Environmental Scientist Career

Environmental Scientist Career

The Real Poop

This planet is going to the toilet. The worst part is that we did it. Nobody else to blame. Not even a meteor. We're in the Anthropocene Era, a time when humans are having huge negative impacts on living things around the globe. It's not too late to save the Big Blue Marble, however, and that's where environmental scientists come in. They're like Indiana Jones, but with no shoes.

It's an environmental scientist's job to analyze the effects of various pollutants in our air and water supplies, convince corporations and governments to institute policies and pass laws that will protect and preserve the environment, and hug trees. 

Being an environmental scientist isn't all drum circles and Earth Day celebrations, though. When humans insist on constructing new buildings, trying out new farming techniques, or drilling for more oil, environmental scientists are called in to make sure the project is done in a way that minimizes the amount of harm done to the environment. Sure, not doing those things at all would benefit the environment the most, but if those animals' homes are going to get bulldozed no matter what, then at least we can set them up with a new place to stay.

To be an environment-saving superstar, you'll need have a strong background in math and the sciences, have great oral and written communication skills (as you'll need to spend much of your time convincing cigarette-flicking, non-recycling goobers that what you do is worthwhile), and have the versatility to work in a lab, in an office, or out in the field. (It's not a literal field. What do you think you're going to be doing—picking wildflowers?)

Most environmental scientists are employed either by the government or by a science and engineering company. Others work for oil and gas companies, and still others run their own businesses. You know that "Environments 'R' Us" place down on the corner? That was obviously started up by some enterprising young environmental scientist.

"August 12: Tree still looks pathetic."

On the upside, you're doing valuable and worthy work and maybe, just maybe, you'll have a part in preserving this spinning ball of ours. On the downside, you'll have to combat ideas held by stubborn people whose belief that the Earth isn't in that much danger will stand in the way of things getting done.

Despite all of the scientific evidence, there are still plenty of individuals who don't believe in global warming, or that we're contributing to the hole in the ozone layer, or that aluminum cans actually go someplace to be recycled.

Don't say "can't" – say "cans!"

You wouldn't run into a lot of this resistance in certain other scientific avenues, such as a chemist who is attempting to develop a drug that would cure a widespread disease (people across the board are pretty much in favor of curing the sick and dying), but you know that you are doing just as much to ensure the well-being of our species—perhaps even more so—because you are working to give us a planet that we can continue living on.

Those chemists can invent as many drugs as they like, but if none of us has any air to breathe in a hundred years, it's not going to do us much good.

Our planet is at a crossroads and, as an environmental scientist, you're helping to right the ship. (What a ship is doing on the road is beyond us.) Technology developed within the last century or so has helped (most of) us realize what we are doing to slowly but surely damage the world we live in, and gives us the tools to reverse the trends. Of course, we wouldn't have most of these problems in the first place if it wasn’t for certain aspects of technology, but let's not quibble.