<p>Ramjoy, I saw that you recently posted three different topics and thought I might weigh in on your questions. </p>
<p>You should know that an MPH is a practicing degree and a Phd is the degree required to do research. Every school of public health offers Phd programs in addition to masters degree. If you want to do research, you should be looking into Phd, not MPH.</p>
<p>I worked for a few years in biotech and can provide some insight into your questions. Biotechnology has been a major employer for science graduates since the 70’s and accounts for why unemployment among scientists is very low despite rapidly expanding graduate programs and a glut of postdocs. Some 50 percent of scientific research is funded through industry and about 30 percent of Phds end up working in biotech/pharma. A BS/MS degree will suffice for entering the field, but in many companies, there is a glass ceiling for non Phd scientists. The kinds of coursework that are most relevant for biotech will include statistics, molecular biology, bioinformatics. I don’t know how you would go about gaining certain skills except through practice, but it would be very helpful if you could use excel like a champ, organize a project using gantt charts and had some familiarity with intellectual property law. When I was hiring scientists in biotech, I looked for people who were accomplished in whatever they had done- publications, presentations, awards, research experience etc. Experience in other biotech companies was most preferable, so if you want to look into internships, you would be well served. Salaries for biotech/pharma are pretty good, as compared to academia, with associate scientists earning 35-50 to start and senior scientists making 75-100 to start. Obviously there is a huge range depending on experience, company and person. Job security is less great than in academia but outside of tenured professors and federal judges, nobody gets great job security.</p>
<p>You asked about how competitive evolutionary ecology is compared to other areas. The further away you get from the biomedical sciences, the more of a challenge funding is. In Genetics, for example, most of the funding comes from the NIH with its 30 billion dollar a year budget, but as you look at evolutionary biology, the funding comes through a mish mash of other sources like NSF and foundations, which have lower budgets. </p>
<p>Your specific background in evolutionary biology won’t hurt you in your applications for graduate school and jobs. Despite CC logic, employers and admission committees don’t really care about the department name on your college diploma, things like courses completed and research experience matter far more. I also bombed organic chemistry but if you aren’t using organic chemistry frequently, it will just be a bad memory and not a barrier to your future.</p>