How To Become A Field Naturalist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a field naturalist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a field naturalist. For example, did you know that they make an average of $18.37 an hour? That's $38,213 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 1% and produce 100 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreField NaturalistUS Average

Salary

3.0

Avg. Salary $38,213

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

6.4

Growth Rate 1%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.58%

Asian 11.13%

Black or African American 2.31%

Hispanic or Latino 6.35%

Unknown 4.95%

White 74.69%

Gender

female 56.41%

male 43.59%

Age - 39

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 39

Stress Level

6.4

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

10.0

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

5.5

Work Life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a field naturalist

Explore field naturalist education requirements

Most common field naturalist degrees

Bachelor's

87.2 %

High School Diploma

5.1 %

Master's

5.1 %

Start to develop specific field naturalist skills

Skills	Percentages
Social Science	86.02%
Native Plants	13.98%

Complete relevant field naturalist training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New field naturalists learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a field naturalist based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real field naturalist resumes.

Research field naturalist duties and responsibilities

Lead tour groups on both bicycles and kayaks, man small retail/rental outlet as only staff person.
Handle an assortment of animals, such as rats and snakes.
Establish and maintain appropriate systems to monitor, evaluate and report on all operational activities including logistics and program implementation.
Advise area NGOs on policy implications base on preliminary research findings.

Prepare your field naturalist resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your field naturalist resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a field naturalist resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Field Naturalist Resume templates

Build a professional Field Naturalist resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Field Naturalist resume.

Apply for field naturalist jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a field naturalist job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams