Typically, environmental scientists use their understanding of the natural sciences to protect the ecosystem and human health. Senior environmental scientists are the experienced and highly trained environmental scientists who lead ecological planning projects and establish and manage schedules, goals, and budgets. They may even clean up contaminated areas, guide policymakers, or work with the industry to diminish waste. Additionally, they gather samples and observational data in the field and conduct tests in the lab.
They must have a master's degree or at least a bachelor's degree in a relevant field, as most senior environmental scientists possess a master's degree.
The average salary for a senior environmental scientist is $80,184. So, they can make between $75,000 and $83,000 per annum. Besides, there are significant chances for a salary increase if they can accumulate good experience and skills throughout their career.
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a senior environmental scientist. For example, did you know that they make an average of $40.61 an hour? That's $84,463 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 8% and produce 7,000 job opportunities across the U.S.
There are certain skills that many senior environmental scientists have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed analytical skills, communication skills and problem-solving skills.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a senior environmental scientist, we found that a lot of resumes listed 10.4% of senior environmental scientists included environmental compliance, while 9.5% of resumes included regulatory agencies, and 5.2% of resumes included oversight. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the senior environmental scientist job title. But what industry to start with? Most senior environmental scientists actually find jobs in the professional and energy industries.
If you're interested in becoming a senior environmental scientist, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 47.5% of senior environmental scientists have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 40.6% of senior environmental scientists have master's degrees. Even though most senior environmental scientists have a college degree, it's impossible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a senior environmental scientist. When we researched the most common majors for a senior environmental scientist, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or master's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on senior environmental scientist resumes include doctoral degree degrees or associate degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a senior environmental scientist. In fact, many senior environmental scientist jobs require experience in a role such as environmental scientist. Meanwhile, many senior environmental scientists also have previous career experience in roles such as environmental specialist or project manager.