Best Conservation Scientist programs in California, ranked by enrollment
Manage, improve, and protect natural resources to maximize their use without damaging the environment. May conduct soil surveys and develop plans to eliminate soil erosion or to protect rangelands.
39 schools in California run programs that feed this job, graduating 1,695 people a year. The job pays a median of $79,810 in California across about 2,110 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in California that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
13 programs in California that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in California (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own California page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Natural Resources/Conservation, Generalmain feeder CIP 03.0101In California → | 449 | 26.5% | 16 | $34,020 | $23,032 |
| 2 | CIP 03.0501In California → | 441 | 26.0% | 12 | $42,109 | $21,842 |
| 3 | CIP 26.1310In California → | 162 | 9.6% | 4 | $29,460 | $23,480 |
| 4 | CIP 03.0601In California → | 150 | 8.8% | 2 | $28,750 | $24,798 |
| 5 | CIP 30.3301In California → | 142 | 8.4% | 10 | $37,223 | $20,968 |
| 6 | CIP 26.1399In California → | 133 | 7.8% | 6 | $29,460 | $23,480 |
| 7 | CIP 26.1301In California → | 72 | 4.2% | 4 | $29,460 | $23,480 |
| 8 | CIP 01.0308In California → | 66 | 3.9% | 2 | $36,083 | $17,395 |
| 9 | CIP 30.4401In California → | 42 | 2.5% | 3 | — | — |
| 10 | CIP 26.1305In California → | 20 | 1.2% | 2 | $29,460 | $23,480 |
| 11 | CIP 01.1106In California → | 10 | 0.6% | 2 | $42,861 | $20,500 |
| 12 | CIP 03.0502In California → | 7 | 0.4% | 1 | $42,109 | $21,842 |
| 13 | CIP 03.0205In California → | 1 | 0.1% | 1 | $37,946 | $24,125 |
Top 25 schools in California
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 9 of the 39 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of California - Davis Davis, CA Public · 5 feeder programs | 284 | Natural Resources/Conservation, General | $38,954 | 86% | — | 42% |
| 2 | Reedley College Reedley, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 238 | Forestry, General | — | 42% | — | — |
| 3 | University of California - Berkeley Berkeley, CA Public · 5 feeder programs | 202 | Natural Resources/Conservation, General | $47,338 | 93% | — | 11% |
| 4 | California State Polytechnic University - Humboldt Arcata, CA Public · 4 feeder programs | 186 | Wildlife, Fish and Wildlands Science and Management | $26,325 | 49% | — | 98% |
| 5 | University of California - Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, CA Public · 3 feeder programs | 112 | Ecology and Evolutionary Biology | $25,810 | 75% | — | 66% |
| 6 | Columbia College Sonora, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 64 | Natural Resources/Conservation, General | — | 27% | — | — |
| 7 | University of California - Irvine Irvine, CA Public · 3 feeder programs | 64 | Ecology and Evolutionary Biology | — | 87% | — | 29% |
| 8 | University of California - Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 55 | Ecology, Evolution, Systematics and Population Biology, Other | $29,258 | 83% | — | 33% |
| 9 | California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 51 | Forestry, General | $55,092 | 86% | — | 31% |
| 10 | University of California - Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA Public · 3 feeder programs | 51 | Ecology | $18,728 | 93% | — | 9% |
| 11 | University of California - San Diego La Jolla, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 41 | Ecology, Evolution, Systematics and Population Biology, Other | $31,088 | 86% | — | 27% |
| 12 | College of the Redwoods Eureka, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 38 | Forestry, General | — | 34% | — | — |
| 13 | West Valley College Saratoga, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 34 | Natural Resources/Conservation, General | — | 51% | — | — |
| 14 | Citrus College Glendora, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 33 | Forestry, General | — | 41% | — | — |
| 15 | California State Polytechnic University - Pomona Pomona, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 27 | Environmental Biology | — | 68% | — | 75% |
| 16 | American River College Sacramento, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 26 | Natural Resources/Conservation, General | — | 37% | — | — |
| 17 | University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 25 | Sustainability Studies | — | 92% | $26,873 | 10% |
| 18 | Stanford University Stanford, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 23 | Sustainability Studies | — | 92% | $12,032 | 4% |
| 19 | University of California - Riverside Riverside, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 22 | Sustainability Studies | $30,698 | 76% | — | 76% |
| 20 | San Diego State University San Diego, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 16 | Geography and Environmental Studies | — | 76% | — | 36% |
| 21 | Shasta College Redding, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 12 | Natural Resources/Conservation, General | — | 23% | — | — |
| 22 | Pepperdine University Malibu, CA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 11 | Sustainability Studies | — | 83% | $41,986 | 63% |
| 23 | College of the Desert Palm Desert, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 10 | Natural Resources/Conservation, General | — | 31% | — | — |
| 24 | Merritt College Oakland, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 10 | Natural Resources/Conservation, General | — | 26% | — | — |
| 25 | Lake Tahoe Community College South Lake Tahoe, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 9 | Forestry, General | — | 45% | — | — |
All 39 schools in California
Every school in California with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of California - Davis | Davis | Public | 284 | 5 |
| Reedley College | Reedley | Public | 238 | 2 |
| University of California - Berkeley | Berkeley | Public | 202 | 5 |
| California State Polytechnic University - Humboldt | Arcata | Public | 186 | 4 |
| University of California - Santa Cruz | Santa Cruz | Public | 112 | 3 |
| Columbia College | Sonora | Public | 64 | 2 |
| University of California - Irvine | Irvine | Public | 64 | 3 |
| University of California - Santa Barbara | Santa Barbara | Public | 55 | 1 |
| California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo | San Luis Obispo | Public | 51 | 1 |
| University of California - Los Angeles | Los Angeles | Public | 51 | 3 |
| University of California - San Diego | La Jolla | Public | 41 | 1 |
| College of the Redwoods | Eureka | Public | 38 | 1 |
| West Valley College | Saratoga | Public | 34 | 1 |
| Citrus College | Glendora | Public | 33 | 1 |
| California State Polytechnic University - Pomona | Pomona | Public | 27 | 2 |
What conservation scientists earn in California
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $73,010. California pays above the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in California
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Conservation Scientists page.
How to become a Conservation Scientist
Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in California
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 17 majors mapped to Conservation Scientists17 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 01.0308Agroecology and Sustainable Agriculture
- 01.1106Range Science and Management
- 03.0101Natural Resources/Conservation, General
- 03.0201Environmental/Natural Resources Management and Policy, General
- 03.0205Water, Wetlands, and Marine Resources Management
- 03.0206Land Use Planning and Management/Development
- 03.0501Forestry, General
- 03.0502Forest Sciences and Biology
- 03.0506Forest Management/Forest Resources Management
- 03.0601Wildlife, Fish and Wildlands Science and Management
- 26.1301Ecology
- 26.1305Environmental Biology
- 26.1307Conservation Biology
- 26.1310Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
- 26.1399Ecology, Evolution, Systematics and Population Biology, Other
- 30.3301Sustainability Studies
- 30.4401Geography and Environmental Studies
Common questions
Answers for people weighing conservation scientists programs in California.
What degree do you need to become a Conservation Scientist?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Natural Resources/Conservation, General, which awarded 449 degrees in California in 2024-25, 26.5% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Conservation Scientist?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 13 programs to this occupation. The largest are Natural Resources Conservation and Research, Forestry, Ecology, Wildlife and Wildlands Science and Management, plus 5 more. Together they graduate about 1,695 people a year in California.
How much do conservation scientists earn in California?+
The median is $79,810 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 9.3% above the U.S. median of $73,010. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for conservation scientists growing?+
BLS projects a +3.4% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 2,500 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in California?+
39 institutions in California reported graduates from at least one of the 13 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do conservation scientists work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Naturalist, Park Guide, Park Ranger, Conservationist, Park Naturalist, Range Technician among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 19-1031.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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