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Marine Biology Careers
If you love the water and even more importantly, the living things that inhabit the water, you may be interested in marine biology careers. With this career path you will be studying and possibly working in conservation of all marine life. As a marine biologist you could be working with microbes or dolphins or wales. Possibly you will work at a wildlife sanctuary, or on the open seas studying the lives of countless marine creatures. There are countless marine biology careers, but to start you need to be educated.
Educational Requirements
All marine biology careers will require some form of science at its base. Specializing after your initial degree is where you can customize your talents to fit the role you wish to fill in marine biology. In college you could take the time to study marine biology, but a science, engineering, math or physics degree will be a better start. The foundation is as important as any other step you take, so a solid science background will be a huge benefit as you go for your higher level degrees. A good plan is to speak with a counselor and see what they suggest you take, then do the research on your own and see if your findings match up to what they advised. Counselors will always be a huge help but you may also learn just as much from speaking with, or learning from, active professionals.
Once you have decided what path you need to take, it is time to go back to college. There is no simple path you can take to get any degree, and with our busy lives it can be even more difficult. Balancing work, family, or personal life alongside full or part time school work can be very difficult. There is an alternative that many students have begun to use and find great success in—online schools.
An undergraduate degree is just the firs step towards becoming a marine biologist. Most marine biologists must receive at least a master’s degree. However, usually even a master’s degree isn’t sufficient and a PhD must be acquired. This is necessary since careers in the biological sciences are heavily based in research.
Job Outlook and Salary
The number of job opportunities in the biological sciences is expected to grow faster than the average of all jobs over the next decade. Having a PhD will greatly increase your chances of finding marine biology careers. But even with the plethora of job opportunities, competition for these positions will be fierce. The more practical and research experience that you have, the more likely you will be to find a job.
The average salary for biological scientists and marine biologists with only a bachelor’s degree is $33,254 annually. Salary for marine biologists with a PhD can range from around $70,000 to $100,000 annually.
