Environmental Research Scientist
An environmental research scientist conducts field investigations and laboratory analyses to examine environmental systems, pollutants, and ecological processes across Australian landscapes.
What this job is
An environmental research scientist conducts field investigations and laboratory analyses to examine environmental systems, pollutants, and ecological processes across Australian landscapes. They design and execute research projects to assess environmental compliance, inform policy, and support conservation or remediation efforts, working within universities, government agencies (such as state EPA bodies), or environmental consultancies.
Are employers advertising this role?
Steady, up 7.3% over 5 years
Counted across a group of similar roles. These are three-month rolling averages of online job advertisements, not filled positions.
Source: Jobs and Skills Australia, Internet Vacancy Index.
Day-to-day
Design field sampling programmes to collect soil, water, sediment, or air samples according to Australian Standards (AS) and EPA guidelines. Conduct environmental monitoring using specialised equipment including water quality meters, spectrometers, gas chromatographs, and GPS systems. Analyse laboratory samples to quantify pollutants, nutrients, microorganisms, or contaminants and record results in electronic laboratory information management systems. Assess environmental compliance against National Environment Protection Measures (NEPMs) and state-based environmental protection legislation. Prepare environmental impact assessment reports and baseline ecological surveys for proposed developments or land remediation projects. Model and forecast environmental trends using statistical software (R, Python) and geographic information systems (GIS). Collect and identify biological specimens including plant species, macroinvertebrates, or microbial communities during field surveys. Evaluate contaminated site risk assessments using Australian guidelines for environmental site investigation and remediation.
Who does this now
About 3,700 people worked in this occupation across Australia at the 2021 Census.
What this role asks for
Bachelor degree or higher (ABS skill level 1)
Can employers fill these jobs
Employers hiring for this occupation had trouble finding suitable applicants in 2025. This measures how hard employers found it to fill jobs. It is not a count of jobs, and it does not say whether the occupation is growing.
Requirements
The standard entry pathway requires a bachelor degree or higher (ABS Skill Level 1). Specific qualification requirements vary by employer and state. Some employers may accept equivalent experience. Check yourcareer.gov.au for available courses and dewr.gov.au/skills-reform/free-tafe for subsidised training options.
The honest hard part
You'll need a science degree minimum, often an honours or postgrad qualification to be competitive. The work is heavily regulated and compliance-focused, which means less creative freedom than pure research. Pay is modest compared to engineering or IT, and funding cuts hit universities and government agencies hard, making job security unpredictable. You'll spend a lot of time outdoors in all weather doing repetitive sampling.
Where the jobs are
Government agencies employ the most people. Some regional work exists for contaminated site assessment, but it's project-based and temporary. Remote work is rare because field sampling is essential.
Pay
Published for ANZSCO unit group 2343, the wider group this job sits in, not for this job on its own.
This is the median for full-time employees who are not managers and are paid at the adult rate, before tax and salary sacrifice. It is a guide to what the work pays, not a wage rate.
Source: ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025, customised report.
Skills
- Attention to Detailcore
- Continuous Learning and Upskillingcore
- Data Entry and Accuracycore
- Microsoft Excel Data Managementcore
- Problem Solvingcore
- Process Documentationcore
- Regulatory and Legislative Awarenesscore
- Report Writingcore
- Research and Analysiscore
- Risk Identificationcore
- Stakeholder Communicationcore
- Team Collaborationcore
- Time Management and Prioritisationcore
- Verbal Communicationcore
- Written Communicationcore
- Active Listening
- Community Development
- Digital Literacy
- Goal Setting and Planning
- Google Workspace (Docs, Sheets, Drive)
- Incident Reporting
- Policy Interpretation
- Power BI Reporting and Dashboards
- Record Management
- Reporting and Analytics
Which of these do you have?
Tick the ones you haveCommon questions
Sources
- ABS OSCA 2024, occupation definition and task statements
- ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025, customised report.
- ABS, 2021 Census of Population and Housing based on usual place of residence (Custom Report). OSCA Experimental Estimates.
Role data is drawn from official Australian Government sources, and each figure names where it comes from. Where a role is not in the ABS classification, the page shows no government figures for it. Data may not reflect every local variation.
What Environmental Research Scientist workers move into, from ten years of tax records.
Last updated: 30 October 2026
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