This ain't Ms. Montgomery's fifth-period bio class. You've probably spent days, weeks, and maybe months studying biological systems. You may be so well versed in the nervous system that having to talk about it doesn't make you, well, nervous at all. But being a biosystems engineer is a whole other deal.

The "bio" in "biosystems" primarily means stuff having to do with the environment and agriculture. In fact, "biosystems engineering" is first and foremost a college degree that evolved out of the agricultural sciences. Today it's one of the most versatile engineering degrees out there, earning its holders an average of $60,000 a year (source). 

 

He's, uh, still working on the costume. (Source)

Just think about how many of the world's problems have to do with the environment or agriculture. What do we do about fossil fuel dependence? How do we provide an adequate food supply for the world? How can farms better recycle water? Well, cue the superhero music and enter the biosystems engineer.

Biosystems engineers are undercover earth warriors. They care about the environment...but they're not about to chain themselves to a tree. They're down with sustainable community projects…but they're not going to disavow private property and enlist in a commune. They simply know what they're good at and then use it in practical ways, such as developing a new biofuel or testing strategies for storm-water retention.

For the most part, biosystems engineers accomplish this by using data. A whole lot of raw, unprocessed, GMO-free data. That means charts, graphs, spreadsheets...a room full of newspaper clippings with random words from the articles circled in red marker. Whatever it takes to get a wide look at the numbers. These are people who enjoy taking abstract number sets and converting them into real world results.

 

For some reason, Professor Thompson's cereal class always seemed to fill up first. (Source)

They're also people who like to have options. If you have a hard time deciding what color shirt to wear in the morning, become a doctor. There your path is set: pre-med, medical school, residency, doctor—you can wear the same boring outfit every day. Biosystems engineers, in contrast, are dabblers. They dabble in a little bit of everything: chemistry, calculus, thermodynamics, introductory microbiology, ecology, alternative energy systems, or even food engineering. Once they've dabbled, they're mature enough to specialize. Like the sound of "food engineering?" Why not take a class in cereals, dairy foods, or principles of food science?

After a budding scientist graduates with a degree in biosystems engineering, the world is their eco-friendly oyster filtration system. If they grew up on a farm (or just really love singing "Old MacDonald"), maybe they'll wind up working with farm machinery or the housing of livestock. 

Earth-loving types, who cry along to YouTube videos of Amazon rainforest destruction set to sad, instrumental music might end up fighting over internships for jobs that work with natural resources. Someone needs to design wildlife watering stations in human-affected forests. If you're into that sort of thing, then why not you?

So you go to college, get your degree, and graduate ready to save the world. Not so fast. Even though you have a background in "biosystems engineering," you likely won't remain a "biosystems engineer." 

Depending on what you specialize in throughout college, you'll take a job—it won't be hard to find one, the world needs engineers—as a "facilities engineer" or "food process engineer" at a company like General Mills, Pillsbury, or Tyson. If you're more of a natural resources kid, you might end up working for the U.S. Forest Service, or for the USDA's Department of Natural Resource Conservation Service.

In other words, unless you go the government route, there's a good chance that you'll wind up a small fish working forty-plus hours per week in a big, multinational, corporate pond. The Peace Corps this is not, and you'll definitely have more cost estimates to calculate and boring spreadsheets to fill out than your tree-hugging hippie friends. 

But there are perks to your job. Aside from a, you know, grown-up salary, you'll likely get a couple weeks of business training, dental, health, and life insurance, too. Maybe even a free gym membership if you're lucky.

In the meantime, start preparing your answer to, "What's a biosystems engineer?" You'll be hearing that one a lot.

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