Biology Overview - Preparation - Specialty Areas - Day In The Life - Earnings - Employment - Career Path Forecast - Professional Organizations - Profiles of Biologists - Overview PDF - Overview PowerPoint - Podcast

Preparation
Careers are available in Biology at all preparation levels (bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree), but the nature of the jobs change with additional preparation. A Ph.D. biologist usually conducts independent research, at least initially, but may move on to administrative/management positions.

Preparation for such biologists usually includes not only doctoral studies, but also a period of more specialized training as a postdoctoral researcher. A master's degree biologist may conduct research as well, but most likely is not as independent as a Ph.D. In addition, careers are open as a high school teacher, museum educator, senior laboratory technician, or laboratory manager, for example. Teaching usually requires additional education courses for licensure. With a bachelor's degree, a biologist may be a teacher/educator, a laboratory technician, or be involved in technical sales or service. Many with a bachelor's degree in biology go on to medical, dental, veterinary, or other health professions schools. Policy or regulatory positions are open at all education levels, but as for research, the degree of independent decision-making increases with level of education.

Undergraduate coursework includes a broad range of sciences, not just biology. Chemistry, mathematics, and physics courses are required for a biology major and may be prerequisites for advanced biology courses. Computer skills are very important as well, but this may be self-taught. For some fields (e.g., ecology, marine biology) geoscience courses may be a useful adjunct. Some colleges and universities have one biology department that offers a wide array of courses for students to choose among; other schools have two or more biology-related departments, each addressing a different area of specialization within biology (see the list below for names of specialized biology departments). Many biology courses involve not only classroom lectures but also laboratory and/or field work. Usually broad preparation is important for an undergraduate and detailed specialization occurs in graduate school.

Biologists should be able to work independently or as part of a team and be able to communicate clearly and concisely, both orally and in writing. Those in private industry, especially those who aspire to management or administrative positions, should possess strong business and communication skills and be familiar with regulatory issues and marketing and management techniques. (Sometimes this involves coursework, but may also be on-the-job training.) Those doing field research in remote areas must have physical stamina. Biologists also must have patience and self-discipline to conduct long and detailed research projects.

Sub-fields
According to Petersons.com, degrees in the broad field of Biology may include any of the following specialties. There are over 1687 universities within the United States offering BS degrees in these fields.

Note: Some resources in this section are provided by JGPerpich, LLC and the US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.