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
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.
Bob Freeman
Biological Sciences, 1976
The third volume of the SciFi series "H2LiftShips - Bosons Wave" by local author, Bob Freeman, is now out in the wild. The author is a graduate of HSU with a Masters in Biology and a retired Public Health Laboratory Director (Imperial County). In the classic Space Opera SciFi style, he takes the reader from one end of California to the other. They ditch the red roadster and the trip continues to Luna, the asteroid belt, and beyond. More information, sample chapters, and the dreaded 'Trigger Warning' can be found here.
Bob Freeman
Biological Sciences, 1976
Bob is retired from Imperial County as a Public Health Lab Director, He is also supporting his Laboratory Information System while writing more SciFi Novels
H2LiftShips Vol 1-3 Beyond Luna
H2LiftShips Vol 4 A back Story
And Vol 5 is a slow slog forward
Links to books:
https://www.h2liftship.com/beyondluna
https://www.h2liftship.com/backstory
The stories take place in the Desert, Humboldt, Yosemite, Phobos, the Asteroid Belt, and beyond with Solar Sail Ships and a few rockets thrown in for good measure.
BOB Freeman
Biological Sciences, 1976
I am continuing my writing career.
Vol 3 of H2LiftShips has just been released:
"Gigging the Void"
Available on Smashwords or Amazon
Bob Freeman
Biological Sciences, 1976
Bob Freeman, Biological Sciences, 1976, retired from his job as a public health microbiologist and lab director but is still writing software for the laboratory information management system. Freeman is now writing SciFi and his work can be found at
www.smashwords.com/books/view/1023599 and www.smashwords.com/books/view/1029727.
Nancy Ross-Flanigan Pokerwinski
Biological Sciences, 1976
After a rewarding career as a science writer for the Detroit Free Press and the University of Michigan, Nancy Ross-Flanigan Pokerwinski, Biological Sciences, 1976, is now focused on writing memoir and fiction. Her memoir, MANGO RASH: COMING OF AGE IN THE LAND OF FRANGIPANI AND FANTA, was published by Behler Publications in 2019, after winning first place in the memoir/nonfiction category of the Pacific Northwest Writers Association Literary Awards. Like most authors, she had to cancel or reschedule all the in-person events she had scheduled for spring and summer of 2020, and is exploring options for virtual events. Meanwhile, she is working on a novel about creativity, outsider art, and madness.
Barry k Avery
Biological Sciences, 1975
Barry became a UCONN Master Gardener after I retired about 25 years ago. Barry says his Humboldt State education was very valuable in obtaining the certification. He has used his Degree in Biology and the MG certification to teach classes for the State of Connecticut and Northeast Organic Farmers Association, and is also one of the three Founders of "The Holcomb Tree Trail, a 120-acre Arboretum here in his hometown, Granby Connecticut. He says his HSU education served him well and has been invaluable to me since his graduation in 1975.
Craig S. Harrison
Biological Sciences, 1974 (Masters)
Craig Harrison, Biological Sciences, 1974, spent a year in Africa before attending HSU. Craig recently published his travelogue "Dreams of a Vanishing Africa: A 1970s Transcontinental Trek", which recounts his travels within the fabric of African societies in 1971-1972. He avoided safe, well-trodden routes and instead used decrepit trains, cargo trucks, rattletrap buses, jammed bush taxis, dugout canoes, and ferries. He lived out of a backpack and experienced the land and people of Africa up close. Craig's website (www.craigsharrison.net) has photos, and the book can be ordered there from the publisher Lulu as well as Amazon.
Richard Sayre
Biological Sciences, 1974
Dr. Richard Sayre is a co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer for Mercury Bio Inc. (www.mercurybio.com) based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Mercury Bio Inc. focuses on the targeted delivery of therapeutic RNAs and small molecular weight drugs to human cells to address various viral and genetic diseases. Dr. Sayre recently introduced Mercury Bio's platform drug delivery technology to the pharmaceutical industry at Boston's third mRNA-Based Therapeutics Summit.
Richard T Sayre
Biological Sciences, 1974
Richard Sayre was elected to the National Academy of Inventors.
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/national-academy-of-inventors-…