Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Zoology Engineer

🎯 Role Definition

The Zoology Engineer is a hybrid scientific-engineering role that blends wildlife biology, conservation practice, and technical systems development. This person designs and fabricates telemetry and sensor solutions for animal tracking, leads field research campaigns, collects and processes biological samples, builds reproducible data pipelines and models (movement ecology, habitat suitability), and ensures compliance with animal care, permitting and safety protocols. The role partners with ecologists, veterinarians, engineers and stakeholders to scale monitoring programs, optimize device performance in harsh environments, and turn biological data into actionable conservation outcomes.

Key SEO terms: Zoology Engineer, wildlife telemetry, animal tracking, conservation technology, movement ecology, GIS mapping, sensor networks, field engineering, citizen science integration.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Field Technician / Wildlife Field Assistant with experience in animal handling and data collection
Electronics Technician or Mechatronics Engineer who has worked on embedded devices or sensor deployments
Research Assistant in ecology, zoology, or conservation technology labs

Advancement To:

Senior Zoology Engineer / Lead Conservation Technologist
Conservation Program Manager or Monitoring & Evaluation Lead
Research Scientist (Movement Ecology / Wildlife Informatics)
Product Manager for Wildlife Tech or R&D Lead in conservation engineering

Lateral Moves:

Wildlife Biologist / Ecologist (applied monitoring roles)
GIS & Remote Sensing Specialist
Embedded Systems Engineer (IoT/Environmental sensors)

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Design, prototype and iterate telemetry devices (VHF, GPS, GSM, satellite/Argos) and sensor packages that meet species-specific welfare, weight and battery-life constraints; fabricate PCBs, housings and attachment systems using CAD and rapid prototyping tools.
Lead deployment planning for multi-site field campaigns: logistics (transport, access permissions), risk assessments, sampling design, and contingency plans for remote and multi-day operations.
Conduct live capture, safe handling, and release of wildlife following best-practice protocols; perform tagging/implantation/attachment procedures in collaboration with veterinarians and under approved animal care protocols.
Deploy and maintain remote sensor networks (camera traps, acoustic recorders, environmental loggers, PIT/RFID systems), including field calibration, battery management, firmware updates and data retrieval strategies.
Collect biological samples (blood, tissue, feces, swabs) and environmental metadata in the field; ensure cold chain, chain-of-custody, and lab submission protocols for molecular and health diagnostics.
Develop and maintain reproducible data ingestion pipelines (ETL) for heterogeneous sources (GPS tracks, camera images, acoustic recordings, environmental sensors) using version control and metadata standards.
Analyze movement and behavioral data using statistical and spatial models (home range, step selection, resource selection functions, state-space models, hidden Markov models) in R, Python or MATLAB to inform management and publications.
Build and maintain GIS datasets and habitat models (land cover, connectivity, suitability) using ArcGIS/QGIS and remote sensing inputs (Landsat, Sentinel, aerial imagery).
Implement machine learning and automated workflows for classifying imagery and acoustic data (camera-trap species ID, call detection, behavioral state classification) and validate model performance.
Troubleshoot and repair hardware and software issues in the field and lab, including soldering, PCB rework, sensor recalibration, and firmware debugging under austere conditions.
Establish and maintain quality assurance and control (QA/QC) procedures for data collection, sensor calibration, metadata capture, and laboratory assays to ensure scientific rigor.
Prepare and maintain all required permits, institutional animal care and use (IACUC/ethics) approvals, import/export and access permits; coordinate inspections and reporting to regulatory agencies.
Design and execute controlled behavioral and physiological studies (enclosures, enrichment systems, telemetry-based experiments) to test hypotheses about movement, energetics and habitat use.
Coordinate with internal teams and external partners (NGOs, government agencies, academic collaborators, Indigenous communities) to ensure project alignment, co-design monitoring objectives and share data responsibly.
Manage budgets, procure field and lab equipment, negotiate with vendors, and maintain inventories of spare parts and consumables to minimize downtime during field seasons.
Prepare technical reports, scientific manuscripts, grant proposals, and stakeholder-facing summaries that synthesize methodology, results, and conservation recommendations.
Supervise, train and mentor field crews, interns and junior engineers on safe animal handling, equipment deployment, data management and code standards; develop SOPs and training materials.
Implement and maintain animal welfare, health & safety and wilderness first-aid plans; deliver site-specific safety briefings and contribute to incident reporting and mitigation.
Perform necropsies and post-mortem examinations where necessary, coordinating necropsy protocols with pathology labs and translating findings into surveillance and mitigation strategies.
Deploy and manage unmanned aerial systems (UAS/drones) for habitat mapping, population surveys and equipment transport where permitted; ensure pilot certification and privacy compliance.
Integrate citizen science and community-based monitoring programs into long-term datasets, providing training and tools (mobile apps, tutorials) to co-produce monitoring outcomes.
Lead sensor data compression, battery-optimization and remote firmware-update strategies to increase device longevity and maximize data return from deployments.
Implement scalable cloud workflows for storing, processing and serving geospatial and telemetry data, including APIs, dashboards and secure data-sharing practices.
Design captive enclosures or field-safe prototypes (feeding stations, nest boxes, passageways) informed by species biology, durability and engineering constraints; test and iterate prototypes.
Participate in cross-functional product development cycles to transition research-grade tools into production-ready conservation technologies with attention to manufacturability and cost-effectiveness.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis.
Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap.
Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements.
Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team.
Maintain and improve internal documentation, lab notebooks, firmware repositories, and device inventories.
Represent the organization at conferences, workshops and stakeholder meetings; provide technical demonstrations and training sessions.
Assist with community outreach programs, educational initiatives, and volunteer coordination to increase public engagement with conservation science.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Wildlife telemetry technologies: hands-on experience deploying and troubleshooting VHF, GPS, GSM, and Argos devices; knowledge of tag attachment techniques and species-specific considerations.
GIS & remote sensing: proficiency with ArcGIS, QGIS, and raster/vector analyses; experience processing Landsat/Sentinel and drone-derived imagery.
Programming & data analysis: strong skills in R and/or Python for cleaning, modeling (GLMM, state-space, RSF) and visualizing ecological data; familiarity with packages such as sf, move, adehabitat, pygps, scikit-learn.
Embedded systems & firmware: experience with microcontrollers (Arduino, STM32), low-power wireless protocols (LoRa, BLE), PCB basics, and field-hardened firmware development and OTA updates.
Machine learning & automated workflows: practical experience training image and audio classifiers (TensorFlow/PyTorch), plus experience with data annotation pipelines.
Database & cloud: experience with relational and NoSQL databases, SQL queries, and cloud services (AWS/GCP/Azure) for scalable storage and processing of telemetry and sensor data.
CAD & prototyping: SolidWorks, Fusion 360 or similar for designing housings and attachment hardware; familiarity with 3D printing, CNC machining and material selection for field conditions.
Molecular and lab techniques: experience in sample collection and basic molecular lab workflows (PCR, DNA extraction) or coordinating sample processing with partner labs.
Drone operation & remote survey methods: UAS piloting experience and knowledge of photogrammetry workflows; familiarity with regulatory compliance and safety planning.
Project management: experience scoping projects, drafting budgets, tracking deliverables, and coordinating multidisciplinary teams and external stakeholders.

Soft Skills

Excellent written and verbal communication for technical reports, grant writing and stakeholder engagement.
Strong problem-solving and troubleshooting mindset for complex field and engineering challenges.
Collaborative team player who can work across disciplines (biology, engineering, policy) and with external partners.
Attention to detail with a commitment to data quality, reproducibility and ethical handling of animals.
Adaptability and resilience working in remote and dynamic field conditions.
Mentoring and training capability to upskill technicians and interns.
Cultural sensitivity and community engagement aptitude for working with local and Indigenous groups.
Time management and prioritization skills to balance simultaneous field and lab commitments.
Safety-first orientation with experience writing and enforcing H&S procedures.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor’s degree in Zoology, Wildlife Biology, Ecology, Environmental Engineering, Mechatronics, Bioengineering or closely related field.

Preferred Education:

Master’s or PhD in Zoology, Wildlife Ecology, Movement Ecology, Conservation Technology, Bioengineering or Robotics with a focus on applied field systems and data science.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Zoology / Animal Biology
Wildlife Ecology / Conservation Biology
Environmental Engineering / Mechatronics
Computer Science / Data Science (applied to ecology)
Mechanical or Electrical Engineering with field-deployable systems focus

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 2–8 years of combined field biology and engineering experience; at least 2 field seasons of independent deployments.

Preferred: 5+ years leading telemetry/sensor deployments or product development in conservation tech, demonstrable publications or technical documentation, experience managing teams and budgets, and a history of permit-compliant animal handling.