Also called: Paleo Monitor, Paleontological Field Technician
Watches construction crews dig at building sites and pipelines, stopping work when fossils turn up so they can be saved before bulldozers destroy them.
You stand beside an excavator digging a trench for a new freeway ramp in California, scanning each scoop of dirt. A dark bone fragment appears, so you wave the operator to pause, mark the spot and carefully dig out a mammoth tooth. You wrap it in plaster and log its location.
Hourly consulting work; hours depend on construction projects.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Bachelor's in geology, paleontology or anthropology.
Ways in: 4-year college. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Geology, Paleontology, Anthropology, Earth Science.
Growing about average. Required by environmental laws in states like California, Utah and Nevada.
Low risk for 10 years. Spotting fossils in fresh dirt and recovering them carefully stays a human job.
Classes: Earth science, Biology, History.
Official data: O*NET occupation 19-4043.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.