Cross Breeds

What's a person who studies endangered animals called?

I'm trying to find out what a person who studies endangered animals is called and just plain what they do really. Do they have to travel? How much does it pay? What courses do I need to take? What do they do really? I'd like to know everything!

Public Comments

1. Hi Jessica! The science of analyzing and protecting the biological diversity would fall under the subject of "conservation biology". A person working in the field could then be a conservation biologist. :-) A number of universities offer the degree, and I'll add a link to the program description ("what they do"!) for the University of Minnesota as an example in the source section. I can't tell much about payment and travel opportunities, that would probably also depend a lot on where you'd end up.
2. A wildlife biologist. I work as a wildlife biologist and specialize in ornithology (birds) and I study endangered bird species. I have a degree in zoology and spent many years studying declining bird species all over the US. You would want to major in biology, zoology, or wildlife management. It would be hard to find a job where you would just study one endangered species..most likey you would get a job working for a government agency, non-profit, university, musuem, or environmental consultant firm where you would study several types of animals. If you wanted to specialize in just one animal, you would start by working with a reseacher already studying that animal and go from there gaining exerience. Pay really depends on who you work for, it can vary greatly.
3. Wildlife biologists study endangered animals. They work for state and federal government, non profit organizations, and private industry (not too often, but it could happen). Most wildlife biologists get a bachelor's degree in wildlife biology or wildlife management and then go on and get a master's degree in wildlife biology. If you are interested in working with endangered species, your master's research should be on an endangered species. This will help you specialize when you go to find a job in that speciality within wildlife biology. Most biologist with a master's degree start out in the mid 40,000s and over time make up to probably 65 - $70,000/year. But this is highly dependent on who you work for (state, feds, non profits, etc) and what you do. Travel depends on the job. I personally travel for meetings and conferences probably 5 - 7 times a year. Travel though is also dependent on your individual job. Good luck!
4. paleontologist studies dinosaurs