|
|
|
Finding A Green Job
From WikiVerde
Career Options For The Green Enthusiast
If you’re concerned about the environment and would like to do your bit to help preserve it, why not consider a green career? Today, the world’s attention is focused on environmental issues, and if you’re looking for a part to play in conservation, there’s no dearth of opportunities. There are hundreds of fields to explore, and thousands of ways to help conserve our planet.
Contents |
Green Careers – The Basics
Several universities now offer courses for green careers. Let’s look at some of the things you can learn as a green student, and the career options that follow from these studies. The most obvious green career is that of an ecologist, who is an expert in all living organisms, their behavior, habitats and characteristics. Related fields are ecological design, which aims to create sustainable communities with eco-friendly designs and materials; and ecological entrepreneurship – business based on ecologically sound principles. Environmental Science deals with nature’s course as far as soil, water, air, human beings, plants and animals, while Environmental Studies puts other fields into an ecological context. If you’re good with technology and problem-solving, consider going into Environmental Technology, which deals with ecological problems.
Agriculture leaps to mind, too. Organic farming, soil, water and air management, and the study of plant and animal resources can be very interesting. You could be a crop scientist, too, and help make environmentally correct decisions about the production of crops. Or you could get into aquaculture and grow fish instead of plants!
You could pursue biodiversity, studying and teaching biology, zoology and botany, subjects which give a person a keen appreciation for the environment. Conservation biology is of particular relevance, as it studies ways to maintain the diversity of life on earth. Aquatic biology, as the name suggests, studies water flora and fauna, and includes rudiments of chemistry, hydrology and ecology.
Earth scientists study the planet and all its systems so you’ll get a good grounding in green facts if you study earth science. Related fields are climatology, meteorology, hydrology, oceanography, geology and geography.
Fun with Green!
Do you love travelling? Think about a career in eco-tourism, which ensures travel without damage to the environment. Good in a crisis? Get into emergency management, which applies technology to the prevention of environmental calamities and damage control.
If you love wildlife, fight forest fires by learning about managing this dangerous element and how human, animal and plant life can be safeguarded from it. Game and wildlife management is relevant here as well. Become an expert in forestry and range management, and conserve forests and parks for the future; or if plants are your thing, you could become a horticulturist.
Green Support Careers
Help create a support framework for green activities by studying Environmental Advocacy, which is concerned with safeguarding the environment as well as the public from eco-hazards. Or learn about Environmental Law and Justice, Environmental Ethics, Environment Management and Planning, Environmental Policy and Analysis or Environmental Economics. Environmental Enforcement deals with compliance to relevant laws.
Environmental Investigation, which deals with rules and offenses, Environmental Research, and Environmental Health & Safety Management are all interesting fields, too.
If you enjoy writing, you might want to become an environmental journalist. Learning about the environment and then teaching others is also a satisfying option. You could also become an environmental historian or study environmental literature, and gain knowledge of the effects of environmental awareness and communication.
Green Specializations
Concerned about the air we breathe? Learn about Air Quality Management and how to improve and manage our air resources. Or study Atmospheric Science and become an expert on the air around us! Does pollution get your hackles rising? Channel that anger by studying Environmental Chemistry – poisons and pollutants, and how they affect us. If you love the water, consider becoming an expert in Coastal Management or Marine Science and help to conserve our oceans and shores. Fisheries scientists learn how to manage the fish population in natural water bodies as well as in aquaculture farms.
Energy studies offer interesting opportunities for the green conscious student, who is hoping to make a serious contribution. Since it deals with the sources, generation, transmission, financial aspects and applications of energy, those who study this subject can contribute greatly in the area of ecological conservation and waste management.
Combining the fundamentals of engineering with ecological issues is environmental engineering. Environmental engineers do their bit for the earth by applying scientific minds to environmental problems and devising machines and tools to deal with such issues.
Similarly, environmental health and industrial hygiene specialists study the interaction of health and environment. They apply medical, chemical and biological knowledge to our environment and its effects on us at home, at the workplace, and elsewhere.
And More…
There are a host of other environment-related fields. you can choose from areas of study like eco-toxicology, anthropology, geographic information systems, hazardous waste management, landscape architecture, plant science and soil science. And wetlands science, watershed management, natural science management, outdoor/ experiential education, social ecology, sustainable development, resource economics and wilderness science are all great fields if you’re looking for a green career.
How To Land Your Dream Green Job
Once you are clear about the field you want to enter, have studied towards that end, and have obtained the certifications you need, start focusing on how you’re going to get the job that’s perfect for you. Get a well written résumé ready, and post it online or send it to companies you’re interested in joining.
First, you’ll have to research what companies suit your criteria. Look for local openings in newspapers and online – check job postings and company profiles. You will have an added advantage if you are active and known in the green community in your area – you can make useful contacts, aside from doing something for the environment! When you get an interview, go well prepared, with facts about your field at your fingertips.
Whatever the field you choose, if you can help conserve the earth for tomorrow you will be well rewarded in your career.
