| One of my friends, a former community college | | | | depends on what funding the biotech research |
| student at the school at the same time I was | | | | facilities are backed by. At the Biotech Research |
| working there, has decided to go into biotech | | | | Center at Michigan Tech, for instance, funding is at |
| research. She is technologically savvy and at the | | | | $8.3 million, provided by such organizations as the U.S. |
| same time is fascinated with and good at working | | | | Department of Energy (DOE),the National Science |
| with the environment, and hopes to make some | | | | Foundation (NSF), the National Institute of Health |
| important contributions to our area (Northern | | | | (NIH), and the U.S. Drug Administration (USDA). At |
| California). So what does it mean to do biotech | | | | the same time, according to the U.S. Department of |
| research? What does it take to get into the field of | | | | Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics, the biotech |
| biotechnology? And how much dough can you make? | | | | research engineer (as well as the biomedical engineer) |
| Biotech research can involve anything in the life | | | | make an average of $48,503 with a bachelor's |
| sciences, from "human health and computational | | | | degree and around $59,667 with a master's degree. |
| disease mapping to crop and tree improvements," as | | | | But will the jobs in biotech research be there when |
| those studies are done by students at the Biotech | | | | my friend and you finish your degrees? Well, again |
| Research Center at Michigan Tech, from "forensics, | | | | according to the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau |
| [the] testing of biotoxins, and management of the | | | | of Labor Statistics, the projection for job growth in |
| nation's organ transplantation process" to "drug | | | | the field of biotech research in particular but |
| development, medical diagnostics, biomedical | | | | biotechnological engineering in general looks good |
| engineering, and environmental analysis," such as | | | | through 2014, with the growth "much faster than |
| those done at Virginia Biotechnology Research Park, | | | | average. This, BLS asserts, will be attributed to the |
| or from biogenetic engineering, farming, or nutritional | | | | aging of the population, the increased focus on health |
| assessment and engineering to toxicology, biomedical | | | | issues, and the demand for "better medical biomedical |
| imaging and engineering, or food, drug, and | | | | engineers." Because of the heightened interest in |
| environmental technologies, as conducted by | | | | biotech research and biomedicine, more degrees are |
| University of California Biotechnology Research and | | | | granted in these fields/areas...and hopefully, more |
| Education Program (UC BREP). | | | | grants are awarded! |
| How much a person in biotech research makes | | | | |