Also called: FEMO, Fire Effects Technician
Measures weather, flame length and plant damage during planned burns and wildfires, and returns later to study how the land recovers.
During a prescribed burn you walk beside the flames with a weather kit, recording wind, humidity and flame heights every 30 minutes. Next week you return to fixed plots to count which shrubs and trees survived. Your data helps managers plan safer, better burns.
Often seasonal federal jobs with hazard and overtime pay.
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 forestry, ecology or fire science; some start with an associate degree.
Ways in: 4-year college, On-the-job training. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Forestry, Fire Science, Ecology, Natural Resources.
Growing faster than average. More prescribed burning and wildfire studies are adding monitoring jobs.
Low risk for 10 years. Drones and sensors add data, but measuring plots and watching fire behavior stays hands-on.
Classes: Biology, Earth science, Statistics.
Official data: O*NET occupation 19-4071.
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