Canadian Forest Service links

Career profiles in forestry at the CFS

• Research scientist
• Forestry officer
• Biologist
• Geographical information systems (GIS) specialist 
• Technical support
• Communicating science 

Are you investigative, detail oriented, and naturally curious? Do you have a knack for numbers? Do you love your science classes? Would you like to work outdoors, or in a lab, or maybe both? If so, you might be a Biologist in the making!

Biology, in broad terms, is the science of life; but in actual fact it is complex and diverse, with many specialties. A Biologist studies life and living organisms, working with plants, animals, or both. Biologists can work in many fields, on a large scale (forestry, wildlife biology, ecology, botany) or at the level of cells or molecules (genetics, toxicology, plant physiology).

Duties

As a Biologist working for the Canadian Forest Service, you might…

• Identify and maintain collections of plants, insects, micro-organisms, and other biological materials
• Investigate ways to preserve information collected on old and current experimental trials, so that future forest biologists will benefit from data collected over a long period of time
• Conduct bird surveys to determine the impact of forest harvesting on the health and diversity of songbird communities
• Identify decay fungi infecting stands of thinned trees, to help determine the effect fungi are having on tree growth

Educational requirements

In high school, courses in the sciences, mathematics, and computers give you the basic background necessary for a biology career and are required for further studies at university. The minimum education standard is graduation with a degree from a recognized university with specialization in a biological science.

More information

To obtain descriptions of Biologist positions in the Canadian Forest Service, log on to Careers@NRCan.

For more details on the role of a Biologist, other employers, and personal suitability, ask your Guidance Counselor about the career-based computer program Choices, or the career planning tool EnviroCareers, both available at most high schools across Canada.