Employment Opportunities for College Graduates
in Food, Agriculture, Renewable Natural Resources, and the Environment
United States, 2015-2020
Opportunities
During the next five years, U.S. college graduates will find good employment opportunities if they have expertise in food, agriculture, renewable natural resources, or the environment. Between 2015 and 2020, we expect to see 57,900 average annual openings for graduates with bachelor’s or higher degrees in those areas.
According to USDA projections, almost half of the opportunities will be in management and business. Another 27% will be in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Jobs in sustainable food and biomaterials production will make up 15%, while 12% of the openings will be in education, communication, and governmental services. Read More at Employment Opportunities for College Graduates
Job opportunities are excellent! Current trends show a national shortage of college graduates in agricultural sciences, and the Oregon Employment Department predicts an overall growth in agricultural and natural resource occupations.
We help you find and apply for these jobs by:
- providing job listings.
- assisting students with resume writing and interview skills.
- hosting a spring job fair with agricultural and natural resource employers (hosted by the CAS student government and the Agricultural Executive Council).
- maintaining close contacts with the agricultural and natural resource industry to make you aware of jobs and internships.
The following is a general list of career opportunities for graduates of OSU’s College of Agricultural Sciences:
Financial and marketing specialists
Technical service representative
Agricultural and natural resource production specialists
Agricultural and natural resource production specialists
- Arboriculturist
- Aquaculturist
- Farmer
- Feedlot manager
- Fruit and vegetable grower
- Greenhouse manager
- Farm manager
- Landscape designer
- Landscape manager
- Nursery products grower
- Pest manager
- Rancher
- Turf manager
- Turf producer
- Viticulturist
- Wildlife manager
Social services professionals
- Career counselor
- Community development specialist
- Conservation officer
- Consumer counselor
- Environmental lawyer
- Food inspector
- Labor relations specialist
- Natural resource policy analyst
- Naturalist
- Park manager
- Peace Corps representative
- Politician
- Regional planner
- Regulatory agent
- Youth program director
Technical service representative
- Communication and education specialists
- College instructor or professor
- College student services administrator
- Conference manager
- Consumer information manager
- Conservationist
- Cooperative extension agent
- Editor
- Educational specialist
- Government lobbyist
- High school teacher
- Illustrator
- Information specialist
- Information systems analyst
- Journalist
- Natural resource interpreter
- Outdoor recreation specialist
- Personnel development specialist
- Public relations representative
- Training manager
- Writer
Financial and marketing specialists
- Accountant
- Account executive
- Advertising manager
- Appraiser
- Auditor
- Banker
- Business manager or owner
- Commodity broker
- Consultant
- Contract manager
- Credit analyst
- Customer service manager
- Economist
- Export sales manager
- Financial analyst
- Food broker
- Government program manager
- Grain merchandiser
- Grants manager
- Human resource development manager
- Insurance agency manager
- Insurance agent
- Insurance risk manager
- Landscape contractor
- Market analyst
- Marketing manager
- Purchasing manager
- Real estate broker
- Research and development manager
- Retail or wholesale manager
- Sales representative
Scientists
- Animal scientist
- Bioresource engineer
- Cell biologist
- Dentist
- Ecologist
- Environmental scientist
- Food scientist
- Fire scientist
- Fisheries biologist
- Geneticist
- Marine biologist
- Medical doctor
- Microbiologist
- Molecular biologist
- Natural resources scientist
- Pathologist
- Physiologist
- Plant scientist
- Quality assurance specialist
- Rangeland scientist
- Research technician
- Resource economist
- Soil scientist
- Toxicologist
- Veterinarian
- Waste management specialist
- Water quality specialist
- Wildlife biologist
Some careers—such as veterinarian, medical doctor, lawyer, and college professor—require additional study in graduate or professional school.