The green (and fungal) side of life—studying, breeding, protecting, and growing plants and mushrooms, from rare wildflowers to future crops.
Top pay: highest pay, longest training
Plant Biotechnology Scientist: Uses gene editing and genetics to create crops that resist drought, pests, or disease. Typical pay $115k.
Plant Breeder: Crosses plants over many generations to create better crop varieties. Typical pay $110k.
Botanical Garden Director: Runs a botanical garden—its plant collections, research, education, and finances. Typical pay $120k.
Mid pay: solid pay, degree or apprenticeship
Botanist: Studies how plants grow, evolve and adapt for universities, government agencies and seed companies, surveying wild plants and running lab tests. Typical pay $72k.
Plant Pathologist: Diagnoses and fights diseases that kill crops, forests, and gardens. Typical pay $90k.
Mycologist: Studies fungi—mushrooms, molds, and yeasts—including ones that make medicines or kill crops. Typical pay $78k.
Ethnobotanist: Studies how people around the world use plants for food, medicine, and culture. Typical pay $70k.
Plant Physiologist: Studies how plants work inside—photosynthesis, water use, and responses to heat and drought. Typical pay $88k.
Field Botanist: Surveys land for rare and endangered plants, often for agencies or consultants. Typical pay $60k.
Herbarium Curator: Manages a library of millions of pressed, dried plants used by scientists worldwide. Typical pay $62k.
Dendrochronologist: Reads tree rings to reconstruct past climates, wildfires, and even date old buildings. Typical pay $75k.
Weed Scientist: Studies weeds and finds better ways to control them on farms and natural lands. Typical pay $78k.
Seed Bank Curator: Preserves seeds of crops and wild plants for the future. Typical pay $75k.
Phytochemist: Studies the chemicals plants make and how they can be used as medicines or products. Typical pay $105k.
Paleobotanist: Studies fossil plants to learn about ancient climates and the evolution of plants. Typical pay $90k.
Lichenologist: Studies lichens and mosses, tiny organisms that reveal air quality and forest health. Typical pay $65k.
Starter: fastest way in
Seed Analyst: Tests seeds to make sure they're pure, healthy, and will sprout before they're sold to farmers. Typical pay $48k.
Plant Tissue Culture Technician: Clones plants from tiny bits of tissue in sterile jars to mass-produce rare or valuable plants. Typical pay $40k.
Greenhouse Research Technician: Grows and cares for experimental plants in research greenhouses at universities and ag companies, adjusting conditions and recording growth data. Typical pay $42k.
Commercial Mushroom Cultivator: Grows mushrooms—from button mushrooms to lion's mane—on farms and in indoor facilities. Typical pay $40k.
Public Garden Horticulturist: Grows and cares for plant collections at botanical gardens and arboretums. Typical pay $45k.
Pollen Counter: Counts pollen and mold spores in the air to produce daily allergy reports. Typical pay $40k.
Commercial Wild Mushroom Forager: Harvests wild mushrooms like morels and chanterelles to sell to restaurants and markets. Typical pay $30k.
Nursery Grafter: Joins a piece of one tree onto the roots of another so it grows into a new fruit tree, grapevine or rose with the best traits of both. Typical pay $40k.
Herbarium Digitization Technician: Photographs and records old pressed plant specimens in museum collections so scientists anywhere can study them online. Typical pay $40k.
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.