Life as a lab rat may not be so bad, after all. Sure, there are new metrics invented every few weeks by overzealous managers hired from other companies. The stock options are almost always under water. Cutbacks seem to be lurking around every corner. And the slick marketing people have bigger budgets (many of them drive nicer cars, too).

But pharma really isn’t so bad. You get to work on treatments that cure disease and save lives. Generally, you’re surrounded by highly educated, interesting people. And the promise of a Eureka moment is a big motivator. Besides, things could be a worse. You could be a coursework carcass preparer, an Olympic drug tester or a whale-feces researcher.

Those are the worst jobs in science these days. At least according to Popular Science magazine, which recently assembled its annual ‘Bottom 10′ list. The idea is to “salute the men and women who do what no salary can adequately reward.”

So the next time you want to throw your test tubes out the window because your lab supervisor says forget about cancer and find another me-too sexual dysfunction pill, just remember that you could be working at Disney World as an elephant vasectomist.

Hat tip to OnPharma