What it pays
Government survey numbers — not estimates, not ads.
Half of all Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health in the U.S. earn more than $82,220 a year — the middle 80% land between $52,520 and $140,010. About 89,250 people in the U.S. do this work. Figures are for the U.S. occupation group “Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health”. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics survey, published 2025.) In India, Professionals earn about ₹38,298 a month on average — around ₹4.6 lakh a year (government PLFS survey via ILOSTAT, occupation-family figure).
$82,220typical pay / year
89,250people in this work
$140,010+top 10% earn
₹4.6 lakha year in India (family avg)
Think you get this job?Six quick questions on how it really works — with a hint and the reason behind every answer.
Test yourself →The work, task by task
These are the real jobs-to-be-done, not a wish list. Each task shows where we found it, and the prompt underneath is written for that exact task.
Analysing4
Analyze climate policy data
+Clean and merge the national emissions and temperature station datasets, run exploratory statistics to detect…
Analyze climate policy data
+Clean and merge the national emissions and temperature station datasets, run exploratory statistics to detect trends and anomalies for 1990–2025, and deliver a methods note plus a reproducible dataset with code and diagnostics for peer review.
The tools that do the workPythonMicrosoft Exceljob descriptionsO*NET
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Prepare policy briefs
+Draft a two-page policy brief for DEFRA summarising projected coastal flood risk under the central and high…
Prepare policy briefs
+Draft a two-page policy brief for DEFRA summarising projected coastal flood risk under the central and high emissions scenarios, four clear policy recommendations, and one slide-ready figure showing affected population by 2050.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft WordMicrosoft PowerPointESCOjob descriptions
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Evaluate climate initiatives
+Evaluate the three city heat-pump incentive pilots using project-level KPIs, cost per tonne CO2e abated, and…
Evaluate climate initiatives
+Evaluate the three city heat-pump incentive pilots using project-level KPIs, cost per tonne CO2e abated, and participant uptake; produce a ranked recommendation with sensitivity to 20% higher equipment costs.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft ExcelESCOjob descriptions
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Conduct environmental impact assessments
+Carry out an impact assessment for the proposed industrial park expansion: quantify habitat loss, estimate…
Conduct environmental impact assessments
+Carry out an impact assessment for the proposed industrial park expansion: quantify habitat loss, estimate GHG lifecycle emissions to 2040, and list three mitigation measures with monitoring indicators for planning consent.
The tools that do the workESRI ArcGISjob descriptionsO*NET
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The daily work16
Present and defend proposals for climate change research projects.
+Present and defend the three research proposals on regional drought projection methods to the university…
Present and defend proposals for climate change research projects.
+Present and defend the three research proposals on regional drought projection methods to the university review panel on Thursday, open with the key findings, justify methodology and budget lines, and be ready to answer questions on uncertainty and data sources.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft PowerPointMicrosoft WordO*NET
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Prepare grant applications to obtain funding for programs related to climate change, environmental management, or sustainability.
+Prepare and submit the grant application for the coastal resilience study due next month, drafting aims,…
Prepare grant applications to obtain funding for programs related to climate change, environmental management, or sustainability.
+Prepare and submit the grant application for the coastal resilience study due next month, drafting aims, methods, budget justification, and a two‑page significance statement, then assemble CVs and letters of support for the funder review panel.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft WordMicrosoft ExcelO*NET
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Collaborate with stakeholders
+Coordinate a stakeholder workshop with municipal planners, water utility leads and two NGO partners next…
Collaborate with stakeholders
+Coordinate a stakeholder workshop with municipal planners, water utility leads and two NGO partners next Wednesday, circulate an agenda with data products to review, collect their feedback on proposed indicators, and record commitments for the follow‑up technical memo.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft OfficeMicrosoft Wordjob descriptions
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Monitor policy implementation
+Monitor implementation of the urban heat mitigation policy over the next quarter by tracking the three…
Monitor policy implementation
+Monitor implementation of the urban heat mitigation policy over the next quarter by tracking the three delivery milestones, comparing reported actions with the policy text, flagging missed targets to the programme manager, and preparing a compliance snapshot each month.
The tools that do the workMicrosoft Exceljob descriptions
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Analyse historic weather conditions
+Analyse historic weather conditions for the 1981–2010 baseline across the river basin, quality‑control…
Analyse historic weather conditions
+Analyse historic weather conditions for the 1981–2010 baseline across the river basin, quality‑control station records, compute seasonal means and extremes, and produce a concise methods appendix with plots and data provenance.
The tools that do the workPythonThe MathWorks MATLABESCO
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Apply statistical analysis techniques
+Apply statistical analysis to the flood frequency dataset to estimate return periods, run uncertainty bounds…
Apply statistical analysis techniques
+Apply statistical analysis to the flood frequency dataset to estimate return periods, run uncertainty bounds with bootstrapping, compare three candidate distributions, and produce a short decision note recommending the preferred approach.
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Advise on weather-related issues
+Advise the regional emergency manager on likely weather impacts for the next 72 hours, outline confidence…
Advise on weather-related issues
+Advise the regional emergency manager on likely weather impacts for the next 72 hours, outline confidence levels and recommended actions for transport and utilities, and send the briefing to Hannah Park and the duty director by 10:00 tomorrow morning.
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Use measurement instruments
+Calibrate the automatic weather station at Ridgecrest, run the instrument diagnostics, log sensor offsets and…
Use measurement instruments
+Calibrate the automatic weather station at Ridgecrest, run the instrument diagnostics, log sensor offsets and battery health, and upload the validated measurement file to the shared archive with a note to maintenance by end of day.
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Scientific research methodology
+Design the observational study to test urban heat island effects: write the hypothesis, list required…
Scientific research methodology
+Design the observational study to test urban heat island effects: write the hypothesis, list required instruments and sampling schedule, draft the analysis plan and share it with Dr. Liao and the ethics office by Friday.
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Scientific modelling
+Build and run the regional climate model scenario for the coastal watershed using the high‑resolution physics…
Scientific modelling
+Build and run the regional climate model scenario for the coastal watershed using the high‑resolution physics configuration, compare temperature and precipitation outputs between runs, and save the reproducible scripts and results for review on Monday.
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Carry out meteorological research
+Plan and execute the three‑week meteorological field campaign: confirm site permissions, schedule daily…
Carry out meteorological research
+Plan and execute the three‑week meteorological field campaign: confirm site permissions, schedule daily radiosonde launches, assign observers, and compile the first data report for the funding agency two weeks after campaign end.
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Collect weather-related data
+Collect the network rainfall and temperature records for the last five years, quality‑control missing and…
Collect weather-related data
+Collect the network rainfall and temperature records for the last five years, quality‑control missing and outlier values, aggregate daily to monthly totals, and deliver the cleaned dataset and summary statistics to the modelling team by Wednesday.
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Perform scientific research
+Design and run the study comparing summer heatwave intensity trends across the Northeast from 1980 to 2020,…
Perform scientific research
+Design and run the study comparing summer heatwave intensity trends across the Northeast from 1980 to 2020, document data sources, processing steps, uncertainty estimates, and draft a methods section suitable for journal submission by next Friday.
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Apply scientific methods
+Formulate hypotheses, select observation and reanalysis datasets to test them, outline the experimental…
Apply scientific methods
+Formulate hypotheses, select observation and reanalysis datasets to test them, outline the experimental design with sampling and QA rules, and produce a step-by-step protocol so colleagues can replicate the climate experiments by Monday.
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Execute analytical mathematical calculations
+Calculate seasonal mean temperature anomalies and their 95 percent confidence intervals for the Pacific…
Execute analytical mathematical calculations
+Calculate seasonal mean temperature anomalies and their 95 percent confidence intervals for the Pacific region using the full station network, include code and a short methods note so the numbers can be audited before the department meeting Wednesday.
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Conduct research on climate processes
+Investigate the role of soil moisture feedbacks on summer precipitation trends, assemble relevant papers,…
Conduct research on climate processes
+Investigate the role of soil moisture feedbacks on summer precipitation trends, assemble relevant papers, process satellite and station datasets, run correlation and composite analyses, and write a one-page summary for the research group by Friday.
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Built on public evidence: O*NET®, ESCO, Wikipedia, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, ILOSTAT. All sources & licenses