Psychology-Related Careers Working with Animals--All Degree Levels

Bachelor Level


Working with Animals Careers--Research Laboratory Assistant

A Psychology degree can lead to a career as an Animal Research Lab Assistant

With your Psychology degree you can get a job as a research laboratory assistant. These research lab assistants work in animal research hospitals or research universities. Animals under their care are not typically pets (though they can be), but are animals studied to understand (through psychology research) and develop treatments for disease or other phenomena.

As a research lab assistant you will be required to deal with daily tasks such as receiving new animals, feeding animals, cleaning living areas, and monitoring the general well-being of the lab animals. As you can imagine, you really need to like animlas to take one of these positions. In addition, you will work under the supervision of one or more research scientists (often a psychology researcher) who typically have a PhD or MD, depending on whether you are located at a university or medical center.

Salary Information

glassdoor.com lists the average yearly income for an Animal Research Lab Tech (Assistant) at $35,000.

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Click here to read important steps for Working with Animals Careers with a Bachelor's Degree. Other links on explorecareersinpsychology.org

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Click on the links below to read about other Animal Care and Research Careers that only require a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology:

Animal Care and Research Careers--Wildlife Care and Conservation

Animal Care and Research Careers--Animal Training

Animal Care and Research Careers--Veterinary Technician

Click on the links below to read about other Animal Care and Research careers that require a graduate degree:

Animal Care and Research Careers--Master's Degree in Psychology

Animal Care and Research Careers--PhD Degree in Psychology

Animal Care and Research Careers--Veterinarian (DVM)

 

Working with Animals Careers--Animal Training

How can a Psychology degree lead to becoming an Animal Trainer

Some individuals with a Psychology degree decide to become animal trainers. They will train various types of animals to follow commands in everyday interactions or during performances. This can include getting animals used to human contact so that an animal will behave a certain way when specific commands are given. Keep in mind that animals can be trained for various tasks: protection, detection, companionship, or entertainment. Many animal trainers work with land animals (e.g., dogs), but you may become a marine animal trainer. Marine animal trainers typically need to earn bachelor's degrees in marine biology or a related field. It is important to keep in mind that with your psychology degree a career in animal training is a natural fit, because you would have learned critical operant (instrumental) conditioning technques (e.g., reinforcment) that are so important to animal training.

Salary Information

The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists the median yearly income for an animal trainer at $29,000.

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Click here to read important steps for Working with Animals Careers with a Bachelor's Degree. Click here for valuable insight into becoming an animal trainer. Other links on explorecareersinpsychology.org

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Click on the links below to read about other Animal Care and Research Careers that only require a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology:

Animal Care and Research Careers--Research Lab Assistant

Animal Care and Research Careers--Wildlife Care and Conservation

Animal Care and Research Careers--Veterinary Technician

Click on the links below to read about other Animal Care and Research careers that require a graduate degree:

Animal Care and Research Careers--Master's Degree in Psychology

Animal Care and Research Careers--PhD Degree in Psychology

Animal Care and Research Careers--Veterinarian (DVM)

 

Working with Animals Careers--Wildlife Care and Conservation

What does Wildlife Care and Conservation involve?

Wildlife care and conservation involves the study of animals and other wildlife and how they interact with their ecosystems. Workers in zoos help threatened and endangered species by breeding them in captivity and sometimes re-introducing them into the natural environment. Others in this career area may work outdoors, gathering data and studying animals in their natural habitat. Park workers (including Park Rangers) and workers in nature centers are also considered part of this career domain. This is a great career option if you like working with animals, and you like some freedom in your work environment (e.g., working oudoors). It is likely that you will need to take some courses in Biology to be competitive for these jobs.

Salary Information

glassdoor.com.com lists the average yearly income for a Wildlife Care and Conservation worker (e.g., Park Ranger) at $36,000.

Click here to see career salary information for ALL careers listed in explorecareersinpsychology.org.

Click here to read important steps for Working with Animals Careers with a Bachelor's Degree. Other links on explorecareersinpsychology.org

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Click here to return to the Working with Animals Careers page.

Click on the links below to read about other Animal Care and Research Careers that only require a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology:

Animal Care and Research Careers--Research Lab Assistant

Animal Care and Research Careers--Animal Training

Animal Care and Research Careers--Veterinary Technician

Click on the links below to read about other Animal Care and Research careers that require a graduate degree:

Animal Care and Research Careers--Master's Degree in Psychology

Animal Care and Research Careers--PhD Degree in Psychology

Animal Care and Research Careers--Veterinarian (DVM)

 

Working with Animals Careers--Veterinary Technician

Using your Psychology degree to become a Veterinary Technician

You might consider a psychology-related career can be as a veterinary technician. Veterinary technicians look after animals in animal hospitals and veteranary offices. They care for the well-being of animals (typically household pets) and are responsible for routine tasks such as feeding, weighing, drawing blood, pacing catheters, assisting during surgery,and taking the temperature of animals. Veterinary techician may also provide nursing care before and after surgery and other medical procedures. Duties are performed under the supervision of a licensed veterinarian.

Your psychology degree can work to your advantage with this type of job, because it is likely that you learned a lot about how animals behave. For example, when you were taught about conditioning (classical and operant conditioning) in your psychology classes, animal behavior was likely a big part of the course. In addition, those of you who took courses in physiological psychology or brain and behavior probably discussed issues that pertained to animals. Finally, you may have worked in the lab of a psychology researcher who studied animals.

Salary Information

usnews.com lists the average yearly income for a Veterinarian Technician at $32,500.

Click here to see career salary information for ALL careers listed in explorecareersinpsychology.org.

Click here to read important steps for Working with Animals Careers with a Bachelor's Degree. Click her to find out more about a veterinarian technician career. Other links on explorecareersinpsychology.org

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Click here to return to the Working with Animals Careers page.

Click on the links below to read about other Animal Care and Research Careers that only require a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology:

Animal Care and Research Careers--Research Lab Assistant

Animal Care and Research Careers--Wildlife Care and Conservation

Animal Care and Research Careers--Animal Training

Click on the links below to read about other Animal Care and Research careers that require a graduate degree:

Animal Care and Research Careers--Master's Degree in Psychology

Animal Care and Research Careers--PhD Degree in Psychology

Animal Care and Research Careers--Veterinarian (DVM)

Graduate Level


Working with Animals Careers that Require a PhD Degree in Psychology

What career options are there for someone with a Psychology degree who wants to be a PhD Psychologist who Works with Animals?

If you are a PhD Psychologist that works with animals, you will typically be referred to as a Comparative Psychologis. Your PhD will generally be in Experimental Psychology. Your area of research will be the behavior and thinking of animals in comparison with humans. One thing to keep in mind is that you may be required to take additional corsework in Biology. 

To earn a PhD you must either (a) receive your Master's degree from one university and be accepted into a second PhD program or (b) be accepted into a PhD program at one university and complete your Master's thesis as part of the curriculum. Typically, earning a PhD can takes 5-6 years. At most universiies, graduate students in a PhD program have their tuiion paid nad receive a stipend (i.e., salary) for working at the school as a Research Assistant or Teaching Assistant). A PhD generally offers you the greatest degree of job opportunities and salary. Keep in mind that earning an advanced degree to work with animals will likely require you to be certified by the Animal Behavior Societ, so that you can demonstrate meeting the minimum standards of education, experience and ethics required to work with animals.

With your PhD you can look for a research job in a university setting in a Psychology Department, but possibily in a Biology or Zoology Department. You might also locate job opportunities working for a government agency, a museum. a zoo, a private rlab, a non-profit conservation group, or get involved in animal training.

Read about comparisons between Master's and PhD degrees in psychology here.

Salary Information

apa.org lists the yearly average income of a PhD in Experimental Psychology (all fields: higher ed, industry, research applied fields) at $92,000.

Click here to see career salary information for ALL careers listed in explorecareersinpsychology.org. Click here to read important steps to Working with Animals Careers with a Graduate Degree. Other links on explorecareersinpsychology.org

Click here to return to homepage of explorecareersinpsychology.org

Click here to return to the Careers by Category page.

Click here to return to the Working with Animals Careers page.

Click on the links below to read about other Animal Care and Research Careers that only require a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology:

Animal Care and Research Careers--Research Lab Assistant

Animal Care and Research Careers--Wildlife Care and Conservation

Animal Care and Research Careers--Animal Training

Animal Care and Research Careers--Veterinary Technician

Click on the links below to read about other Animal Care and Research careers that require a graduate degree:

Animal Care and Research Careers--Master's Degree in Psychology

Animal Care and Research Careers--Veterinarian (DVM)

To learn more about applying to Psychology graduate school check out the following:

American Psychological Association

Columbia University

Working with Animals Careers--Veterinarian (DVM)

What is a Veteranarian?

A career you can consider with a Psychology degree is that of a Veteranarian. You probably know that veteranarians attend to the health of animals. Like a doctor with humans, vets diagnose, treat and work to prevent disease and injury in animals. It is typical for a vet to specialize on a specific type of animal (e.g., small animals or horses). In addition, a vet may specialize in surgery or dentistry.

To become a vet is similar to becoming any type of medical doctor. You must have an undergraduate degree and take certain courses (e.g., Chemistry, Biology). Then you must attend a veterinary medical school (4 years). Keep in mind that like medical school, getting accepted to a vet medical school is very difficulty (think high grades!), partly because there are a relatively small number of vet schools in the US. Also, like most typical medical schools you pay a pretty high tuition amount to go to vet school. Finally, after your time in vet school you will complete a residency and/or gain additional training in a specialty. You can read more about becoming a DVM here.

Salary Information

glassdoor.com lists the average yearly income for a Veterinaraian at $108,000.

Click here to see career salary information for ALL careers listed in explorecareersinpsychology.org. Click here to read important steps to becoming a D.V.M Other links on explorecareersinpsychology.org

Click here to return to homepage of explorecareersinpsychology.org

Click here to return to the Careers by Category page.

Click here to return to the Working with Animals Careers page.

Click on the links below to read about other Animal Care and Research Careers that only require a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology:

Animal Care and Research Careers--Research Lab Assistant

Animal Care and Research Careers--Wildlife Care and Conservation

Animal Care and Research Careers--Animal Training

Animal Care and Research Careers--Veterinary Technician

Click on the links below to read about other Animal Care and Research careers that require a graduate degree:

Animal Care and Research Careers--Master's Degree in Psychology

Animal Care and Research Careers--PhD Degree in Psychology

Working with Animals Careers that Require a Master's Degree in Psychology

Can a Psychology degree lead to a Master's degree Working with Animals?

Psychologists with a Master's degree that work with animals are typically referred to as Comparative Psychologists and they will earn their Master's degree in Experimental Psychology. Their main interests are in studying the behavior and thinking of animals in comparison with humans. Those who want to work with animals often take additional coursework in Biology. 

It usually requires 2 years of graduate school to complete a Master's thesis (research project) and typically you must pay tuition. A Master's degree tends to offer greater job opportunities and greater salary than a Bachelor’s degree. If you decide to get an advanced degree to work with animals, you should check out important information about getting certified by the Animal Behavior Society. This certification is important because it is the way you demonstrate that you meet the minimum standards of education, experience and ethics required to work with animals.

Click here to read more about what a Master's degree in psychology offers. Salary Information

The average yearly income for a Master's Degree in Experimental Psychology will typically be lower than the abouteducation.com listing for the median (middle) yearly income for a PhD in Experimental Psychology (all fields: higher ed, industry, research applied fields) of $92,000.

Click here to see career salary information for ALL careers listed in explorecareersinpsychology.org. Click here to read important steps to Working with Animals Careers with a Graduate Degree. Other links on explorecareersinpsychology.org

Click here to return to homepage of explorecareersinpsychology.org

Click here to return to the Careers by Category page.

Click here to return to the Working with Animals Careers page.

Click on the links below to read about other Animal Care and Research Careers that only require a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology:

Animal Care and Research Careers--Research Lab Assistant

Animal Care and Research Careers--Wildlife Care and Conservation

Animal Care and Research Careers--Animal Training

Animal Care and Research Careers--Veterinary Technician

Click on the links below to read about other Animal Care and Research careers that require a graduate degree:

Animal Care and Research Careers--PhD Degree in Psychology

Animal Care and Research Careers--Veterinarian (DVM)

To learn more about applying to Psychology graduate school check out the following:

American Psychological Association

Columbia University