I am having a difficult time choosing whether to major in Conservation Biology or Natural Resource Management. Career websites are not much of a help; they largely give the same information for both of the majors, but there has to be some kind of distinction between the two.
If I want to go into a government job or a research position that is stable and pays decently, which of these majors should I choose? Or, is it true that there really is not much of a difference between the two?
Thanks for reading!
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I think they would be similar. Supposedly, conservation biology is about conserving and protecting endangered species, but I’ve looked at the degree requirements at several colleges and the coursework looks very similar to natural resource management programs as well as what some schools call ecological/ecosystems biology.
There are some differences though.
I think any “biology” degree is going to be more heavy on…biology courses, as well as other hard sciences (chem, physics, calc, etc). The conservation/ecology bio option is just going to have less human/medical related bio courses, and more plant and animal ones like botany, entomology, marine biology, ornithology, etc.
Natural Resource Management is usually more geared to forest/wildlife/range/land and soils/air and water management, etc., where natural resources are utilized as well as protected and conserved. These fields usually require classes on public policy, economics, and law that a bio major probably wouldn’t take. Some of them also require pretty specialized courses. For example, I majored in forestry and took several specialized courses in tree identification and biology, forest ecology, forest harvesting methods, forest economics, forest regulation, wood properties, etc. after intro courses in bio, chem, and physics. The rangeland management people took specialized courses in range vegetation (shrubs/grasses instead of trees), soils, watershed management, etc. A few schools even have Wildland Fire Management in their natural resource management department.
Then there is Environmental Science (which you haven’t mentioned) which usually is a strong curriculum of hard sciences along with courses related to air quality, climate change, water quality, waste management, etc. I think most ES degrees also require policy and law classes.
All that being said, all of them would qualify you for various government positions (state and federal) with a B.S. degree. I’m not sure about research - the government researchers I knew all had graduate degrees.
Hope that helped. If you have any questions, you could PM me. I’m sure this is all very confusing.
Thank you, that is very helpful! I am also wondering, since you majored in forestry, how easily did you find a job? Many people say ecology-based jobs are hard-to-get and do not pay much, but that doesn’t always seem to be true.
Salaries for both of these majors are very low with a BS degree only. Do you have to apply to the specific discipline or can you declare your major after some intro courses? Do you lean more towards working in the field and lab versus developing policy?
I may be undeclared for my first year of college. Many people have told me that I will need at least a Master’s degree in order to get a career in this field, so I plan to aim for that. Since fieldwork jobs tend to be very scarce, I would expect to get a policy/office job.
Sorry @gl92801 I didn’t see that you asked me a question.
Most of the people that I know in natural resources that have stuck with the field and have been successful had to be willing to take low paying temporary or seasonal field jobs initially and relocate to where the jobs are. Then, with patience, they moved up the ladder. I don’t know of anyone who got a policy/office job right out of college.
That being said, both my husband and I were making six figures each at the end of our careers. We both just had BS degrees.
The SCA is a good organization to get some exposure to natural resource jobs while in college.
@LeastComplicated
That’s okay! Thanks for your response. After more research, a lot of people seem to advise people not to pursue majors like conservation biology, especially with only a BS degree.This seems to apply to any science major. Although I really want to do conservation biology, I’m unsure if I’ll be able to afford graduate school as undergraduate school is already very expensive for me. As of now, I still want to pursue it, but I think I need to consider a fallback that I would still like. My first-choice college, ESF, has the conservation biology program as well as an Environmental Health major. This major focuses more heavily on the prevention/mitigation of environmental human health hazards such as pollution. Since it is a more health-related field, I am led to believe it is a more “useful” major and could lead to more job opportunities. It is a more uncommon major, though, and I am having some trouble finding statistics regarding this. Would you know anything about this major? Thanks in advance!
@gl92801 Have a look.at this webpage. Click on both Conservation Biologist and Environmental Scientist. The latter seems to have a better job outlook- pretty good actually.
I’d think that at a school like ESF, you would be able to major in Environmental Health while taking take electives in conservation biology courses (or a minor) which could give you broader job options.
Hope that helps.
https://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/home.htm
This is one data point but my son whom graduated last year with an Environmental Science and Management degree. I agree that starting off, it is rare that you would get a policy/office job right after graduation. My son has found for these type of jobs, you need 3-5 years field and policy experience along with a Masters degree.
Policy was not his focus upon graduation but he is finding out to have a “permanent” job with benefits, that having a good policy background is integral in getting those type of decent paying jobs. He did not want to immediately attend Graduate school but do some field work to see what he wanted to focus his Masters on. Within the last year, he has worked in 3 states doing seasonal field jobs with low pay but has gained great experience which will help him move up in the job hierarchy. He wants to see how far he can go with only his BS, but so far has realized he will need an advanced degree to continue in his field.
One mistake he thinks he made was all his internships except for 1 during his Undergrad years were with research professors on his college campus. He believes that if he had pursued an internship in the “real” world, it might have given him a slight bump in getting some better paying jobs.
He has also considered pursuing the Environmental Health aspect for better jobs. At least in our state, most Environmental Health specialists are involved in the food industry as Food Inspectors. The Environmental Health jobs in the healthcare industry at least in the hospitals I have worked at, require a Master’s or PhD’s in the field of Public Health.
I think that @LeastComplicated has a good idea in that majoring in Environmental Health with a minor in Conservation Biology might be a better option. My advice is apply to internships in both areas outside the academic arena to see what kind of post graduation job options are out there.
Best of luck.
@LeastComplicated @Gumbymom
Thanks for your input! Majoring in Environmental Health with some type of ecology minor does sound like a good idea.
Regarding internships, I am actually lucky enough to have one right now (as an upcoming high school senior). At my local nature preserve, we are doing deer population studies and in the future will be sterilizing them due to a major overpopulation issue.
I will definitely be putting this down on my college applications, but I also wonder whether I should put it on future job applications as well. I know employers do not care about high school grades, but is this different?
Definitely list your internship at the nature preserve on future job applications. Any job experience is worth mentioning.
Yes, this is very much different! Put it on your job applications! That kind of experience starting in high school could open some doors for you.