Tell Me About Degree(s) in Environmental Disciplines

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Tell Me About Degree(s) in Environmental Disciplines

A Festivus Miracle: Dec 19, 2012; I have come to discourse on the profound inequities of the American political system.

I have a degree in Environmental Science from a university that's known for that sort of thing. Ideally, you get a degree in some aspect of environmental science that you want to do, but just a degree in environmental science (which a few universities offer nowadays), is often enough to start down the path, and then you can specialize later.

I want to work for the Bureau of Reclamation/Be involved on restorations!: Environmental Planning/Environmental Engineering/Environmental Science with a minor in Engineering/Physics/Civil Engineering?
I want to stare into microscopes until my eyes balls fall out of my head!: Biology, Botany, Zoology, Ornithology, etc.
I just loving LOVE ROCKS SO MUCH: Geology ( every science-oriented nonprofit I've ever seen has at least one geologist on staff, if not two)
I want to be bored as gently caress/Talk endlessly about the failures of the court system to address environmental wrongs/Write NEPA/CEQA/Insert EQA here Environmental Impact Reports!: Environmental Law
I want to be really involved with Grasslands, but actually end up writing super long papers on best management practices for cattle grazing!:Rangelands science, Fire Science
I want to be out in the woods fighting fires with my homies and getting paid the big bucks!: Fire Science, Rangelands Management, etc.
I just love protesting and getting arrested!: Environmental Studies, Political Science
I want to say the words 'channelization' as something that's not a euphemism for sex!:Hydrology, Oceanography
I want to get out of school, start working for environmental non-profits, and not have a loving clue what I'm doing!: Environmental Science

Very generally speaking, there's~~three~~ four separate paths you can embark down if you have an environmental degree. The first is to work for the government (the Bureau of Land Management, the Forest Service, the National Parks Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Reclamation, a few other jobs with some other agencies), or work for your state government. Yes, president fuckface will probably massacre the budgets of the Federal ones in the coming years, but there's a lot of movement between those agencies and the state agencies, which depending upon your current state governor, may or may not actually be interested in doing their job. The second is to work for nonprofits, which pay really poorly, but are more often than not really rewarding experience with a lot of bleed over to other environmental agencies. The last is to become an activist, which I know nothing about. I said there was four, and there is a fourth path, and that fourth path is to go do something entirely not related to your degree. My uncle got an Environmental Studies degree, and he works for Boeing now.

Again, when you're in school, you definitely absolutely must volunteer outside of school hours for whoever and whatever needs it. Ideally, you find a non-profit that's dedicated to one specific thing (ie, education, water monitoring, data analysis) and you can work as an unpaid intern for them and get a great reference for later. However, there are a multitude of organizations that constantly need unpaid ~~slaves~~ volunteers for all sorts of things. Just in my short time in volunteering after I got out, I volunteered for 3 separate organizations in the span of a month as an unpaid intern, doing things like checking easements, building trails, and water monitoring.

If you're a dumbass like me, you can also use the variety of government programs that pay recent graduates with degrees to go do things. I would recommend Americorp, but unfortunately president fuckface murdered that program. Check out the Peace Corps, NCCC, PLAN, or your states own Conservation Corp. There's are dozens of different programs that offer recent graduates with environmental degrees/degrees in general workplace experience. The only real downside to those is that you get paid poorly.

A Festivus Miracle fucked around with this message at 22:04 on Feb 23, 2017

# ¿ Feb 23, 2017 22:01

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# ¿ May 2, 2024 07:48

A Festivus Miracle: Dec 19, 2012; I have come to discourse on the profound inequities of the American political system.

Also, if you are hellbent on doing 'marine sciences' or oceanography or any sort SCUBA training, go to a university that has a boat for undergrads. It is plainly retarded to do a 2ish year degree in oceanography without ever experiencing what 15-25 foot swells is like in a repurposed fishing boat. That's like doing a pre-med but somehow never working with cadavers.

# ¿ Feb 24, 2017 01:37

A Festivus Miracle: Dec 19, 2012; I have come to discourse on the profound inequities of the American political system.

marsisol posted:

Skip on anything with the word policy in it unless you plan on becoming an environmental attorney. Get an environmental science degree and take classes that focus on hydrogeology, soils, contaminant transport, and physics and then work for a dime a dozen consulting firm in California or the northeast. Pay is good and you'll use your degree.

^^^

My concentration was in Environmental Policy and I've used that training a grand total of once. Don't go into policy unless you want to do law afterward.

# ¿ Feb 24, 2017 21:50

A Festivus Miracle: Dec 19, 2012; I have come to discourse on the profound inequities of the American political system.

REMEMBER SPONGE MONKEYS posted:

Good to know, thanks. Unfortunately I won't be leaving Texas anytime soon so I'm starting to wonder if I should bother.

Just because you live in a godforsaken shithole state doesn't mean there isn't opportunity. You just have to look a little harder for it. Another degree that popped into my mind that I know makes loving :10bux:

is a degree in GIS (Geospatial Information Systems). Every kid that I knew in College that even got their concentration in GIS now works for the DOT or for CALDOT here in the best state in this entire country. Plus, any time I mention that I took GIS classes in college, nearly every interview starts with "So, I see you put GIS on your application. Does that mean we can just rely on you to do a poo poo ton of time-consuming GIS work for totally free?".

# ¿ Feb 25, 2017 07:12

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Tell Me About Degree(s) in Environmental Disciplines