Marine Biologist Salary: Becoming a Marine Biologist

Name: Dr. James B. Wood
Job Title: Marine Biologist
Where: Bermuda
Employer: BIOS (Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences)  
Years of Experience: 7 (post Ph.D)
Education: Ph.D
Salary: A Marine Biologist Salary Range is $45 to $110k

Marine Biologist Salary: Becoming a Marine Biologist

For readers who want more info about the average marine biologist salary or careers in marine biology, you have come to the right interview. We recently spoke to Dr. James B. Wood, a marine biologist stationed in Bermuda, who discussed his steps in becoming a marine biologist.

James explained the qualifications for becoming a marine biologist, the average marine biologist salary in the academic world, and different options for students who are excited about careers in marine biology.  He also gave a very realistic outlook for careers in marine biology and revealed some of the factors that can impact a marine biologist salary. James explained that careers in marine biology can be both challenging and exciting, but limited funding for research means greater competition for marine biologists, as well as less job security.

Marine biology may be a labor of love, but if you're excited and determined about becoming a marine biologist, James says to go for it. Keep reading to find out how this successful scientist has shaped his own career in marine biology.

Marine Biologist Job Description:

One of the great things about my job is that, often, I don’t have a daily routine. Sometimes I sleep in; sometimes we are out until 2am in the rain, tagging squid because that is what it takes to get the job done. Overall, I work a lot. A 60 hour work week is typical. During part of the year, I teach from 9 to 5 every Monday and Wednesday. I prep and grade for much of the rest of the week.

I also spend a lot of time online, writing grant proposals, filling out forms, etc. In the summer and fall, I have interns and we are in the field several times a week working with octopuses and/or squid. When we are doing field work, our schedule is at the mercy of the weather and when (and if) we find the animals that we are looking for.

Can you tell us about your steps toward becoming a marine biologist?

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Marine Biology isn’t the easiest career choice. I graduated with highest honors and a 3.97 GPA from the University of Florida. While at UF, I spent two summers as an intern, one at the University of Hawaii and one at the Smithsonian Station in Link Port, Florida. I also started publishing an aquarium magazine. I went to graduate school, in order to work with deep-sea octopuses, at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada.

While a graduate student in 1995, I taught myself how to make web pages and started The Cephalopod Page which has been online ever since. In 1998, we created one of the first online biological databases, CephBase.

I also volunteered to escape Canada for two weeks and help a colleague with her research on a reef squid in Bonaire – this work was eventually featured in the nature special “Tentacles.” I worked in Texas essentially as a post-doc for three years before I was able to escape and have been a jr. faculty member at BIOS since Sept. 2003. My full C.V. is online here.

Can you recall any memorable moments from your career in marine biology?

Well, I grew up in south Florida and I thought north Florida was too cold! That was until Dalhousie (in Canada) offered me their best scholarship, always returned my calls and even flew me up for a visit. On top of that, they had captured some deep-sea octopuses and had them waiting for me before I even started – how could I refuse that? What an opportunity!

I understood that it would be cold during the winter (in Canada), but not so much that life as I knew it would cease to exist! So there I am, in the middle of winter, with the only baby captive hatched deep-sea octopuses and no food for them! This was fixed by late-night plankton tows off a bridge; that was the only time I could actually catch amphipods (small shrimp like animals) and I couldn’t afford a boat.

No human had ever observed the species of deep-sea octopus (that I worked on) mate. This is biologically important as the males have a very large mating structure that no one had observed in use. And no human had ever observed them hatch out of their eggs - after a 450 day wait while the mom starves herself and broods her eggs. I was the first person on the planet to see both, this was my Ph.D work.

What advice would you give to those interested in becoming a marine biologist? What is the outlook for careers in marine biology?

If you look at my C.V. online, you might see a very successful young scientist. I’ve been on the Discovery Channel and National Geographic. I’m publishing papers in my field as well as popular papers; I’m involved in a number of successful web pages and outreach projects. I’ve made a life-changing difference for many students and have an excellent teaching record.

All of these things are what one would consider “success.”

What if I told you that at the same time, I’m struggling, I often don’t have a pay check and I have absolutely no job security? What if I told you that this was fairly normal for someone my age at a soft money institution? What if I told you that a close friend of mine, who is very talented and also has a Ph.D, is living at home and working part-time?

What if I told you that there is little money for basic science and there are many more qualified people than there are jobs? Or if I said that right now is a particularly bad time as the U.S. has chosen to invest in Iraq, instead of education, healthcare and basic science?

With a shiny new Ph.D, young scientists are well-trained to conduct original research, interact with the public and teach, but very poorly trained for the economic reality they are about to face.

My advice for anyone that wants to be a marine biologist is to take a serious look at the number of jobs and the number of people trying to get those jobs; take a very close look at the economics of academic research positions. What happens to competition and prices when the supply of qualified people outstrips demand? Then realistically look at yourself and evaluate how much this potential career choice means to you. If you are still determined, go for it.

What is the average marine biologist salary?

The attractive and widely available posted salaries for faculty members don’t tell the whole story. I work at a soft money institution and my salary is completely dependent on grants and teaching. The U.S. has chosen to invest in Iraq instead of education, healthcare and research. It is an especially difficult time to be a biologist.

My marine biologist salary is dependent on writing successful grant proposals. It takes me about 2 months to write a proposal. Let’s say the work one proposes to do will take 5 months. So for 7 months of work, one would get paid for 5 months – but that is only if 100% of proposals are funded. On average, maybe only one in ten grants are funded! So writing ten grant proposals takes 20 months, the one that gets funded requires 5 months of work for which you actually get paid.

So for 25 months of work, on average, one can expect to get paid for 5 months. One's official rate of pay might be 100k a year, which sounds attractive, but a fifth of that is not.

Education is much better and covers the bulk of my marine biologist salary. But if a class is canceled due to low enrollment, and this does happen, sometime suddenly, I’m out of a pay check for that period as well. There is no job security at a soft money research institution. There is no tenure here as well.

To become a faculty member at a research institution, you need to earn a Ph.D. This takes about 5 years of additional education after an undergraduate degree, 4 years. During this time you will earn an annual salary of $16K. Then, if you are lucky, there is a post-doc period where scientists earn an annual salary of perhaps $30K. Each step is a weeding out process and many people don’t make it - too many people are told “education is the way to go," but there are too few jobs.

Faculty annual salaries are much higher, in the $45K to $125k range. But this is very misleading because if you don’t have a grant or a class you simply don’t get paid. Most faculty members I know work 60+ hours a week and struggle to maintain a family and other aspects of normal life.

The good aspects of marine biology are the research and the teaching. If you truly love marine biology and want a career where you can be sure that you have a strong positive impact on people and that you personally will leave the world a better place than when you found it, marine biology is an option for you.

How does your salary compare to the average marine biologist salary?  Find out with PayScale's salary calculator.

• Read more about Becoming a Marine Biologist
• Info on Careers in Marine Biology
• Average Marine Biologist Salary by Years of Experience
• Marine Biology Blog

Comments

[Samantha]

Hello Dr. J. B. Wood,
My name is Samantha, and I'm 14 years old. Not to jump into personal business, but ever since my parent's have taken me to the beach or the aquarium, I've always had a really big interest in marine animals. They just fascinate me so much! I've just entered high school, with highest honors, and I've realized that once high school is over, I have to really start thinking about my career. Luckily, I have the grades to back me up, but I just wanted to know if you had any other good suggestions I could look into. I know that colleges look at extra activities or classes in a positive way, and I just really want to success with this! I've looked at some marine biology camps, and they seem like a good, fun way to learn more. But if you could just reply back, that would be great!
Thank you for your time, and your interview above was really helpful to me and informed me more about marine biology!

[MRS WONDER]

Hi i am wondering how much a marine biologist gets paid. what gets paid more a vet or marine biologist ?? can i do both how much would i get? how many years would it take?? what college does that does auburn univursity???

[Anna]

Hi Dr Wood
I am 14 and my ambition is to become a Marine biologist especially in Bermuda as it is such a excellent place to study marine life.I have always loved nature, and want to know more about the job description as what you have already mentioned sound tough at time but very interesting and exciting!

[CERA DAILEY]

Mr. Wood
I am a senior at sylvan hills high school in arkansas. I decided in the 7th grade that a career in marine biology is my dream. I am going to do a minor study in it at arkansas state and after 4 years i can major at a sister school in florida so what other things do I need to look into? Also I am writing a career speech for class on marine biology so i need to know the starting salary, education requirements, and job desciption of the different fields of marine biology. Anything would be helpful.
please and thank you so much
CERA DAILEY

[Mauricio garcia]

hello dr. Jame s i love the sea and animals i want to know differet branches of marine biologist, what school can i go

[Kevin Zimmerman]

Hi, I am a senior at Cedar Park Christian school in Bothell, Washington with a strong desire to become a marine biologist. Currently I am working on a career project for my english class. I need to interview a marine biologist for this paper and I was wondering if you would be willing to help? It can be by email or phone.
Thanks for your consideration,
Kevin Zimmerman

[Henry Nguyen]

Dear Mr. James Wood,
Can you please specify the different types of Marine Biologist?

[Kiante Wiliams]

Hi Dr.Wood,

I will be a Senior this fall at Edison High School and have always been interested in Marine Biology, I am looking at colleges and would like to know what would be a good school to attend for Marine Biology or some classes I can take towards that.

thanks!
Kiante'

[Kiante Wiliams]

Hi Dr.Wood,

I will be a Senior this fall at Edison High School and have always been interested in Marine Biology, I am looking at colleges and would like to know what would be a good school to attend for Marine Biology or some classes I can take towards that.

thanks!
Kiante'

[Kiante Wiliams]

Hi Dr.Wood,

I will be a Senior this fall at Edison High School and have always been interested in Marine Biology, I am looking at colleges and would like to know what would be a good school to attend for Marine Biology or some classes I can take towards that.

thanks!
Kiante'

[stephanie sellier]

Hi!
I'm stephanie I'm 15 and a freshmen in high school and I'm in love with marine biology.I'm extremely drawnto biology but I would like to see other fields of marine biology i was wondering if engineering took any place in marine biology

[Bailey Walker]

Hey! I have wanted to be a marine biologist since I was 9. I'm 14 now and I am still wanting to be a marine biologist. I love the thought of working with any type of marine wildlife. I was wondering a general salary if I were to work around the Keys. What education would you need to have to make the highest amount of money.

[David]

Hello, Dr. James,
I am a junior in high school and I am interested in becoming a marine biologist. I was wondering if you could give me any tips on classes etc. or some advice on what to do. It has been my dream since I was about 8 to do this, but what you said about job availability has me concerned. If you could tell me anything helpful, it would be extremely appreciated. Thank you for posting this interview as well, it has helped greatly also!

[rebecca]

hi yeah im 14 and i love what a marine biologist do and i have wanted 2 be one in 3rd till now i love marine life i like to help somtimes at the beach. it is so fun to help to play with dolphinns. and to go out and do what people dont think of very often. this has help me see more and do what i want to do. my mom doesnt like me to think about doing this but i do. she wants me to be a docter or a nurse but thats what everyone thinks of i want to be different to stand out...... well thanks for this site and sorry for any mistakes... or if dont make anybody think of me and my dreams!!! ;)future marine boilogist;) rebecca auton

[Molly June Brown]

Hello, my name is Molly Brown, im 16 nearly 17 and im going into sixth form/college in England. My family and i are emigrating to Australia, where i would love to be a marine biologist. I shall be studying Biology and chemisrty for two years in a sixth form/college. After reading this interview i understand its not going to be easy,do you have any advice or is there anything i can do in oder to better my chances of becoming a marine Biologist and working with the animals? would it be possible if you could tell me certain qualifications i will need?? It would be much appreciated - Thank You!

[Kimberly A Duram]

Hi my name is Kimberly and i really love marine life. I cant think to hard on college for i am just turning 14 and i still need to finish 8th grade and highschool. But i want to know a little about what classes to really study in. I have spent the last five years dreaming about becoming a marine biolagist and i know it is not going to be the easiest thing to do but i really want this and if you could give me some info on it i would be really thankful.

[Dakota Love]

Hi, I'm doing a research paper on the career I would like to pursue. I chose marine biologist. I need to know the conditions of work and what it takes to become a marine biologist. What is a typical day of work? What are some of the best colleges that for marine biology? What is the outlook for a marine biologist? I would appreciate it if you could help me out on this. Thanks!

[Schon Crawley]

Sorry for not puting my email, it's

Crabmaster7@aol.com

Thank you

[Schon Crawley]

Hey Dr. James, I am 17 and I am very intrested in marine biology. I am starting college next year and I'm wondering what do I need to become a Marine Biologist, and what classes would be the best choice for me to take to prepare me for a career in biology.

Thank you for taking the time to read this comment and it would be very appreciated if you could take the time to get back to me.

Schon Crawley

P.S. This article has helped a lot! Thank you for your time.

[Fran]

Hi! i am doing a research project on marine biology and this was really helpful! it was great to see the career from the perspetive of an interview. i was surprised when i read the interview because i thought the bulk of the article would be talking about the salary alone because of the title of the article. thank you this was really helpful!

[Nicole]

hi, im Nicole and im 13. You might of already saw my first commet but i have alot of questions to ask. 1. to be a marine biologist do u need to bye any of your own supplies do u even need any of ur own supplies? Also what abilities do u need to have to become a marine biologist! And if you have any other information about marine biology can you please email it to me my email address is ima.chick@hotmail.com please!

Ocean lover, Nicole

[Nicole]

Hi im Nicole and im 13 years old.Right now in school im doing a carear report and i chose to be a marine biologist and when i was doing some research on it, i found this website. Well anyways, i've always wanted to be a marine biologist specialed in mammalogy! But after i read some web-sites on marine biology and found out its hard to get intoistarted to walk away from my dream. But once i read this, i've realized that i couldn't just walk away from my dream. So for all those people who have a dream just dont walk away from it. you'll be making a mistake! This web-site helped me realize that i can become a marine biologist, if i just put my mind to it! SO Dr. James Wood and to all the creaters of this web page thanks! And to all those students out there, like me just remember if you really want something just put your mind to it, because im going to try as hard as i can ,till i die to become a marine biologist.

[Alex Apodaca]

hi, im Alex, and i am a freshman in high school and i was wondering what exactly are the job qualifications for a marine biologist and the benefit opportunities for the career. Thanks!

[Moriah Hibbard]

Hey
I'm 13 years old, and was called to be a marine biologist. I have been studying marine bio for about 4 months now. God told me that I need to study all i can on the cniderians, so that when I get older I will know a lot about the things I need to know. So if you could e-mail me back with ansers and more questions. :]

-moriah

[Savannah]

hello i'm Savannah hughes and i am a sophomore at deerfield windsor in Georgia. I was wondering if you could answer just about twenty questions that i could use in a speech i am doing on my dream career. it would be greatly appreciated.
please email me if you can at blondie93@bellsouth.net

i hope to hear from you,
savannah

[danielle]

PLEASE RESPOND BACK BEFORE FRIDAY (TOMORROW) THANK YOU!

hello,
my name is danielle white. i am a freshmen at boston latin school, and i have been assigned a history project. this project discusses our goals and aspirations in life, such as what we want our profession to be. i have decided that i want to become a marine biologist, and i just need the answers in seperate e-mail can you please e-mail me back just to answer three simple questions:
1. What is your job?
2. What did you study in college/ life to assist you in getting your job?
3. What advice would you give to me on my journey towards picking a major? Career?

anything that you can tell me about your job is helpful, and any answers you give will be fine. Thanks!

[Amanda]

Hi Im amanda im 15 and striving to become a marine biologist..I know bascically everything about how to achieve this but cant seem to find anywhere to get started on volunteer work or just work itself remotely close to this field..any tips?

[Saul Mrales]

hi im 13 and im doin a reprot on marine biologist sorry for my errors well thanks ..not

[Cenia Castro]

Hello,
My name is Cenia Castro, I'm a Senior at Elizabeth Learning Center, and I'm interested in Marine Biology. I would like to know though, before I make my choice, if taking Vetenary school will also have more intereactions with marine animals, or if it's mostly to just be a Vetenary for the animals, because i want to interact with marine mammals.

Thanks.

[rico]

hey rico is awesome u r not always love god

[Derrick]

Hey. I'm Derrick and 16 years old heading into being a junior in High School. However, I have a serious question. In my area, there is this special program in which I get two years of college free and graduate with my High School Diploma and my Associates Degree in Arts and Science simultaneously. At the college, I am taking several classes which put me right in the waters of the Puget Sound and lets me get hands on experience and create my own experiments at the same time with plankton and up the food chain to eventually Orca whales. Now, do you think this would put me ahead in education and opportunities in a Marine Biology career? How about my advantages college wise?

[Victoria]

Hey its me again. Could you tell me if there are any special permits or licenses you need to become a Marine Biologist? Thanks. :)

[Victoria]

Hey. I'm Victoria and I'm 12 and in 7th grade. For my Agricultural Technology Class, I am suppose to write at least a 2 page essay (but mines probably going to be longer than that) about what Agricultural Career we want to do when we grow up and thats how I ended up here... Thanks for the help. Now, alls I have to write about pretty much is the outlook for the future, will my job still be needed for the future? I am almost done. I have over 2 pages already. I think I will probably get an A. =]

[Lindsay D.]

Hi, my name is Lindsay Dunivent.
I am a high school Senior and I want to major in Marine Biology.
Ever since I was little I wanted to work with animals whither or not they were fishy or furry.
I live in northern Florida and i was wondering which college would be best for me to go into, I wanted to go to UF but UF does not specialize in Marine Biology.
Also I was wondering the average amount of jobs in Florida for this field of work.
I need a little bit of direction to make sure i am doing the right thing.

Thank you.

[Tiphanie]

hi im Tiphanie from ID i am 15 and in High school, it is verry hard to study marine subjects in my town because i am far away from the ocean! im not the smartest ant in the ant hill but i try my hardest! i am verry scared for my future because i don't know what is comming at me so what ever happens i will believe in my self and give it my all!!

[jessica]

Hi my name is Jessica and im 17 im gonna me a senior in three weeks and i want to be a marine biologist's. My teachers say that theres not a lot of colleges that teach or have marine bio as one of their careers. So what i wanna know is what would be a good school to go to in order to be a marine biologists?

[Lana]

hi my name is lana,
i am 14 years old and i have started to become drawn to orcas and that made me realise that i want to be a marine biologist.
And i was wondering if you could be a marine biologist whoes main part of thier job was keeping track of orcas population and basically orcas. i think they are very impressive in which they can be trained. and is that possible to have a job in marine biology that will focus on orcas? .
and is being a marine biologist scary at all?

thank you

[Calli]

hi. Im almost 15 and I have wanted to be a Marine Biologist for years. Im trying to fet a summer intern job in Florida. I have dedicated a lot of time, even my summers till two in the morning studying online and reading about Marine Biology. If you could can you send me a list of what courses to take in college and some classes in High School? thanks a bunch!

[veronica]

hi i'm Veronica i'm in seventh grade and i already know this is what i'm going to do when i grow up. i think marine biology is a very good job and one day i want to become a marine biologist. i love the the ocean and all its animals. my favorite animal is the dolphin and i want to help them from being extinct.

[Amy]

Can you help me on things in my project on becoming a marine biologist?

Thank you

[Seth Powell]

If you ever check this..could you please e-mail me some of this stuff.. I'm incredibly interested in your answers..

[Seth Powell]

Hello!
I am a 17 year old Junior in high school and I've devoted a section of my life to marine wildlife biology. I have always wanted to work with animals since I was very small, and aquatic animals about the same time. I do independent research on aquatic animals and can name several types of fish and their general behavior. This is in part because I work in an aquarium store. I specifically have always wanted to work with the most intelligent of invertebrates, the cephs. I pretty much like all of the cephs and really want to study them. I am taking A.P. Biology right now, will take Chemistry 2 and Physics and plan on getting a general biology degree at a private college then going from there to some sort of marine biology program. However, what you have said above in the article worries me greatly. I do not wanna go through 5+ years of training to get into the field and not have a job, or have to struggle through life. The salary part or anything like that doesn't make me deviate from my chose path, it is just scary to think that you could get out there, be turned down, and then have to change careers or something and then not be what you want to be.. I really want to work with marine animals and your job (or at least the way you described it) is exactly what I want to do. If it takes teaching and doing things I wouldn't normally like, so be it! But I would just like some advice in what to do, or how to do it. Just some advice about how to become a marine biologist and the way to get work!

[vince]

I am in 8th grade and next year in high school i am taking biology but I just want to know what kind of classes i should take in high school to better my chances of becoming a marine biologist!!!!!!!!!

[Holly]

I am in high school and am pursuing a career Marine Biology. As I freshmen I take honors biology, am in geometry, and volunteer at an aquarium. Is there anything else I should be doing to get on the right track?

[matthew moffett]

hey im doing a research paper for marine biology. i need ten sources for the paper do you have any website that might help me out?

[matthew moffett]

hey im doing a research paper for marine biology. i need ten sources for the paper do you have any website that might help me out?

[laura]

hey im doing a project about my career and its going to be about marine biology thats what i want to become when im older i just want to know some info... like what is the typical day of a marine biologist.. what do they wear, what is their avarage salary, what types of promotions are there? do marne biologist get bouneses if so what are they?, and alot more but if you can help me it would be great thank you soo much :)

[mike]

hey whadup, im mike.
im 15, and im from northern california.
im writing my research paper on the job we are considering for our future, and i came across this site.
im commenting to say how much this site has helped me for my paper about marine biology.

thanks man

[Jece]

I'm doing 3 reports on my top 3 favorit jobs that was given to me by my EDP. The 3 includ veterinarian, biologist, and zoologist. I,m looking for info on all 3, thats how I ended up on this site. I wanted to say thanks for the info it'll help alot.

[Lisa]

Hi, my name is lisa and I am 12 years old, I am doing a report on my dream job so I came to this site, it has really helped alot but ya what is a typical day at work look like? I have been interested in marine biology ever since i went to sea world in Florida and saw Shamu. but this has helped alot. Thanks!