Also called: Habitat Restoration Specialist, Wetland Scientist
Brings damaged ecosystems back to life: replanting prairies, reconnecting rivers, and rebuilding wetlands.
You might design a project to remove an old dam so salmon can return, lead volunteers planting native grasses, or monitor a restored wetland to see if frogs and birds have come back. It's science you can see change over years.
Estimate; consulting firms pay more than nonprofits.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 5 years after high school. Bachelor's in ecology or environmental science; master's common for project leads.
Ways in: 4-year college, Graduate school. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Ecology, Environmental Science, Restoration Ecology.
Growing faster than average. Federal infrastructure and mitigation-banking money is funding many restoration projects.
Low risk for 10 years. Drone seeding and AI maps help; site design, planting and monitoring stay human, and demand is rising.
Classes: Biology, Earth science, Chemistry.
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.