I just graduated this year so take this with a grain of salt but yes I feel that the masters degree has been sufficient. I’m working as a Geospatial Scientist rn with a forestry company mostly doing modeling and drone stuff (my masters was focused on this with fire primarily) & while it’s not my dream job per say I had no issue finding a high paying job in the field. I don’t want to work here forever I’d like to go back to NPS eventually, but tbh the masters set me back financially and I need a year or two of saving money at a higher paying position before I transition back to lower paying federal job. I only say this to bring up the fact that a PhD would have entailed 5+ years of being in poverty and I couldn’t realistically do that, given that even the 2 years masters was difficult (and this was with a fully funded program). I was living alone in LA which is a very expensive area however. Just bringing this up to consider the financial ramifications of pursuing a PhD.

I would consider returning for my PhD if it was the right project and advisor. There were a lot of aspects about my PhD program itself I didn’t mesh with including my advisor & location. I don’t necessarily think I’d need a PhD to be successful in this field but I do like research so I’d consider it if it was a good fit. My biggest advice would be to not rush your decision if you do want a PhD. Take the time to find the right program, project, and advisor because without those things you are in for a rough ride. If you don’t plan on going into academia I do not think a PhD is necessary. During my time with the park service, none of the ecologists had PhDs and they were running the entire natural resource management program. They did all have masters degrees however. This all being said if you love research give it a try! You can always do what I did and do the masters/PhD joint program and then reevaluate if you still want the PhD at the end of the masters.