Im in transition year in school and Im extremely intrested in becoming a marine biologist but I want to know how much it pays, just for good measure!! Please help!!
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The salary is very low, if you consult job sites they will tell you that you will start off at about £15 000 with a BSc (ca. $20 000), £20 000 (ca $30 000) with a Masters but that does not really reflect reality. Usually you start out literally with nothing; it's become normal for a huge proportion of graduates to start out doing unpaid work experiences for several months or even years. Once you've done that, you may be eligible for those 'entry level' £15k ($20k) jobs. Average salary once you've gained a more experience and have become a little more established is probably between £20 and £30k ($30- $40k).
Governmental organisations and universities usually pay a lot more but they also have a lot higher standards and are a lot more competitive to get.
Just to give you an idea, I've recently been working with a UK charity working with marine mammals that advertised for research assistants on a voluntary basis, only accommodation provided. They received applications from around the world from people with PhDs with postdoc work experience and publications on their CV.
It depends somewhat in the direction you want to go in, areas of marine biology that have commercial value may pay better so fisheries, ecotoxicology or marine pharmaceuticals or maybe even working with plankton.
Fields that are popular and therefore a lot more competitive such as marine mammal science usually pay peanuts at lower levels.
Governmental organisations and universities usually pay a lot more but they also have a lot higher standards and are a lot more competitive to get.
Just to give you an idea, I've recently been working with a UK charity working with marine mammals that advertised for research assistants on a voluntary basis, only accommodation provided. They received applications from around the world from people with PhDs with postdoc work experience and publications on their CV.
It depends somewhat in the direction you want to go in, areas of marine biology that have commercial value may pay better so fisheries, ecotoxicology or marine pharmaceuticals or maybe even working with plankton.
Fields that are popular and therefore a lot more competitive such as marine mammal science usually pay peanuts at lower levels.
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A Marine Biologist Salary Range is $45 to $110k