Also called: Tick Field Technician, Vector Surveillance Technician (Ticks)
Collects ticks in woods and fields by dragging white cloths, then tests them so health departments know where Lyme disease risk is rising.
Walks a forest trail dragging a square of white flannel across leaves, stopping every 20 meters to pick off ticks with tweezers. Back at the lab you sort them by species and life stage under a microscope and prepare them for disease testing. The maps you help make warn hikers and doctors.
Estimate; many jobs are seasonal.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Often a bachelor's in biology or entomology, or a student; seasonal jobs may accept relevant coursework.
Ways in: 4-year college, On-the-job training. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Biology, Entomology, Public Health.
Growing faster than average. Tick-borne diseases are spreading to new areas.
Low risk for 10 years. Lab testing gets faster, but dragging for ticks in the woods and sorting them stays hands-on.
Classes: Biology, Environmental science, Health science.
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.