Also called: Body Farm Researcher, Decomposition Scientist
Studies how human bodies decompose outdoors at research facilities called body farms, helping police estimate when someone died.
Checks on donated bodies placed in woods and fields at a university research facility, recording insects, temperature and changes over weeks. You help train crime-scene investigators to recover remains and sometimes consult on real cases. The work is respectful science that brings answers to families.
Estimate; most are university faculty or researchers.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Doctorate (PhD), about 9 years after high school. Usually a PhD in forensic anthropology; techs at body farms may have a bachelor's or master's.
Ways in: 4-year college, Graduate school. Training cost: Over $150k.
Majors to look at: Anthropology, Forensic Science, Biology.
Growing about average. Very small field with only about a dozen US body farms.
Low risk for 10 years. Sensors and AI help track changes, but field observation and recovering remains stay human.
Classes: Biology, Anatomy, 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.