How To Become A Staff Biologist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a staff biologist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted expert

John Turbeville Ph.D.

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a staff biologist. For example, did you know that they make an average of $31.39 an hour? That's $65,292 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 1% and produce 100 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a staff biologist?

John Turbeville Ph.D.

Senior Assistant Dean for Student Affairs/Director of Career Services, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry

There is no particular fix, or one size fits all approach to job searching. The ability to successfully network and engage in an ongoing way, in various career-related opportunities, is still the best strategy for success, even in uncertain times like these. Students may have additional opportunities made available to them because of the digital/remote nature of how many organizations are engaging in their recruitment-allowing graduates the ability to experience more, in a shorter period, without limitations of location or travel, that very often enter into considerations surrounding the job search. With that said, however, knowing there is a durable full-time, seasonal nature to early employment opportunities for biology grads, we would expect this to be more prevalent as the economy begins to recover. Demand for graduates in the public health-related fields will likely continue to be high, but graduates will probably need to be even more flexible in starting their careers. Not in the sense that they will need to take positions "out of their field," but instead, that they will need to be more open to relocating for the right opportunities to engage their passions and interests.

ScoreStaff BiologistUS Average

Salary

5.1

Avg. Salary $65,292

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.2

Growth rate 1%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.73%

Asian 10.32%

Black or African American 3.12%

Hispanic or Latino 8.81%

Unknown 5.34%

White 71.67%

Gender

female 47.78%

male 52.22%

Age - 39

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 39

Stress level

5.2

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.3

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.6

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a staff biologist

Explore staff biologist education requirements

Most common staff biologist degrees

Bachelor's

77.4 %

Master's

15.5 %

Associate

5.4 %

Start to develop specific staff biologist skills

Skills	Percentages
FDA	8.47%
Wetland	7.79%
Species ACT	7.72%
Molecular Biology	7.63%
GLP	7.15%

Research staff biologist duties and responsibilities

Manage detailed GLP laboratory manual daily.
Navigate to remote project sites using GPS, topo maps, aerial photographs, and GIS layers.
Conduct multi-layer GIS analysis for projects.
Collect survey measurements using survey grade GPS and laser survey equipment.

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