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AI Automation Index
Will AI Replace Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health?
Task-level automation exposure for Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health: 22 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.
E-E-A-T Verified
Developed & audited by Gini Loh Automation Exposure
56%
weighted task index
22 of 22 tasks scored
Median Salary
$82,220 / year
BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation
Employment Level
Medium
89,250 people hold this job — size, not growth
Projected 2025–35
+6.1%
employment change
7,300 openings a year · BLS line item
Pay by state
BLS OEWS publishes 54 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.
$53,030 – $132,620
Highest medians
District of Columbia $132,620
California $106,510
Rhode Island $100,730
Massachusetts $100,640
Washington $98,300
Lowest medians
Puerto Rico $53,030
Virgin Islands $53,830
Arkansas $57,220
Mississippi $57,780
Florida $60,830
State figures come from the 19-2041 row in the May 2025 state panel. States where the estimate was suppressed or too small to publish are absent.
What the score is made of
Each task is mapped to its work activities, scored for AI automation potential, and weighted by how important those activities are to the job. These are the components.
Automation potential 56%
Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.
Physical work 0%
Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.
Judgment & influence 64%
Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.
Routine administration 9%
Share in documenting, recording, and administrative activities.
Rewritten by O*NET 0%
Share of weighted tasks O*NET rewrote in a recent update. Reported, not folded into the score.
Consequence of error 6/100
Low
O*NET's own rating of how serious an uncorrectable mistake would be here — respondents, not us. Deliberately not in the index: the score measures what AI can do with the task content, and multiplying it by stakes would be our judgment dressed as data.
Constituent Task Mix
22 tasks for this occupation, weighted by work-activity importance. Shares below are of total task weight, not task count.
High exposure (≥ 60% of the task is automatable) 29%
6 tasks
Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 66%
15 tasks
Low exposure (below 35%) 5%
1 tasks
How would you survive?
Move your week away from the high-exposure tasks and toward the ones that need judgment. The simulator recalculates the index as you shift the mix.
Simulate Upskilling →Constituent Tasks
#15219 · Core · 55% automatable
Communicate scientific or technical information to the public, organizations, or internal audiences through oral briefings, written documents, workshops, conferences, training sessions, or public hearings.
information retrieval — Technical public assistance partly automatable; trust needs human
Provide technical information or assistance to public.
#1530 · Core · 50% automatable
Monitor effects of pollution or land degradation and recommend means of prevention or control.
information retrieval — Environmental advice is knowledge-based with review
Monitor environmental impacts of production or development activities. Advise others about environmental management or conservation.
#15218 · Core · 78% automatable
Collect, synthesize, analyze, manage, and report environmental data, such as pollution emission measurements, atmospheric monitoring measurements, meteorological or mineralogical information, or soil or water samples.
data analysis — Environmental data compilation, human validates sources
Compile environmental or climatological data.
#1517 · Core · 50% automatable
Review and implement environmental technical standards, guidelines, policies, and formal regulations that meet all appropriate requirements.
decision support — Sustainability plans drafted; organizational buy-in human
Develop environmental sustainability plans or projects.
#15220 · Core · 65% automatable
Provide scientific or technical guidance, support, coordination, or oversight to governmental agencies, environmental programs, industry, or the public.
information retrieval — Environmental advice is knowledge-based with review
Advise others about environmental management or conservation.
#15221 · Core · 68% automatable
Process and review environmental permits, licenses, or related materials.
decision support — Reviews permit reports against standards; human signs off
Review environmental permits, plans, or reports.
#1514 · Core · 58% automatable
Conduct environmental audits or inspections or investigations of violations.
decision support — Maps facts to statutes; legal accountability stays human
Assess compliance with environmental laws.
#1519 · Core · 55% automatable
Provide advice on proper standards and regulations or the development of policies, strategies, or codes of practice for environmental management.
decision support — Policy analysis drafted; political judgment human
Advise others on matters of public policy.
#1523 · Core · 72% automatable
Prepare charts or graphs from data samples, providing summary information on the environmental relevance of the data.
text generation — Environmental reports drafted; human verifies data
Prepare research or technical reports on environmental issues.
#1529 · Core · 58% automatable
Research sources of pollution to determine their effects on the environment and to develop theories or methods of pollution abatement or control.
data analysis — Analysis aided; primary environmental data collection human
Research environmental impact of industrial or development activities.
#15222 · Core · 32% automatable
Supervise or train students, environmental technologists, technicians, or other related staff.
interpersonal — Trainee supervision is relational and accountability-bearing
Supervise trainees. Supervise scientific or technical personnel.
#1526 · Core · 35% automatable
Monitor environmental impacts of development activities.
physical manipulation — Monitoring requires sensors, sampling, field presence
Monitor environmental impacts of production or development activities.
#1515 · Supplemental · 58% automatable
Evaluate violations or problems discovered during inspections to determine appropriate regulatory actions or to provide advice on the development and prosecution of regulatory cases.
decision support — Maps facts to statutes; legal accountability stays human
Assess compliance with environmental laws.
#1520 · Supplemental · 58% automatable
Analyze data to determine validity, quality, and scientific significance and to interpret correlations between human activities and environmental effects.
data analysis — Analysis aided; primary environmental data collection human
Research environmental impact of industrial or development activities.
#1525 · Supplemental · 58% automatable
Investigate and report on accidents affecting the environment.
data analysis — Analysis aided; primary environmental data collection human
Research environmental impact of industrial or development activities.
#1524 · Supplemental · 70% automatable
Develop the technical portions of legal documents, administrative orders, or consent decrees.
text generation — Draft legal/regulatory docs; human verifies
Prepare information or documentation related to legal or regulatory matters.
#1531 · Supplemental · 42% automatable
Design or direct studies to obtain technical environmental information about planned projects.
decision support — Environmental research planning aided; field judgment human
Plan environmental research. Direct technical activities or operations.
#1522 · Supplemental · 52% automatable
Determine data collection methods to be employed in research projects or surveys.
decision support — Environmental research planning aided; field judgment human
Plan environmental research.
#15223 · Supplemental · 62% automatable
Conduct applied research on environmental topics, such as waste control or treatment or pollution abatement methods.
information retrieval — Literature synthesis strong; field measurement human
Research impacts of environmental conservation initiatives.
#1528 · Supplemental · 45% automatable
Develop programs designed to obtain the most productive, non-damaging use of land.
decision support — Resource plans need ecological and political judgment
Develop plans to manage natural or renewable resources.
#1534 · Supplemental · 40% automatable
Plan or develop research models, using knowledge of mathematical and statistical concepts.
decision support — Physical theory needs expert scientific judgment
Develop theories or models of physical phenomena.
#1533 · Supplemental · 50% automatable
Develop methods to minimize the impact of production processes on the environment, based on the study and assessment of industrial production, environmental legislation, and physical, biological, and social environments.
text generation — Industrial methods need domain validation and testing
Develop sustainable industrial or development methods.
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How this was scored
- 1. Tasks. O*NET task statements for this occupation, from a release whose newest record is dated 08/2026.
- 2. Work activities. Each task maps to 1–5 Detailed Work Activities; each activity belongs to one of 41 Generalized Work Activities that O*NET rates for importance (1–5) in this occupation.
- 3. Automation potential. Every work activity carries one score for how far current AI can perform it end-to-end. Tasks inherit the mean of their activities.
- 4. Weighting. Task weight = 0.35 + 0.65 × (importance − 1)/4, scaled by how often the task is performed and by 0.7 for Supplemental tasks. Importance is the task's own O*NET rating where it exists (18,369 of 18,838 tasks); the rest inherit their work activities' importance. The index is the weighted mean.
Check: across the 910 occupations where O*NET also rates how far machine speed sets the pace, this index moves opposite to it (Spearman ρ = -0.49). The more a job is paced by equipment, the less of its task content AI can address — the relationship you would expect if the scoring is working.
Sources · O*NET 31.0 (task records to 08/2026) · BLS OEWS May 2025 · BLS projections 2025-2035 · rubric v2.1 · tasks for O*NET, not a forecast
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