CAREERS IN BIOLOGY WHAT DOES A BIOLOGIST DO? Biology is the study of life and living systems. A biologist may examine the growth, structure, function, origin or distribution of living organisms at different scales. These scales might range from tiny life, such as using microbes to study the genetics of adaptation in yeast; they may focus on the whole organism level, like the ecophysiology of sea turtles; or they could be at vast scales such as studying spatial patterns in biodiversity of plants.
GRADUATES FROM THE SCHOOL OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES HAVE ESTABLISHED CAREERS IN A RANGE OF FIELDS IN BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE
The Australia 2030 report by CSIRO (2017) identified key industry sectors that will see opportunity and growth. Many of these sectors have related biological sciences careers and include: ■ Food
and agriculture
■ Healthcare
and pharmaceuticals
■ Manufacturing
WHAT OTHER CAREER SKILLS CAN THE STUDY OF BIOLOGY DEVELOP?
■ Environmental
To thrive in the future job market, it is essential that graduates have developed transferable employability and enterprise skills.
■ Government
Transferable skills gained through biology include:
conservation – e.g. marine biologist or environmental consultant
■ Healthcare
– e.g. policy analyst or government advisor
– e.g. genetics counsellor or technician
■ Education
– e.g. teaching in schools/universities or outreach programs for museums
■ Research
– e.g. biological research in universities or in a research laboratory
■ Business
– e.g. innovation project consultant or strategy
analyst
■ Teamwork
skills
■ Quantitative ■ Critical
skills and digital literacy
thinking and problem solving
■ Innovative
and creative thinking
■ Communication ■ Independence
skills for a range of audiences
and self-belief
LAURA WILSON Laura studied the Bachelor of Science Advanced – Research at Monash and completed her honours in 2016. Her experience studying biology helped her grow in a lot of different ways, building skills and a knowledge base that she still uses frequently. She took away a wide scope of generic skills from her BSc that she has been able to apply in a variety of roles, including how to manage time effectively and work well in group situations. She is currently working as an Information Management Graduate in the Chief Information Office of the Queensland Government. Despite being in a very different field to her undergraduate studies she has been able to draw on some of the technical skills from her degree as well, such as research expertise, data analytics and critical thinking around problems.
■
monash.edu/science/alumni/graduates
■ agriculture.gov.au/about/jobs/graduate
■ csiro.au/en/Careers ■ delwp.vic.gov.au/careers-and-
volunteering/working-with-us
BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
To find out more about the career prospects of Science graduates, visit:
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