---
title: "Conservation Scientist"
description: "Manage, improve, and protect natural resources to maximize their use without damaging the environment. May conduct soil surveys and develop plans to…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/conservation-scientist"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Conservation Scientist

**Category:** Life, Physical, and Social Science · **SOC code:** 19-1031 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 19-1031.00

Manage, improve, and protect natural resources to maximize their use without damaging the environment. May conduct soil surveys and develop plans to eliminate soil erosion or to protect rangelands. May instruct farmers, agricultural production managers, or ranchers in best ways to use crop rotation, contour plowing, or terracing to conserve soil and water; in the number and kind of livestock and forage plants best suited to particular ranges; and in range and farm improvements, such as fencing and reservoirs for stock watering.

Also advertised as: Conservationist; Environmental Analyst; Environmental Quality Scientist; Erosion Control Specialist; Land Reclamation Specialist; Land Resource Specialist; Research Soil Scientist; Resource Conservation Specialist.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $73,010 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $35.10/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $47,550 to $110,410, with the middle half between $57,700 and $91,560
- **Total US employment:** 25,950
- **Typical entry education:** Bachelor's
- **Preparation required:** Medium preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** +5.3% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 2,100 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 43/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 25,950 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $47,550 |
| 25th | $57,700 |
| 50th (median) | $73,010 |
| 75th | $91,560 |
| 90th | $110,410 |
| Mean (average) | $77,130 |

### Pay by state

The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| DC | $99,400 | $90,445 | 110 |
| CO | $84,820 | $82,308 | 1,230 |
| MD | $83,290 | $79,355 | 470 |
| ID | $81,330 | $85,168 | 300 |
| WY | $81,310 | $87,722 | 150 |
| OR | $80,790 | $78,163 | 1,020 |
| LA | $80,190 | $90,911 | 190 |
| CA | $79,810 | $72,083 | 2,110 |
| WI | $79,540 | $84,532 | 970 |
| AK | $79,260 | $77,433 | 290 |
| UT | $78,850 | $79,756 | 410 |
| MA | $78,740 | $74,454 | 760 |
| WA | $78,450 | $73,309 | 1,270 |
| VA | $77,380 | $76,535 | 480 |
| ND | $77,280 | $86,871 | 340 |

38 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 53 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/conservation-scientist/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/conservation-scientist.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 27,700 in the 2025–2035 base year to 29,200 by the end of the cycle — a gain of 1,500 jobs, or +5.3%. Faster than average: 5.3% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 2,100 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2025–2035.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** Bachelor's degree (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Medium preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** None.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** None.

### Education people in this job actually hold

O\*NET surveys incumbents, so this distribution describes who is in the job today and can differ from the BLS entry requirement above.

| Education level | Share of workers |
| --- | --- |
| Bachelor's Degree | 69.6% |
| Master's Degree | 13.0% |
| Post-Baccalaureate Certificate | 8.7% |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 4.4% |
| Doctoral Degree | 4.4% |

## What the work involves

- Apply principles of specialized fields of science, such as agronomy, soil science, forestry, or agriculture, to achieve conservation objectives.
- Gather information from geographic information systems (GIS) databases or applications to formulate land use recommendations.
- Participate on work teams to plan, develop, or implement programs or policies for improving environmental habitats, wetlands, or groundwater or soil resources.
- Develop or maintain working relationships with local government staff or board members.
- Implement soil or water management techniques, such as nutrient management, erosion control, buffers, or filter strips, in accordance with conservation plans.
- Advise land users, such as farmers or ranchers, on plans, problems, or alternative conservation solutions.
- Revisit land users to view implemented land use practices or plans.
- Visit areas affected by erosion problems to identify causes or determine solutions.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Reading Comprehension — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Listening — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Science — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Complex Problem Solving — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Social Perceptiveness — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Time Management — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Coordination — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Persuasion — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Service Orientation — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Systems Analysis — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- English Language — importance 4.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Biology — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 3.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Geography — importance 3.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Customer and Personal Service — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Chemistry — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Oral Comprehension — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Written Comprehension — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Expression — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Problem Sensitivity — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Deductive Reasoning — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Information Ordering — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Investigative (I), Realistic (R), Conventional (C).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| I — Investigative | 5.70 |
| R — Realistic | 5.15 |
| C — Conventional | 3.98 |
| E — Enterprising | 3.16 |
| S — Social | 2.87 |
| A — Artistic | 1.97 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| ISTJ | 85.7 |
| ISTP | 79.5 |
| INTJ | 79.3 |
| ESTJ | 66.2 |
| INTP | 62.0 |

Best-fitting types: ISTJ.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [Environmental Restoration Planner](https://nuecareer.com/careers/environmental-restoration-planner) — median $82,220
- [Range Manager](https://nuecareer.com/careers/range-manager) — median $73,010
- [Industrial Ecologist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/industrial-ecologist) — median $82,220
- [Environmental Scientist and Specialist, Including Health](https://nuecareer.com/careers/environmental-scientist-and-specialist) — median $82,220
- [Soil and Plant Scientist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/soil-and-plant-scientist) — median $78,850
- [Water Resource Specialist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/water-resource-specialist) — median $167,220
- [Brownfield Redevelopment Specialist and Site Manager](https://nuecareer.com/careers/brownfield-redevelopment-specialist-and-site-manager) — median $141,900
- [Hydrologist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/hydrologist) — median $96,600
- [Forester](https://nuecareer.com/careers/forester) — median $76,400
- [Park Naturalist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/park-naturalist) — median $73,010

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 31.0 Database, August 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2025–2035. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2025–2035 edition. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/conservation-scientist