# Conservation Scientists

US SOC code 19-1031. Markdown version of https://futurehistory.earth/timeline/19-1031

Also called: Soil conservationist, Natural resource conservationist, Range conservationist, Conservation biologist, Natural resource scientist.

## In brief

In May 2025, [BLS](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip) counted **25,950** US conservation scientists, with median pay of **$73,010** a year. Of the BLS counts since 2003, the May 2025 count is the highest. The earliest figure here is [an estimate](https://www.encyclopedia.com/economics/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/soil-conservation-service-scs) of **8,000** from 1940, not measured the same way as today's count. The last full technology era for conservation scientists: AI camera-trap processing and bioacoustic monitoring, 2018 to 2023.

## What the sources say

### Official outlook

BLS projects employment to grow 5.3% from 2025 to 2035. Source: [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=19-1031&ioType=o).

### AI exposure studies

- **55.1%** of this job's tasks are exposed to large language models. Not a forecast of job losses. [Eloundou and others, 2023](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv)

Data as of BLS OEWS May 2025; BLS Employment Projections 2025-35. BLS publishes these counts as yearly survey snapshots and cautions against reading them as a precise trend. In May 2021 BLS changed how it estimates these counts (a model-based method using three years of survey data) and moved fully to the 2018 occupation codes, so part of a change across 2021 can come from the method rather than the work.

## Conservation Scientists employment and pay by year

- On record since: 1933
- Latest US employment: 25,950 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [5]
- Latest US median pay: $73,010 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [6]
- Outlook: +5.3% by 2035. Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025-35 [23]

### All 27 years of cited US data

| Year | US employment | Annual pay (median unless marked) | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1940 | 8,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., Encyclopedia.com [1] |
| 1970 | 12,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., NRCS [2] |
| 1990 | 15,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., National Agricultural Law Center [3] |
| 2000 | 12,980 | n/a | BLS OEWS 2000 [4] |
| 2003 | 13,780 | $51,230 | BLS OEWS May 2003 [5] |
| 2004 | 14,290 | $52,480 | BLS OEWS May 2004 [5] |
| 2005 | 15,540 | $53,350 | BLS OEWS May 2005 [5] |
| 2006 | 16,000 | $54,970 | BLS OEWS May 2006 [5] |
| 2007 | 16,570 | $56,150 | BLS OEWS May 2007 [5] |
| 2008 | 15,830 | $58,720 | BLS OEWS May 2008 [5] |
| 2009 | 16,810 | $60,160 | BLS OEWS May 2009 [5] |
| 2010 | 18,880 | $59,310 | BLS OEWS May 2010 [5] |
| 2011 | 18,910 | $59,530 | BLS OEWS May 2011 [5] |
| 2012 | 18,460 | $61,100 | BLS OEWS May 2012 [5] |
| 2013 | 18,590 | $61,220 | BLS OEWS May 2013 [5] |
| 2014 | 19,210 | $61,860 | BLS OEWS May 2014 [5] |
| 2015 | 20,200 | $61,110 | BLS OEWS May 2015 [5] |
| 2016 | 20,470 | $61,810 | BLS OEWS May 2016 [5] |
| 2017 | 22,040 | $61,480 | BLS OEWS May 2017 [5] |
| 2018 | 22,200 | $61,310 | BLS OEWS May 2018 [5] |
| 2019 | 22,070 | $62,660 | BLS OEWS May 2019 [5] |
| 2020 | 22,020 | $64,020 | BLS OEWS May 2020 [5] |
| 2021 | 22,550 | $63,750 | BLS OEWS May 2021 [5] |
| 2022 | 22,880 | $64,460 | BLS OEWS May 2022 [5] |
| 2023 | 22,790 | $68,750 | BLS OEWS May 2023 [5] |
| 2024 | 25,590 | $67,950 | BLS OEWS May 2024 [5] |
| 2025 | 25,950 | $73,010 | BLS OEWS May 2025 [5] |

## Sources (93)

### Employment series

1. [Encyclopedia.com — Soil Conservation Service (SCS): agency workforce and early program operations, 1935-1942](https://www.encyclopedia.com/economics/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/soil-conservation-service-scs), Encyclopedia.com
2. [NRCS — A Brief History of NRCS: agency expansion through the 1960s under Kennedy and Johnson administrations; Great Plains Conservation Program and rural development programs](https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/about/history/brief-history-nrcs), USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
3. [National Agricultural Law Center — Summary and Evolution of U.S. Farm Bill Conservation Titles: 1985 Food Security Act created CRP and swampbuster, driving SCS field workload expansion](https://nationalaglawcenter.org/farmbills/conservation/), National Agricultural Law Center / University of Arkansas
4. [BLS OES 2000 national estimates (flat file)](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oes00nat.zip), Bureau of Labor Statistics
5. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2003](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm03nat.zip), [2004](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm04nat.zip), [2005](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm05nat.zip), [2006](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm06nat.zip), [2007](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm07nat.zip), [2008](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm08nat.zip), [2009](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm09nat.zip), [2010](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm10nat.zip), [2011](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm11nat.zip), [2012](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm12nat.zip), [2013](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm13nat.zip), [2014](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm14nat.zip), [2015](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15nat.zip), [2016](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm16nat.zip), [2017](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm17nat.zip), [2018](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm18nat.zip), [2019](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19nat.zip), [2020](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20nat.zip), [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2024](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)

### Wage series

6. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2003](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm03nat.zip), [2004](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm04nat.zip), [2005](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm05nat.zip), [2006](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm06nat.zip), [2007](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm07nat.zip), [2008](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm08nat.zip), [2009](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm09nat.zip), [2010](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm10nat.zip), [2011](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm11nat.zip), [2012](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm12nat.zip), [2013](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm13nat.zip), [2014](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm14nat.zip), [2015](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15nat.zip), [2016](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm16nat.zip), [2017](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm17nat.zip), [2018](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm18nat.zip), [2019](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19nat.zip), [2020](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20nat.zip), [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)
7. [BLS OEWS May 2024, national cross-industry estimates (flat file)](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

### Tool eras

8. [NRCS — A Brief History of NRCS: Hugh Hammond Bennett and the creation of the Soil Conservation Service; field practice methods of the 1930s-1940s era](https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/about/history/brief-history-nrcs), USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
9. [Farmers.gov — Dr. Hugh Hammond Bennett: Sparked the Creation of a Conservation Agency (1933 field science methods and conservation planning origins)](https://www.farmers.gov/blog/dr-hugh-hammond-bennett-sparked-creation-conservation-agency), USDA Farmers.gov
10. [USGS Landsat Missions — History of Landsat: Landsat 1 launched July 23, 1972; first satellite providing continuous multispectral land surface imagery for resource monitoring](https://www.usgs.gov/landsat-missions/landsat-satellite-missions), US Geological Survey
11. [NRCS History — National Cooperative Soil Survey: aerial photography and soil mapping methods adopted in the 1950s-1960s for agricultural land characterization](https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/about/history/nrcs-history-publications), USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
12. [Wikipedia — ArcInfo: ESRI launched ARC/INFO in 1982 on minicomputers, the first widely adopted desktop GIS; ArcView 1.0 released 1991 for non-command-line GIS access](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ArcInfo), Wikipedia
13. [GIS Navigator — GIS in Wildlife Management: history of GIS adoption in conservation science, from early ArcInfo through modern cloud GIS platforms](https://gisnavigator.co.uk/gis-in-wildlife-management/), GIS Navigator
14. [ScienceDirect (2025) — Using Google Earth Engine to develop interactive mapping tools for conservation planning: GEE as a platform for conservation scientists](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1617138125001748), ScienceDirect / Elsevier
15. [Google Earth Engine — About: petabyte-scale satellite imagery catalog; cloud computing for environmental monitoring; widely available to research community from 2012](https://earthengine.google.com/), Google
16. [GitHub — agentmorris/MegaDetector: AI camera-trap animal detector; removes blank frames; 30+ conservation organization deployments; originally developed by Microsoft AI for Earth](https://github.com/agentmorris/MegaDetector), Microsoft AI for Earth / open-source maintainers
17. [Anthropocene Magazine (May 2026) — AI just cleared wildlife science's biggest camera-trap bottleneck: MegaDetector + SpeciesNet semi-automated workflow compresses multi-year backlogs to weeks](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/05/ai-just-cleared-wildlife-sciences-biggest-camera-trap-bottleneck/), Anthropocene Magazine
18. [BirdNET (Cornell Lab / Chemnitz University of Technology) — deep-learning bioacoustics: 6,000+ bird species; open-source; supports passive acoustic monitoring at landscape scale](https://birdnet.cornell.edu/), Cornell Lab of Ornithology
19. [Google blog — How our open-source AI model SpeciesNet is helping to promote wildlife conservation (2026): 65M labelled images; 2,500 animal categories; integrated into The Nature Conservancy Animl platform](https://blog.google/company-news/outreach-and-initiatives/sustainability/speciesnet-open-source-ai-wildlife/), Google
20. [Fortune (May 2026) — How EarthRanger uses AI to help protect endangered species and boost wildlife tourism: 180+ protected areas; 50 countries; real-time conservation operations platform](https://fortune.com/2026/05/18/earthranger-ai-endangered-species-wildlife-tourism-africa/), Fortune
21. [Pachama — AI forest carbon monitoring: satellite + ML for biomass measurement, additionality, and MRV of forest carbon projects; Forest Carbon Scientist roles with $80,000-$140,000+ compensation](https://www.carbon-direct.com/), Pachama
22. [BLS OOH — Conservation Scientists and Foresters 2024-2034: +3% employment growth; median $67,950; heightened environmental interest drives demand](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/conservation-scientists.htm), Bureau of Labor Statistics

### Forecasts and exposure studies

23. [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35, National Employment Matrix: 19-1031 Conservation scientists (2025: 27.7 thousand; 2035: 29.2 thousand; +5.3%)](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=19-1031&ioType=o), Bureau of Labor Statistics
24. [Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin & Rock (2023), "GPTs are GPTs", occupation-level exposure data occ\_level.csv (O\*NET-SOC 19-1031.00, human-rated β 0.551)](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv), OpenAI

### Historical notes

25. [NRCS — Hugh Hammond Bennett Biography: co-authored "Soil Erosion: A National Menace" (1928), beginning the campaign for federal soil conservation legislation](https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/about/history/brief-history-nrcs/hugh-hammond-bennett-biography), USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
26. [NRCS — A Brief History of NRCS: Soil Conservation Service established April 27, 1935; Hugh Hammond Bennett named first chief](https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/about/history/brief-history-nrcs), USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
27. [USGS Landsat Missions — History: Landsat 1 launched July 23, 1972; multispectral land surface imagery; 50+ year archive used by conservation scientists worldwide](https://www.usgs.gov/landsat-missions/landsat-satellite-missions), US Geological Survey
28. [National Agricultural Law Center — Summary and Evolution of U.S. Farm Bill Conservation Titles: 1985 Food Security Act created CRP, sodbuster, and swampbuster; founding moment of modern federal conservation program architecture](https://nationalaglawcenter.org/farmbills/conservation/), National Agricultural Law Center
29. [Wikipedia — Natural Resources Conservation Service: renamed October 20, 1994 to reflect broadened natural resource management mission beyond soil conservation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_Resources_Conservation_Service), Wikipedia
30. [NRCS — Conservation Stewardship Program: established 2008 Farm Bill; working lands conservation; annual payments for conservation performance and enhancements](https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs-initiatives/csp-conservation-stewardship-program), USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
31. [Mongabay (March 2026) — Flagship conservation platforms SMART and EarthRanger join forces: SERCA unified platform for wildlife monitoring and patrol management in 180+ protected areas](https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/flagship-conservation-platforms-smart-and-earthranger-join-forces-in-new-tech-partnership/), Mongabay

### Predecessors & successors

32. [Forest History Society — Society of American Foresters founded November 30, 1900 by Gifford Pinchot; early professional natural resource science workforce](https://foresthistory.org/november-19-1900-society-of-american-foresters-founded/), Forest History Society
33. [National Park Service — The Civilian Conservation Corps: 500 CCC camps supervised by SCS; technical supervisors who transitioned into SCS professional roles](https://www.nps.gov/articles/the-civilian-conservation-corps.htm), National Park Service

### Present-day analysis

- [O\*NET 30.3 — Conservation Scientists (19-1031.00): tasks, technology skills, knowledge areas, employment data](https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/19-1031.00), accessed 2026-05-24
- [BLS OOH — Conservation Scientists and Foresters: 28,500 employed 2024; +3% growth 2024-2034; median $67,950/year; ~3,600 annual openings](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/life-physical-and-social-science/conservation-scientists.htm), accessed 2026-05-24
- [Google blog — How our open-source AI model SpeciesNet is helping to promote wildlife conservation (2026): 65M labelled images; 2,500 animal categories; integrated into Animl and AddaxAI](https://blog.google/company-news/outreach-and-initiatives/sustainability/speciesnet-open-source-ai-wildlife/), accessed 2026-05-24
- [Anthropocene Magazine (May 2026) — AI just cleared wildlife science's biggest camera-trap bottleneck: semi-automated workflows; "if we can process data faster, we can respond faster"](https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2026/05/ai-just-cleared-wildlife-sciences-biggest-camera-trap-bottleneck/), accessed 2026-05-24
- [GitHub — agentmorris/MegaDetector: AI for camera trap image review; animal/person/vehicle detection; 30+ conservation organizations worldwide](https://github.com/agentmorris/MegaDetector), accessed 2026-05-24
- [Fortune (May 2026) — How EarthRanger uses AI to help protect endangered species and boost the wildlife tourism industry](https://fortune.com/2026/05/18/earthranger-ai-endangered-species-wildlife-tourism-africa/), accessed 2026-05-24
- [Allen Institute for AI (Ai2) — EarthRanger: conservation operations platform; 180+ protected areas; 50 countries](https://allenai.org/earthranger), accessed 2026-05-24
- [ScienceDirect (2025) — Using Google Earth Engine to develop interactive mapping tools for conservation planning](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1617138125001748), accessed 2026-05-24
- [Planet Labs — Tropical Forest Observatory: high-resolution daily satellite monitoring for deforestation detection and forest conservation](https://www.planet.com/tropical-forest-observatory/), accessed 2026-05-24
- [Esri — ArcGIS GeoAI / Deep Learning: pretrained land cover models; habitat mapping; conservation spatial analysis](https://www.esri.com/en-us/geospatial-artificial-intelligence/overview), accessed 2026-05-24
- [BirdNET (Cornell Lab / Chemnitz University) — deep learning bioacoustics: 6,000+ bird species; open source; supports edge hardware and cloud pipelines](https://birdnet.cornell.edu/), accessed 2026-05-24
- [Pachama — AI forest carbon monitoring: satellite + ML for biomass measurement, additionality assessment, and MRV of forest carbon projects](https://www.carbon-direct.com/), accessed 2026-05-24
- [Eloundou et al. 2024 — GPTs are GPTs (Science): occupational LLM exposure framework; Conservation Scientists rated low-to-moderate due to high field-work component](https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130), accessed 2026-05-24
- [Microsoft AI for Earth — $50M+ in cloud tools and AI services to conservation organizations; funded MegaDetector and open-source conservation AI tools](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/ai/ai-for-earth), accessed 2026-05-24
- [Nature Tech Memos — Top 10 MRV Startups Revolutionizing Nature-Based Solutions in 2025: Pachama, Sylvera, NCX, and AI-enabled forest carbon monitoring](https://www.naturetechmemos.com/p/top-10-mrv-startups-revolutionizing-nature-based-solutions-in-2025), accessed 2026-05-24
- [Carbon Direct (formerly Pachama) — Scaling forest carbon with artificial intelligence and remote sensing: authored by Senior Forest Carbon Geospatial Scientist and Senior Forest Scientist; documents AI + satellite MRV roles](https://carbon-direct.com/insights/scaling-forest-carbon-with-artificial-intelligence-remote-sensing), accessed 2026-06-22
- [Defenders of Wildlife CCI — Supporting habitat conservation with automated change detection in Google Earth Engine](https://defenders-cci.org/publication/supporting_habitat_conservation_automated_change_detection/), accessed 2026-05-24

How to read these figures: https://futurehistory.earth/methodology. Every figure links to its own source; gaps stay gaps.