Microbiologists
Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics > Science and MathematicsProjected Growth: Average
Projected Job Openings
Extensive Preparation Needed
Job Description
Your job is to Investigate the growth, structure, development, and other characteristics of microscopic organisms, such as bacteria, algae, or fungi. Includes medical microbiologists who study the relationship between organisms and disease or the effects of antibiotics on microorganisms.
Common job titles of Microbiologists include:
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Experience and Education
Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.
47.83% said they needed a Bachelor's Degree.
17.39% said they needed a Post-Baccalaureate Certificate.
Tasks
Examine physiological, morphological, and cultural characteristics, using microscope, to identify and classify microorganisms in human, water, and food specimens.
Study growth, structure, development, and general characteristics of bacteria and other microorganisms to understand their relationship to human, plant, and animal health.
Use a variety of specialized equipment such as electron microscopes, gas chromatographs and high pressure liquid chromatographs, electrophoresis units, thermocyclers, fluorescence activated cell sorters and phosphorimagers.
Supervise biological technologists and technicians and other scientists.
Isolate and maintain cultures of bacteria or other microorganisms in prescribed or developed media, controlling moisture, aeration, temperature, and nutrition.
Investigate the relationship between organisms and disease, including the control of epidemics and the effects of antibiotics on microorganisms.
Observe action of microorganisms upon living tissues of plants, higher animals, and other microorganisms, and on dead organic matter.
Provide laboratory services for health departments, for community environmental health programs, and for physicians needing information for diagnosis and treatment.
Study the structure and function of human, animal, and plant tissues, cells, pathogens and toxins.
Research use of bacteria and microorganisms to develop vitamins, antibiotics, amino acids, grain alcohol, sugars, and polymers.
Monitor and perform tests on water, food, and the environment to detect harmful microorganisms or to obtain information about sources of pollution, contamination, or infection.
Prepare technical reports and recommendations based upon research outcomes.
Develop new products and procedures for sterilization, food and pharmaceutical supply preservation, or microbial contamination detection.
Conduct chemical analyses of substances such as acids, alcohols, and enzymes.
Tools
X ray diffractometers
Water sample collection containers
Water purification systems
Vortex mixers
Visible/UV light scanning spectrophotometers
Visible spectrometers
Ultraviolet UV lamps
All ToolsUltracentrifuges
Ultra cold biological freezers
Transmission electron microscopes TEM
Transilluminators
Tissue homogenizers
Thermocyclers
Test tube racks
Steroclaves
Staining dishes
Sonicators
Shaking incubators
Serology rotators
Semidry blotting apparatus
Sectioned petri plates
Scanning electron microscopes SEM
Safety shoes
Safety glasses
Rotator mixers
Respirators
Refrigerated recirculating water baths
Refrigerated benchtop centrifuges
Recording thermometers
Rechargeable electronic pipette fillers
Raman spectrometers
Protective laboratory coats
Protective gloves
Prepared agar plates
Precision pan balances
Pipette pumps
Photomicroscopes
Phase contrast microscopes
pH meters
Petri dishes
Personal computers
Peristaltic pumps
Osmometers
Orbital shaking water baths
Orbital shaking incubators
Oil-immersion microscope lenses
Notebook computers
Multiwell trays
Multistage agar impactors
Multiplate readers
Mid-infrared spectrometers
Microscope slides
Micropipettes
Micromanipulators
Microcentrifuges
Microcalorimeters
Micro balances
Membrane filtration systems
Mass spectrometers
Magnetic laboratory stirrers
Liquid nitrogen storage equipment
Liquid impingers
Liquid chromatograph devices
Laser printers
Laminar flow cabinets
Laboratory vacuum pumps
Laboratory test tubes
Laboratory refrigerators
Laboratory membrane filtering devices
Laboratory heat exchange condensing devices
Laboratory glassware washers
Laboratory gas burners
Laboratory funnels
Laboratory beakers
Inverted microscopes
Inoculating loops
Infrared IR spectrometers
Infrared gas analyzers
Impedance meters
Hybridization ovens
High-speed centrifuges
High pressure liquid chromatographs HPLC
HEPA filtered biosafety cabinets
Helium-neon lasers
Heating stirplates
Heat blocks
Hardy Diagnostics HUGO
Graduated glass laboratory cylinders
Gel transfer apparatus
Gel support frames
Gel electrophoresis boxes
Gel documentation systems
Gas-powered generators
Gas chromatographs GC
French presses
Freeze dryers
Fourier transform infrared FTIR spectrometers
Fluorescent microscopes
Fluorescence activated cell sorters
Flow cytometers
Floor shakers
Fire extinguishers
Fecal coliform water baths
Eyewash fountains
Erlenmeyer flasks
Erlenmeyer flask clamps
Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay ELISA plate readers
Electroporators
Electronic toploading balances
Electronic sterilizers
Drying ovens
Dry bath incubators
Dropping pipettes
Dissolved oxygen meters
Dissecting microscopes
Direct heat dry wall carbon dioxide CO2 incubators
Dichotomous particulate matter samplers
Desktop computers
Desktop centrifuges
Deoxyribonucleic acid DNA sequencers
Deionized DI water systems
Darkroom developing tanks
Culture tubes
Culture bottles
Coplin jars
Conductivity meters
Compound binocular light microscopes
Colony counters
Chemical safety showers
Charge coupled device CCD color digital cameras
Bubble counters
Bright field light microscopes
Bioreactors
Biological safety hoods
Bioaerosol impactors
Bacticinerators
Bacteriological incubators
Automatic pipetters
Automatic coverslipper
Automatic cell sorters
Automated microbial identification systems
Automated gram stainers
Autoclaves
Argon lasers
Analytical balances
Anaerobic growth chambers
Alcohol lamps
8-channel electronic pipettes
Technologies
Assistant Software for Antimicrobial Susceptibility Interpretation ASASI
Basic Local Alignment Search Tool BLAST
BD Biosciences CellQuest
BD Biosciences CloneCyt
Bruker Optics OPUS
BtB Software Mycobacteriology Lab
Codon Usage Database
All TechnologiesComBase
Computer Service & Support CLS-2000 Laboratory System
Computing Solutions LabSoft LIMS Micro
Database management software
DM2 Bills of Lading
FindTarget
FramePlot
Gene Finder
Gene recognition software
Genie Interactive
Image capture and analysis software
Laboratory information management system LIMS
NetLims AutoLims
Orchard Software Orchard Harvest LIS
Pathogen Modeling Program PMP
PHYLIP
PIBWin
PredictProtein
Proscan
Protein databases
Protein Explorer
ProtScale
STARLIMS
TreeView
Verity Software House ModFit LT
WHONET
Skills
Science
Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.
Reading Comprehension
Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
Writing
Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
Active Listening
Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Critical Thinking
Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
Speaking
Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Active Learning
Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
Monitoring
Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Judgment and Decision Making
Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Learning Strategies
Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
Complex Problem Solving
Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
Systems Analysis
Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
Coordination
Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
Instructing
Teaching others how to do something.
Systems Evaluation
Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
Management of Personnel Resources
Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
Time Management
Managing one's own time and the time of others.
Mathematics
Using mathematics to solve problems.
Social Perceptiveness
Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Service Orientation
Actively looking for ways to help people.
Operations Analysis
Analyzing needs and product requirements to create a design.
Abilities
Read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Cognitive Abilities › Verbal Abilities › Written Comprehension
Combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
Cognitive Abilities › Idea Generation and Reasoning Abilities › Inductive Reasoning
Communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
Cognitive Abilities › Verbal Abilities › Written Expression
Listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Cognitive Abilities › Verbal Abilities › Oral Comprehension
Communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Cognitive Abilities › Verbal Abilities › Oral Expression
Tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
Cognitive Abilities › Idea Generation and Reasoning Abilities › Problem Sensitivity
Apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Cognitive Abilities › Idea Generation and Reasoning Abilities › Deductive Reasoning
Arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
Cognitive Abilities › Idea Generation and Reasoning Abilities › Information Ordering
Generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
Cognitive Abilities › Idea Generation and Reasoning Abilities › Category Flexibility
Come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
Cognitive Abilities › Idea Generation and Reasoning Abilities › Fluency of Ideas
Identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
Cognitive Abilities › Perceptual Abilities › Flexibility of Closure
See details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
Sensory Abilities › Visual Abilities › Near Vision
Come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
Cognitive Abilities › Idea Generation and Reasoning Abilities › Originality
Choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
Cognitive Abilities › Quantitative Abilities › Mathematical Reasoning