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Archive for the ‘Agriculture’ Category

Agricultural research plays a vital role in providing and improving our food and many other products. It is a wide-ranging field that includes agronomy, soil science, and plant and animal sciences.

A person who becomes an agricultural research scientist most often works in the private sector on applied research and product development. Others engage in basic research, most often in universities or government agencies.

To get further information and up-to-date estimates of job outlooks in agricultural science, use the links to the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the U.S. Department of Agriculture at the end of this article.

1. Start your preparation to become an agricultural research scientist when you are in high school. Take courses in chemistry, biology, and physics. Because you are most likely to work in a business environment, courses in economics and communications are also useful. Finally, mathematics, especially statistics, is important in agricultural science.

2. Locate the land-grant colleges in your state. All states have at least one land-grant college which offers a full program of degrees in agricultural sciences. These schools are public institutions and so have the added benefit of being less expensive than private colleges.

Other universities offer agricultural science degrees but may not have degrees in all fields. Once you find the school that is right for you, earn a minimum of a bachelor’s degree in an agricultural science.

3. Find opportunities to gain experience in agricultural science. Most university programs have lab assistanceships and summer job placement or internships available to undergraduate students.

Working in any of these positions will give you valuable hands-on experience and make you more attractive to potential employers when you graduate. Read the rest of this entry »