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Career Exploration

Environmental Engineers

Also called: Engineer, Environmental Engineer, Hazardous Substances Engineer, Sanitary Engineer

What they do:

Research, design, plan, or perform engineering duties in the prevention, control, and remediation of environmental hazards using various engineering disciplines. Work may include waste treatment, site remediation, or pollution control technology.

On the job, you would:
  • Provide technical support for environmental remediation or litigation projects, including remediation system design or determination of regulatory applicability.
  • Collaborate with environmental scientists, planners, hazardous waste technicians, engineers, experts in law or business, or other specialists to address environmental problems.
  • Assess the existing or potential environmental impact of land use projects on air, water, or land.
On the job, you'll need:

Engineering and Technology

  • product and service development
  • design

Math and Science

  • arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, or statistics
  • chemistry

Arts and Humanities

  • English language

Safety and Government

  • law and government

Basic Skills

  • listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions
  • reading work related information

Problem Solving

  • noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it

People and Technology Systems

  • thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one
  • figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it

Verbal

  • read and understand what is written
  • communicate by speaking

Ideas and Logic

  • make general rules or come up with answers from lots of detailed information
  • use rules to solve problems

Math

  • add, subtract, multiply, or divide
  • choose the right type of math to solve a problem

Visual Understanding

  • see hidden patterns

Investigative

People interested in this work like activities that include ideas, thinking, and figuring things out.

  • Integrity
  • Attention to Detail
  • Analytical Thinking
  • Cooperation
  • Dependability
  • Achievement/Effort

Analytical or scientific software

  • Insightful S-PLUS
  • The MathWorks MATLAB

Desktop communications software

  • Eko

Compliance software

  • Material safety data sheet MSDS software
  • Regulatory compliance management software

Video courtesy of CareerOneStop.

Job Outlook

The job outlook for this position is Bright.

New job opportunities are very likely in the future. This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Median Annual Salary: $96,530

Education

Bachelor's degree or master's degree is usually needed.