Animal Science Careers
There are lots of jobs with animals available!
This is a copy of an article I wrote for Career Matters, the CDI quarterly magazine aimed at careers professionals. I hope its useful for you, whether you are interested in this area as a career yourself, a careers adviser or a teacher.
Often when thinking about what an animal science career might be, people will assume these will predominately be careers like vet, veterinary nurse, RSPCA inspector or zoo keeper. In fact there is a hugely wide and diverse range of careers. Some of these will be explored in more detail here. There are many more animal science careers than there is space here, but hopefully this will give an idea of some possibilities! The level of science involved in different animal-related careers will vary, so these don’t all need As in 3 science A levels!
Heavily science-based careers include the following:
Government Research scientist – Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS) both are the executive agencies of DEFRA. APHA scientists do a range of work, focusing on ‘the threat and impact of a wide variety of animal diseases... Many of these diseases also infect humans. Research provides scientific evidence that allows us to provide expert advice and supports policy development...work with farmers, vets… and undertake surveillance activities to detect and respond to exotic diseases, and to identify and assess new and emerging diseases in livestock and wildlife…’ (taken from APHA website). CEFAS on the other hand, concentrate more on ‘marine science and technology, providing innovative solutions for the aquatic environment, biodiversity and food security’ (taken from CEFAS website). And whilst animal and marine science will be very much at the centre of these functions, the interaction between animal and human health and science is taken as read.
Pharma research scientist/lab assistant - This is another area where animal and human sciences interact. There are several pharmaceutical roles where an animal science academic background is useful. Research scientists (often with human science related backgrounds) will plan and undertake research into a range of drug developments. Regardless of whether the outcomes are for animal or human drug products, animals are often used as part of the drug development. This means that lab technicians are needed to look after the various animals used, to provide ethical welfare. Both the research and lab facility functions provide a clear career pathway.
Geneticist - A cutting edge area, to identify genetic sequences etc, humans and animals share a large percentage of genes; there is a large amount of research taking place in this field.
The following careers are still very science orientated, may also involve animal handling or applying science in a specific way:
Animal Nutritionist – Advising on the nutrition needed for race horses or ‘ruminants’ for example (animals with more than one stomach, e.g. cows, sheep, goats) will be very different to captivity-bred lizards.
Animal dentist – These tend to be qualified vets with a further specialism in dentistry.
Animal pharmacist – Students will need to do a normal pharmacy degree, followed by a postgraduate diploma (Harper Adams University have a course).
Animal physiotherapist/therapist – Animals, just like humans, get musculoskeletal issues which need treating. Especially if working in a performance role, e.g. dressage or polo horses where injuries can lead to early retirement if not treated, after years of training (just like humans too!). You do not need to qualify as a human physio first! (Writtle University College have a course)
As well as these, there are some better-known jobs:
• Zoologist
• Marine biologist
• Vet
• Artificial inseminator and breeder.
There are hands on welfare roles too!
Other careers can fall into more welfare-related, but will need a good understanding of science to ensure welfare standards are very much evidence-based:
• Zoo keeper
• Livestock farmer
• Conservationist
• RSPCA inspector.
Behaviourist – They will work with a range of animals, but most will predominately work with horses, cats and dogs, although it has been known for behaviourists to work with rabbits, rats and parrots too! The role is centred around working with both animal and owner behaviour. They can also undertake assessments for Social Services in homes where dogs live and where a child may be placed, and carry out assessments of dogs for charities and rescue centres. An animal science or vet science related degree would be a good starting point here.
Inspector - e.g. farm – red tractor, organics or quality assurance
And others will be more communications-based, where having a good rounded animal science degree will be very helpful in a range of related animal industries.
• PR/advertising
• Journalist
• Policy researcher/think tank researcher – these roles will be aimed at promoting evidence-based policy development and change.
• Community engagement/education roles – these can be from local conservation charities, to pharma organisations, agriculture or horticulture organisations to name just a few.
• Primary or secondary teaching – an animal science degree will have plenty of biology in it!
• Knowledge Exchange Manager (e.g. Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, AHDB).
Think through the specifics - what direction do you want to go in?
Having such a broad choice does mean that in order to choose the right career, students need to consider a range of different factors, including:
Have they got a specific category of animals they want to work with?
The categories will often be classified as livestock/livestock production (cows, sheep, pigs…), companion (i.e. pets, dogs, cats, guinea pigs), zoo work.
Is there a particular setting they want to work in?
For example, some will want to work in a conservation, marine or welfare setting, all of which are obviously very different. For instance, conservation work could range from doing bat surveys for a building company to working in rainforests conserving habitat to doing survey work in the Antarctic. Marine work can range from doing scientific research on the Great Barrier Reef to dog retraining and rehoming, to vet practices and UN community projects e.g. educating communities about improving animal welfare to increase livestock productivity.
Does the student want a more hands-on job or something that is a step removed from a predominately animal-handling job? There is a huge difference between being an equine breeder and a yard manager, or being an animal technician in a science lab or a livestock nutritionist.
UCAS has numerous animal-related courses; an animal science search produces 323 courses at 88 providers, with titles ranging from animal behaviour, agriculture with animal science, biological sciences, ecology and wildlife conservation, wildlife biology, to veterinary science and zoology. And this is just for animal science, before searches for animal care, management, therapy, conservation or biodiversity happen, or even specialising in an area such as equine performance. Broad animal science can lead onto many of these career areas and others. One benefit of a more general animal science degree is that the lab skills and knowledge gained will open more graduate-level science jobs in a range of sectors. Some specialist areas may ‘confine’ choices by lack of lab skills or science knowledge, e.g. animal behaviour may not contain enough science to move into or specialise in nutrition later. A more general animal science degree can often still lead into specialised areas later via further study/ Masters.
In all this, one very important aspect will be to research the content of specific degrees, this will often give students a good idea of the range of possibilities afterwards.
Mark Yates
Member of the Careers Writers Association
