Natural Resources & Conservation

Types of Degrees Natural Resources & Conservation Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many natural resources and conservation graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Master’s Degree	4,521
Graduate Certificate	613
Doctor’s Degree	610

What Natural Resources & Conservation Majors Need to Know

O*NET surveyed people in occupations related to natural resources and conservation and asked them what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. The responses were rated on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being most important.

Knowledge Areas for Natural Resources & Conservation Majors

Natural Resources and Conservation majors often go into careers in which the following knowledge areas are important:

• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

Skills for Natural Resources & Conservation Majors

The following list of skills has been highlighted as some of the most essential for careers related to natural resources and conservation:

• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

Abilities for Natural Resources & Conservation Majors

As a natural resources and conservation major, you will find yourself needing the following abilities:

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.

What Can You Do With a Natural Resources & Conservation Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with natural resources and conservation:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Climate Change Analysts	11.1%	$71,130
Compliance Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Environmental Restoration Planners	11.1%	$71,130
Environmental Science Professors	10.1%	$79,910
Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health	11.1%	$71,130
First-Line Supervisors of Aquacultural Workers	2.1%	$46,960
First-Line Supervisors of Logging Workers	2.1%	$46,960
Forest and Conservation Technicians	3.9%	$37,180
Foresters	4.9%	$61,410
Forestry & Conservation Science Professors	4.5%	$86,900
Industrial Ecologists	11.1%	$71,130
Park Naturalists	6.3%	$61,310
Range Managers	6.3%	$61,310
Regulatory Affairs Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Soil and Water Conservationists	6.3%	$61,310
Wind Energy Project Managers	8.0%	$107,480
Zoologists and Wildlife Biologists	7.7%	$63,420

Who Is Getting a Master’s Degree in Natural Resources & Conservation?

The major attracts more women than men. About 59% of the recent graduates in this field are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of natural resources and conservation majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	157
Black or African American	133
Hispanic or Latino	346
White	2,893
International Students	635
Other Races/Ethnicities	357

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Natural Resources & Conservation. About 14.0% of those with this major are international students.

How Much Do Natural Resources & Conservation Majors Make?

Master’s Degree Starting Salary

Data from the U.S. Department of Education shows that natural resources and conservation students who graduated in 2017-2019 with a master’s degree made a median starting salary of $48,220 per year. During this timeframe, most salaries fell between $43,611 (25th percentile) and $54,513 (75th percentile).

We don’t know for sure if all of these people took jobs related to natural resources and conservation so take that into consideration.

Salaries According to BLS

Natural Resources and Conservation majors often go into careers where salaries can range from $53,240 to $80,310 (25th to 75th percentile). This range includes all degree levels, so the salary for a person with just a bachelor’s degree may be a little less and the one for a person with an advanced degree may be a little more.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Natural Resources & Conservation

Some careers associated with natural resources and conservation require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

Find out what the typical degree level is for natural resources and conservation careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	4.6%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	15.3%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	6.4%
Some College Courses	7.5%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	7.1%
Bachelor’s Degree	31.9%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	1.5%
Master’s Degree	12.8%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.	0.5%
First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession.	0.8%
Doctoral Degree	8.4%
Post-Doctoral Training	3.8%

Online Natural Resources & Conservation Programs

In the 2020-2021 academic year, 1,160 schools offered some type of natural resources and conservation program. The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	75	3
Certificate (2-4 Years)	2	0
Associate’s Degree	387	16
Bachelor’s Degree	118	31
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	423	30
Post-Master’s	10	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	179	0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Is a Degree in Natural Resources & Conservation Worth It?

The median salary for a natural resources and conservation grad is $65,320 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 64% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $508,400 after 20 years!

Majors Related to Natural Resources & Conservation

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to natural resources and conservation.

Major	Number of Grads
Engineering	61,791
Computer & Information Sciences	60,971
Biological & Biomedical Sciences	28,851
Mathematics & Statistics	15,127
Physical Sciences	12,705
Engineering Technologies	7,672
Agriculture & Agriculture Operations	7,531
Architecture & Related Services	6,944
Communications Technologies & Support	585
Science Technologies / Technicians	79

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
• Image Credit: By Lynn Betts under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.