Jobs in Entomology?

[Jason Green]

Afternoon all,

What sort of work is available in the field of entomology - does it all require degrees? I'd love to work in this area of natural history, but I can't really see a way in.

Any suggestions welcome

Take care,

Jason

[Acutipuerilis]

Hi Jason,
Boy, is that a can of worms! To be employed as an entomologist is actually very hard, and may not mean what you expect. University positions are really an option only for areas like phlylogenetics, biodiversity, ecology, or applied entomology - taxonomy is barely funded nowadays. Major museums are the main area for taxonomic-based careers, but positions are very few and far between. And yes, you'd need probably a PhD as well as a basic degree. There's also a lot of competition, as you can probably imagine.
There are a few other routes - biological records centres, freelance biological survey providers, conservation, and so on. It's fair to say, though, that most of the genuine entomology experts have been doing it most of their lives and entirely voluntarily... Of course, there are very occasional careers carved out in the media and books, but you have to start getting imaginative there...
I'm sure other people will have other ideas, though?
Joe

[jaguarondi]

Forty years ago, when I was a student, I think many entomology jobs were in agriculture. Some agricultural research stations had separate, and quite large, entomology sections. However, much of the work would be assessing pest control by insecticides, and studying how to kill the things that interest you might not appeal. Over the years I think government funded research in agricultural entomology has suffered cutbacks. Now, conservation organisations and ecological consultants might provide a more likely source of employment.
Alan