Biologists
Research or study basic principles of plant and animal life, such as origin, relationship, development, anatomy, and functions.
Most important skills
- Science
- Reading Comprehension
- Writing
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Critical Thinking
- Mathematics
- Active Learning
Key knowledge
- Biology
- Education and Training
- English Language
- Mathematics
- Administration and Management
- Chemistry
- Administrative
- Engineering and Technology
What the work involves
- Develop and maintain liaisons and effective working relations with groups and individuals, agencies, and the public to encourage cooperative management strategies or to develop information and interpret findings.
- Program and use computers to store, process, and analyze data.
- Collect and analyze biological data about relationships among and between organisms and their environment.
- Communicate test results to state and federal representatives and general public.
- Identify, classify, and study structure, behavior, ecology, physiology, nutrition, culture, and distribution of plant and animal species.
- Represent employer in a technical capacity at conferences.
- Teach or supervise students and perform research at universities and colleges.
- Supervise biological technicians and technologists and other scientists.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Investigative, Conventional, Realistic.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Master's Degree (55% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 4 years, up to and including 6 years (63%)
- On-the-job training
- Anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month (49.7%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 5: Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Biologists is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
- Projection education uses SOC 19-1029 (detailed_parent); it may describe a broader group.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Low | Lower on contact with others than 76% of occupations compared | 38% of surveyed respondents chose “Contact with others most of the time” |
| Dealing with the public | Moderate | Lower on dealing with the public than 50% of occupations compared | 41% of surveyed respondents chose “Fairly important” |
| Teamwork | High | Higher on teamwork than 70% of occupations compared | 62% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | High | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 75% of occupations compared | 47% of surveyed respondents chose “A lot of freedom” |
| Time pressure | Very low | Lower on time pressure than 87% of occupations compared | 41% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Conflict situations | Low | Lower on conflict situations than 70% of occupations compared | 64% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very low | Lower on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 87% of occupations compared | 74% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month” |
| Consequence of error | Low | Lower on consequence of error than 61% of occupations compared | 34% of surveyed respondents chose “Fairly serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: very low
- Conflict situations: low
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very low
- Consequence of error: low
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 4.63%
- Contact with others about half the time: 24.21%
- Contact with others most of the time: 37.53%
- Constant contact with others: 33.63%
n = 16, Incumbent 08/2025
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 41.18%
- Important: 0%
- Very important: 35.05%
- Extremely important: 23.76%
n = 16, Incumbent 08/2025
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 12.87%
- Very important: 25.19%
- Extremely important: 61.95%
n = 16, Incumbent 08/2025
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 0%
- Limited freedom: 5.43%
- Some freedom: 47.19%
- A lot of freedom: 47.38%
n = 16, Incumbent 08/2025
Time pressure
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 22.08%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 41.27%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 22.36%
- Every day: 14.28%
n = 16, Incumbent 08/2025
Conflict situations
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 63.79%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 22.53%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 10.62%
- Every day: 3.05%
n = 16, Incumbent 08/2025
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 8.72%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 73.98%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 12.34%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 3.05%
- Every day: 1.9%
n = 16, Incumbent 08/2025
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 11.67%
- Fairly serious: 34.08%
- Serious: 31.28%
- Very serious: 12.35%
- Extremely serious: 10.62%
n = 16, Incumbent 08/2025
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O*NET-SOC 19-1029.04 · SOC 19-1029 (detailed_parent, medium confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8