For those leaving the field/shifting, what are you moving to?

Ask A Biologist Monday 9/15/25

Answers from Biologists:

• From public to private land conservation working with farmers.

• From wildlife to vet tech and back to wildlife biologist. Vet tech taught great skills.

• Ski resort management.

• From 7 yrs in consulting to working with the state (CA).

• Gardening at a public park. No regrets! Much safer, less stress, and queer friendly.

• From animal keeping to environmental education. Now I manage a nature center.

• Urban forestry.

• In air quality for the time being. I hope to go back to bio one day.

• I work for a nuclear power plant and my husband works as a pesticides compliance officer.

• Research to habitat management. I get more field time and don’t have to do statistics.

• From field work to guiding.

• Education. Though I’m still hoping to squeeze in field jobs in the summer.

• Farmer and stay at home dad.

• Did consulting work in Canada this summer but I’m back now.

• From federal biotech to working back at a university as a research associate.

• Environmental policy.

• Vet med.

• Teaching biology for undergrads.

• Entirely lab-based now as a microbiologist.

• Agriculture.

• State fisheries bio to river restoration engineer consultant to tribal engineer/biologist.

• Teaching high school biology.

• Being a stay at home mom. Left consulting to raise twin toddlers. I hated working for developers anyways.

• Healthcare. MA to Rad Tech.

• From consulting to independent contractor. 3x pay and more time off.

• Park ranger.

• Now in a university system. I was sure I would be a state biologist.

• Moved into environmental conservation as a state regulator for contaminated sites.

• Administration.

• Field work into environmental regulation. Which admittedly isn’t doing much better at this point.

• Left federal. Now working for a university’s ecology department.

• Left for a geospatial tech supplier as a drone training specialist.

• Environmental education and youth recreation. Plentiful low wage positions.

• Environmental health with local county government.

• From federal whale work to NGO fisheries work.

• GIS related gigs outside wildlife/resources positions.

• Specials uses/public affairs.

• Federal to tribal technician (mental health is loads better).

• Shifted towards art that use to be my side business.

• Wildlife education. I’m realizing I can have a greater career impact there. Still hard to find anything.

• Finding a consulting job is the only reason I’m still in the field.