How much does a marine biologist get paid?

Question

is it a good job and do you get paid well

Answer 1

cetacea is exactly right the more experience you get the better!

Answer 2

Marine Biology is not something you can do for the money, it requires a lot of dedication and gives little monetary return unless you have years of experience and are lecturing at a university.

You may start of at about $30k in the US, this usually increases with your level of education, with an Msc. you are probably looking at more about $40k, this increases with experiences and the type of jobs you apply for.

In the UK you are looking at between £13 and £20k at entry level, rising with more experience to £25k+

Also be prepared to do a LOT of unpaid volunteering/internships because a lot of places won't give you a job without experience and it's hard to get experience if you don't have a job, so you'll probably end up doing a lot of free work to make up for that! I've recently done 6 months of internship, basically working like a normal employee but not getting paid so I would have better chances of being accepted onto an MSc.....

Is it a good job? That depends on your definition. What makes a good job to you? Also marine biology is a very varied field and you could be doing all sorts of things, some jobs may be better than others or may interest you more than others, as in many jobs you will probably have to start of with the ones you are not as interested in.

I personally though would choose it, in any of it's many guises whether it's counting plankton under a microscope or doing behavioural work on dolphins, over an office job! But this obviously depends on your personal preferences and dedication!

If you want more information, I suggest you check out:

http://www.marinebio.org

http://www.planktonforums.org

Specifically:

http://planktonforums.org/viewforum.php?...

http://planktonforums.org/viewtopic.php?...

Answer 3

i wanted to know this question to, when i did work experience i wasn't to sure in being a vet, so i was looking at other jobs which involve animals, a marine biologist does get paid a lot but like a vet you've got to get the job first and get to the top before you get paid propually.

Answer 4

Depends on who's paying.  If you're a college professor, then 60K or so, or working for the US Gov't. then around 90K-120, depending on experience and how much education the person has.