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AI Automation Index
Will AI Replace Zoologists and Wildlife Biologists?
Task-level automation exposure for Zoologists and Wildlife Biologists: 14 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.
E-E-A-T Verified
Developed & audited by Gini Loh Automation Exposure
52%
weighted task index
14 of 14 tasks scored
Median Salary
$76,780 / year
BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation
Employment Level
Low
18,120 people hold this job — size, not growth
Projected 2025–35
+3.6%
employment change
1,400 openings a year · BLS line item
Pay by state
BLS OEWS publishes 48 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.
$49,100 – $107,500
Highest medians
Maryland $107,500
District of Columbia $107,050
California $98,530
Alaska $90,370
Mississippi $88,710
Lowest medians
Texas $49,100
Florida $52,750
Indiana $54,670
Puerto Rico $57,110
Nebraska $57,890
State figures come from the 19-1023 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 52%
Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.
Physical work 8%
Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.
Judgment & influence 40%
Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.
Routine administration 8%
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 11/100
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
14 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) 30%
4 tasks
Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 62%
8 tasks
Low exposure (below 35%) 8%
2 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 →Emerging & rewritten tasks
Tasks O*NET added or rewrote for this occupation in its recent updates (05/2025 – 08/2026), with who proposed them. Additions are not in the scored task inventory — they are new work O*NET is still measuring, so they appear here and nowhere in the index. A Revision replaces a task that is scored, which is why only those move the "Rewritten by O*NET" share.
- New 05/2025 · AI/SME
Use advanced technologies, such as GIS, remote sensing, and drone technology, for wildlife tracking, habitat mapping, and population studies.
Constituent Tasks
#1493 · Core · 40% automatable
Inventory or estimate plant and wildlife populations.
physical manipulation — Measuring environmental characteristics needs instruments
Measure environmental characteristics.
#1496 · Core · 72% automatable
Disseminate information by writing reports and scientific papers or journal articles, and by making presentations and giving talks for schools, clubs, interest groups and park interpretive programs.
text generation — Reports drafted; presentations need human delivery
Prepare scientific or technical reports or presentations.
#23957 · Core · 65% automatable
Develop, or make recommendations on, management systems and plans for wildlife populations and habitat, consulting with stakeholders and the public at large to explore options.
information retrieval — Environmental advice is knowledge-based with review
Advise others about environmental management or conservation.
#1492 · Core · 58% automatable
Study animals in their natural habitats, assessing effects of environment and industry on animals, interpreting findings and recommending alternative operating conditions for industry.
data analysis — Analysis aided; primary environmental data collection human
Research environmental impact of industrial or development activities.
#1497 · Core · 42% automatable
Study characteristics of animals, such as origin, interrelationships, classification, life histories, diseases, development, genetics, and distribution.
data analysis — Bioinformatics aided; wet-lab work human
Research genetic characteristics or expression. Research diseases or parasites. Examine characteristics or behavior of living organisms.
#18615 · Core · 55% automatable
Inform and respond to public regarding wildlife and conservation issues, such as plant identification, hunting ordinances, and nuisance wildlife.
interpersonal — Public environmental communication needs trust and accountability
Communicate with the public on environmental issues.
#1499 · Core · 50% automatable
Organize and conduct experimental studies with live animals in controlled or natural surroundings.
decision support — Research planning needs domain expertise and feasibility
Plan biological research.
#23958 · Core · 82% automatable
Conduct literature reviews.
information retrieval — AI can search and summarize literature, human curates
Review professional literature to maintain professional knowledge.
#1501 · Core · 62% automatable
Coordinate preventive programs to control the outbreak of wildlife diseases.
decision support — Compliance coordination needs human accountability and site action
Coordinate safety or regulatory compliance activities.
#18616 · Core · 58% automatable
Check for, and ensure compliance with, environmental laws, and notify law enforcement when violations are identified.
decision support — Maps facts to statutes; legal accountability stays human
Assess compliance with environmental laws.
#1498 · Core · 39% automatable
Perform administrative duties, such as fundraising, public relations, budgeting, and supervision of zoo staff.
decision support — AI tracks and models budgets; human owns allocation decisions
Implement advertising or marketing initiatives. Supervise employees. Direct fundraising or financing activities. Manage organizational or project budgets.
#1494 · Core · 35% automatable
Analyze characteristics of animals to identify and classify them.
physical manipulation — Examining live organisms needs hands-on lab work
Examine characteristics or behavior of living organisms.
#1502 · Supplemental · 8% automatable
Prepare collections of preserved specimens or microscopic slides for species identification and study of development or disease.
physical manipulation — Hands-on sample preparation
Prepare biological samples for testing or analysis.
#1504 · Supplemental · 22% automatable
Collect and dissect animal specimens and examine specimens under microscope.
physical manipulation — Biological sample analysis needs wet-lab execution
Analyze biological samples. Collect biological specimens.
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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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