of work or place of employment. Typically, their responsibilities revolve around assessing and determining the level of pollution or damage in an area, gathering samples for scientific purposes, reviewing data and results, and providing recommendations to clients or government agencies. Furthermore, there are also instances where they have to summarize results and produce reports or presentations, coordinate with other specialists and scientists, and develop programs or projects to raise environmental awareness.
Environmental scientists are responsible for analyzing environmental issues and creating their solutions. They protect the environment together with human health by using their understanding of natural science. It is their job to advise policy-makers, work with industry professionals to reduce waste, and clean up polluted areas. Also, they assess environmental risks and research to guide businesses, government administrators, as well as the general public on probable environmental threats and health risks. Additionally, they ensure that these entities follow the environmental regulations and policies to help minimize their environmental impact on the ecosystem.
Environmental protection specialists and environmental scientists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Environmental Protection Specialist | Environmental Scientist | |
| Average salary | $59,771 | $60,208 |
| Salary range | Between $39,000 And $91,000 | Between $43,000 And $84,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | Novato, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Booz Allen Hamilton | Chevron |
| Best paying industry | Government | Technology |
There are a few differences between an environmental protection specialist and an environmental scientist in terms of educational background:
| Environmental Protection Specialist | Environmental Scientist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 81% |
| Most common major | Environmental Science | Environmental Science |
| Most common college | Duke University | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between environmental protection specialists' and environmental scientists' demographics:
| Environmental Protection Specialist | Environmental Scientist | |
| Average age | 39 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 61.6% Female, 38.4% | Male, 61.7% Female, 38.3% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.1% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 6.2% Asian, 5.0% White, 81.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% | Black or African American, 3.1% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 6.2% Asian, 5.0% White, 81.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% |
| LGBT Percentage | 16% | 16% |