Also called: Forensic Palynologist, Forensic Plant Scientist
Uses plants, seeds, and pollen as clues to solve crimes.
Identifies pollen on a suspect's clothing to show they were in a specific field, and uses plant growth through a buried body to estimate how long it's been there.
Estimate; often part-time consulting.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Doctorate (PhD), about 8 years after high school. PhD or master's in botany; usually consults alongside a university job.
Ways in: 4-year college, Graduate school. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Botany, Biology.
Growing about average. Tiny field.
Low risk for 10 years. AI helps identify pollen, but plant clues at scenes and consulting with police stay human specialist work.
Classes: AP Biology, Environmental science, Chemistry.
Official data: O*NET occupation 19-1029.
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.