An Entomologist Career
By Eric Hammer
If you're the sort of person who doesn't shriek and jump on
the nearest table when you see a spider and who doesn't mind
killing a cockroach with her bare hands, then you may well be
interested in an entomologist career. No, an entomologist doesn't
study Entenmanns cakes, in spite of what you may have hoped for.
Instead, an entomologist career would involve studying the creatures
that show up when you drop the crumbs from your Entenmanns cakes
and don't clean them up right away. That's right - you would
be the sort of person who studies insects for a living.
Now assuming you haven't run shrieking from your computer
screen, an entomologist career can actually be an extremely rewarding
and exciting one. The study of insects is an old pursuit and
it has a whole lot more involved in it than simply figuring out
how to kill them more efficiently.
In fact, as an entomologist, you may well be looking for things
like food additives (the color of some M&Ms candies used
to come from the shell of an insect [a beetle specifically],
though this recipe was changed decades ago to accommodate observant
Jews and Muslims who don't eat anything that comes from insects).
Another possibility for those pursuing an entomologist career
is to look for potential cures for diseases from the insect world.
How Much Can You Make?
According to Simply Hired, the average salary for an entomologist
is $62,000 per year.
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Keep in mind that the insect world is vast and still not fully
explored. There are tens of thousands of different kinds of insects
and there are actually whole subjections of an entomologist career
that you can choose from as a result of this.
Most people who pursue a career in entomology tend to specialize
in a particular area of study. For example, some will study arachnids
(i.e. spiders) while others may well study beetles or roaches.
The possibilities are truly endless.
It is also interesting to note that some of the world's greatest
scientists were actually enologists, including Charles Darwin.
Of course, you don't necessarily have to study the theory of
evolution to engage in the world of entomology, nor do you need
to pursue cockroaches around your mother's basement. As noted,
the insect world is vast and it's possible to pursue an entomologist
career where you study butterflies for example.
Qualifications / Requirements
In most cases, you'll need at least a master's degree in order
to pursue an entomologist career. Many people also pursue a doctoral
degree in order to specialize in a particular area of study in
this remarkable field of endeavor.
First Steps
Start by taking college courses which focus on the field of
entomology and be sure to get yourself a good grounding in the
life sciences in general. Then, pursue a master's degree in the
area of specialty of your choice - remember that an entomologist
career involves a wide range of choices and so you'll want to
know in advance which types of insects you want to study.
Resources
Check out these helpful resources to learn more about pursuing
an entomologist career:
Wisegeek: What is an entomologist? This is an
excellent introduction to what is involved in pursuing an entomologist
career.
Entomological
Society of America - a professional organization for those
who choose to pursue an entomologist career.
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