AI exposure by occupation, O*NET 19-2041.00

Will AI replace Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health?

Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health: AI can already handle 12 of 22 tasks; the work mostly needs a frontier-tier model.

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Every task, scored

The 22 tasks O*NET 30.3 lists for Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health, from most to least exposed. 12 reach 60 or more, the level at which AI already handles a task.

Task AI exposure Evidence Model tier Importance
Analyze data to determine validity, quality, and scientific significance and to interpret correlations between human activities and environmental effects. 80 Estimated Efficient 3.5
Review and implement environmental technical standards, guidelines, policies, and formal regulations that meet all appropriate requirements. 65 Estimated Frontier 3.8
Evaluate violations or problems discovered during inspections to determine appropriate regulatory actions or to provide advice on the development and prosecution of regulatory cases. 65 Estimated Standard 3.7
Process and review environmental permits, licenses, or related materials. 65 Estimated Standard 3.6
Develop methods to minimize the impact of production processes on the environment, based on the study and assessment of industrial production, environmental legislation, and physical, biological, and social environments. 65 Estimated Frontier 2.8
Monitor effects of pollution or land degradation and recommend means of prevention or control. 60 Estimated Efficient 4.0
Collect, synthesize, analyze, manage, and report environmental data, such as pollution emission measurements, atmospheric monitoring measurements, meteorological or mineralogical information, or soil or water samples. 60 Estimated Efficient 3.8
Provide scientific or technical guidance, support, coordination, or oversight to governmental agencies, environmental programs, industry, or the public. 60 Estimated Standard 3.7
Investigate and report on accidents affecting the environment. 60 Estimated Efficient 3.5
Prepare charts or graphs from data samples, providing summary information on the environmental relevance of the data. 60 Estimated Efficient 3.4
Determine data collection methods to be employed in research projects or surveys. 60 Estimated Frontier 3.2
Conduct applied research on environmental topics, such as waste control or treatment or pollution abatement methods. 60 Estimated Efficient 3.0
Provide advice on proper standards and regulations or the development of policies, strategies, or codes of practice for environmental management. 50 Estimated Frontier 3.5
Research sources of pollution to determine their effects on the environment and to develop theories or methods of pollution abatement or control. 50 Estimated Efficient 3.4
Design or direct studies to obtain technical environmental information about planned projects. 50 Estimated Frontier 3.4
Monitor environmental impacts of development activities. 50 Estimated Efficient 3.2
Develop programs designed to obtain the most productive, non-damaging use of land. 50 Estimated Frontier 2.9
Plan or develop research models, using knowledge of mathematical and statistical concepts. 50 Estimated Frontier 2.8
Develop the technical portions of legal documents, administrative orders, or consent decrees. 40 Observed Efficient 3.5
Communicate scientific or technical information to the public, organizations, or internal audiences through oral briefings, written documents, workshops, conferences, training sessions, or public hearings. 35 Estimated Efficient 4.1
Supervise or train students, environmental technologists, technicians, or other related staff. 35 Estimated Standard 3.4
Conduct environmental audits or inspections or investigations of violations. 20 Estimated Efficient 3.6

Observed: scored from AI use recorded in the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026 release), 1 of 22 tasks. Estimated: scored from the task's O*NET 30.3 work activity, 21 of 22. Importance is O*NET's 1 to 5 rating of how central the task is. Model tier is the lowest tier that can do the task under the published rubric; "No tier" marks hands-on work.

The model tier this role needs

A frontier-tier model or lower covers 100% of the role's importance-weighted task work. 100% of the work is something AI can address at some tier.

Efficient, standard and frontier tiers come from the JobRoute model tier reference. The recommended tier is the lowest one that covers 80% of the work AI can address. How the method works.

Wages, employment and outlook

US employment
89,250
Median annual wage
$82,220
Middle half of earners
$64,490 to $107,970
Projected change, 2024 to 2034
+4.4%

Employment and wages: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, national. Projection: BLS Employment Projections 2024 to 2034. BLS publishes these figures by SOC code, so O*NET occupations that share a SOC code show the same figures.

Adjacent roles

The occupations that reuse the most of this role's skills, with the usual time to move. These are the first places to look when you plan to redeploy or retrain people in this role.

Skill overlap and transition time from the JobRoute role adjacency graph on O*NET 30.3 skills.

Questions about Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health and AI

Will AI replace Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health?

AI already handles 12 of the 22 tasks O*NET lists for this occupation, at a task exposure of 60 or more, and the role's importance-weighted exposure is 54 out of 100. JobRoute scores tasks, not whole jobs, so the score shows how much of the work changes rather than whether the job disappears. BLS projects employment to change by +4.4% from 2024 to 2034.

What is the AI exposure of Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health?

54 out of 100 on JobRoute's task exposure measure, the importance-weighted average of the role's O*NET task scores. Higher means more of the work is AI-doable today. 1 of the 22 task scores are observed in the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026 release), and the other 21 are estimated from each task's O*NET work activity.

Which Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health tasks can AI already do?

The tasks with the highest exposure are: Analyze data to determine validity, quality, and scientific significance and to interpret correlations between human activities and environmental effects; Review and implement environmental technical standards, guidelines, policies, and formal regulations that meet all appropriate requirements; Evaluate violations or problems discovered during inspections to determine appropriate regulatory actions or to provide advice on the development and prosecution of regulatory cases. They are three of the 12 tasks that reach 60 or more.

What AI model tier does this role need?

A frontier-tier model or lower covers 100% of the role's importance-weighted task work. JobRoute assigns each task the lowest tier that can do it under a published rubric and recommends the lowest tier that covers 80% of the work AI can address.

How many people work as Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health, and what do they earn?

89,250 people in the United States, with a median annual wage of $82,220 (BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025). BLS Employment Projections expect a change of +4.4% from 2024 to 2034.

How to cite

Data version 2026-11-02, JobRoute method v1.0.0. Download all occupations or this occupation as JSON. Methodology.

JobRoute (2026). AI exposure: Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health. Data version 2026-11-02, method v1.0.0. Built on O*NET 30.3, BLS OEWS May 2025 and the Anthropic Economic Index (June 2026). CC BY 4.0. https://www.jobroute.ai/jobs/environmental-scientists-and-specialists-including-health

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