Breadcrumb
Careers
Our Biology, Botany, and Zoology majors are broadly based which allows latitude of choices when developing a program suitable to individual needs.
Favorable opportunities can be expected for biological scientists with advanced degrees and for bachelor's candidates with outstanding educational and experiential backgrounds. Employment in the life sciences is expected to grow due to recent advances in genetic research, advances in biological technology, and efforts to conserve the environment.
The employment outlook will vary by specialty. Those who have the ability to do research in areas related to the genetic, cellular, and biochemical areas of biology should experience better employment opportunities than those in other specialties. However, many persons with a bachelor's degree find jobs in occupations such as sciences or engineering technicians or medical laboratory technologists. There is a continuing demand for secondary and private school life science teachers.
Related Job Titles
The following list is not meant to be all-inclusive; many other job alternatives and titles may exist. Many of the job titles listed require further education.
Agriculture Inspector
Aquatic Biologist
Biological Technician
Biologist
Biotechnologist
Biotechnology Research Technician
Botanist
Conservation Officer
Ecotourism Specialist
Environ. Protection Specialist
Environmental Consultant
Environmental Educator
Environmental Health Sanitarian
Environmental Planner
Environmental Scientist
Horticulturist
Industrial Hygienist
Laboratory Asst/Tech.
Life Scientist
Marine Biologist
Marine Educator
Microbiologist (Public Health Micro.)
Museum Curator
Naturalist
Park Ranger
Pharmaceutical Sales Rep.
Plant Ecologist
Plant Geneticist
Plant Physiologist
Research Assistant
Science Teacher/Professor
Science Writers
Science Writers
Scientific Divers
Scientific Illustrator
Technical Writer
Water Quality Biologist
Zoologist
Marketable Skills
Communication
- Writing precise technical reports
- Working as part of a team
- Media, public relations, and public speaking
- Writing precise technical reports and research papers
- Designing and presenting scientific posters
Technical Skills
- Knowledge of plant and animal ecology
- Operating and maintaining specialized scientific equipment
- Conducting chemical analyses
- Culturing body fluids or tissue samples
Recording & Interpreting Data
- Categorizing specimens & experiments
- Studying & describing normal plant and animal physiological functions
- Observing and recording animal behavior or habits
- Observing, characterizing, and recording traits of microorganisms and eukaryotic cells
- capturing and analyzing microscopy data
- collecting and analyzing molecular markers from a wide range of sample types
- performing statistical analyses and reasoning
- bioinformatics analysis
Featured Alumni
Degrees in the Biological Sciences have given alumni opportunities to work in their fields around the world.
Some Biology, Botany, and Zoology alumni have gone on to graduate schools. Others are making a difference as teachers and professors, have documented rare insects in Patagonia, work in orchid conservation, and have become health care professionals.
Alumni Profiles - Biology B.S.
Alumni Profiles - Botany B.S.
Alumni Updates
Maria Cecilila Avila
Biological Sciences, 1985
Maria Cecilila Avila, 1985, is living in Chile.
David Talley
Biological Sciences, 1983
I am finishing my 30 th year as a public school educator. I taught science at the middle and high school level for 13 years in California before moving into school administration. I have worked at all grade levels k-12 and currently serve as principal of Quincy high school. My wife Michele and I have been married for 21 years and have two daughters, Danielle and Marinda
David J Fisher
Biological Sciences, 1983
After graduating with a biology degree from Humboldt State in 1983, Dr. Dave Fisher received his DVM from Washington State University and practiced at a small-animal clinic prior to his residency in clinical pathology at the University of California, Davis. Following board certification, he was a clinical pathology instructor at the University of Wisconsin. In 1995, he started working for IDEXX at the company’s reference laboratory in West Sacramento. Dave was recently awarded the American Society of Veterinary Clinical Pathology’s (ASVCP) Lifetime Achievement Award for his outstanding contributions to the profession.
Charles Lamb
Biological Sciences, 1983
After graduation from HSU, Charles Lamb completed a Ph.D. in Neurophysiology at Louisiana State University in 1991. During his doctoral studies he spent one year conducting research at Kagoshima University School of Dentistry in Kagoshima, Japan. He then completed a postdoctoral research fellowship at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center from 1991-1995. Since 1995, he has been a faculty member at Black Hills State University in Spearfish, South Dakota. His positions there have included Professor of Biology, Chair of the School of Natural Sciences, and Chief Research Officer for the university.
Jared Haynes
Biological Sciences, 1982
Jared Haynes, 1982 M.A. Biology and 1986 M.A. English, married alumna Gail Newton in 1986 under the redwoods in Eureka. Haynes started his career at College of the Redwoods, teaching math and English. After the couple moved to Sacramento, Haynes spent 25 years teaching writing in the University Writing Program at UC Davis, including an advanced writing course for biology students and an advanced writing course for pre-law students. Haynes also taught the university’s English grammar course and a Science in the Renaissance course. Haynes retired in 2014.
Cindy Purnell Frakes
Biological Sciences, 1981
After 33 years in the high-tech industry, Cindy Purnell Frakes retired from her most recent position of 13 years as Senior Director, Information Development at Oracle. Her career journey prior to that included stints at Borland, PeopleSoft, Computer Associates, and the Paradigm Group. She's now happily retired, living in Ferndale, WA, and has picked up her binoculars to pursue bird #485 and beyond to add to her life list.
Cindy Purnell Frakes
Biological Sciences, 1981
After 33 years in the high-tech industry, Cindy Purnell Frakes ('81, Biology) retired from her most recent position of 13 years as Senior Director, Information Development at Oracle. Her career journey prior to that included stints at Borland, PeopleSoft, Computer Associates, and the Paradigm Group. She's now happily retired, living in Ferndale, WA, and has picked up her binoculars to pursue bird #485 and beyond to add to her life list.
Douglas Turner
Biological Sciences, 1980
Douglas Turner, 1980, Biological Sciences, has two sons on the college path. Turner’s oldest is a Chemical Engineering major at Cal Poly Pomona and his youngest, currently a high school senior, is applying to HSU.
Marianne Lancaster
Biological Sciences, 1979
After 30-plus years of serving as a high school biology teacher in Humboldt County and Riverside County, Marianne retired and took another job serving as the Nature Education Manager for The Nature Education Foundation at the Santa Rosa Plateau in Riverside County, which supports education programs on the 10,000-acre Reserve known as the Santa Rosa Plateau. Emphasis has been on helping high school students become citizen scientists by participating in data collection for the National Phenology Network, which collects data on the seasonal changes in plants and animals with the changing climate.
Christopher Swarth
Biological Sciences, 1978
After graduating, Christopher Swarth Biological Sciences, 1978, moved back home to Oakland where in 1983 he received his MS in Zoology from Cal State East Bay. After working for Point Reyes Bird Observatory, Lawrence Hall of Science (UC Berkeley) and Diablo Valley College, he married in 1987 and moved to Maryland. There he spent 23 years as director of the Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary, one of the components of the Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. In 2013, he moved back to northern California to work and teach at UC Merced, where he was the director of the 6,500 acre Vernal Pools and Grassland Reserve adjacent to campus until he retired in 2016. He lives in Mariposa.