Foo - Environmental Science B.S.?

Anyone know about these? I haven't heard of it until very recently, and I'm curious about what one does with such a degree. Environmental Science, Land Use, and such is offered at the college I am going to.

Anyone know about these? I haven't heard of it until very recently, and I'm curious about what one does with such a degree. Environmental Science, Land Use, and such is offered at the college I am going to.

A lot of the people I've known who got that degree became glorified landscapers unless they stayed on to get a Master's or more.

Isn't that a degree that's a combination of classes from the various natural science fields; kind of a 'liberal studies' degreee in that area? Not really that valuable. If you want to get into environmental remediation, I'd suggest getting a degree in civil engineering. Most environmental issues deal with cleaning up (or remediating) stuff, and that usually involves some type of infrastructure development or installation (treatment systems, ground monitoring and soil sampling, air treatment or mitigation systems, etc). Most other degreed persons get to do 'grunt' work, and they are usually managed by a Civil engineer. And the C.E.s typically make a lot more $$$ than anyone else, too.

Can't say that I know exactly what that degree is, but I can tell you the last time I worked (2008), my title was Environmental Scientist. I worked for an environmental consulting company. for the love of christ, save yourself and get a useful degree...e.g. business, engineering...whatever...go to law school. a geology degree is one of the dumbest mistakes i've made to date. ok, now that i'm done cheering everyone up, i'll go back behind my curtain now.

in terms of work....probably very little.

Get a "hard" degree such as ME, EE, or CE and work as an intern during the summers or during your Junior and/or Senior year and it will help your odds of finding a job

Anyone know about these? I haven't heard of it until very recently, and I'm curious about what one does with such a degree. Environmental Science, Land Use, and such is offered at the college I am going to.

Excellent major for a Big Ten football star recruit who is a bit short on "gray matter".

you guys all have your heads in the sand:)....I have a BS in Environmental Science and a Masters in Environmental studies. I work for a consulting firm and make good money. I work on a variety of issues from permitting support to our clients, wetland work, fisheries work and wildlife work. Great degree if you like to work out side.

OH, and I had the good paying job before the masters

Still working on putting mine to use. My college broke it up into two directions, either biological or physical systems. I went the phys systems route. A few opportunities might be at a water treatment plant, policy & planning (gov), environmental manager (ISO 14001), materials recycling facility manager (MRF), etc.
It's a rather broad field really. Certainly not as clear cut what one would do with it as compared to an accounting degree for example.

you guys all have your heads in the sand:)....I have a BS in Environmental Science and a Masters in Environmental studies. I work for a consulting firm and make good money. I work on a variety of issues from permitting support to our clients, wetland work, fisheries work and wildlife work. Great degree if you like to work out side.

Please remove the Zebra mussels from Lake Erie.:(

ya, worked a little on the zebra mussels to! Nasty little bastards

My current program is an EET(electrical engineering technology), but I haven't really taken any courses specific to it yet. Just happened to come across this, and considered it because I rather do like being outside.

Does anyone know how an environmental science BS compares to an environmental engineering BS?

My brother got an Environmental Science B.S. from Metro State of Denver. He's working in an ice lab for the federal government as an ice "curator."

Essentially, he stands around in a really cold room and cuts ice core samples.

My current program is an EET(electrical engineering technology), but I haven't really taken any courses specific to it yet. Just happened to come across this, and considered it because I rather do like being outside.

Does anyone know how an environmental science BS compares to an environmental engineering BS?

During my schooling I did several field trips. One was to a dairy farm (in Wis--go figure) of 1500 head. Many of the processes were smartly designed/laid out to not only focus on output, but on responsible handling of waste. This farm, and more like it around the nation, use the methane from anaerobic digesters that process manure to fuel generators to produce electricity that's sold back to the grid. The animal waste processed by the digester is ~99% free of pathogens. This material was dried and reused as bedding. The cows actually preferred it over traditional bedding material. This farm had a fair amount of automation and a lab for testing. The sophistication of this farm could not have been handled by someone with just a Env Sci degree, and certainly not by the farmer alone. Say what you will about factory farms but this one was impressive. My prof helped this farmer design and install much of what we saw. He got his B.S. from my college and his Eng degree at Marquette.

Another example, an area entrepreneur started a business which takes what would otherwise be waste pulp from a local paper mill, dries it into a granulated form with a biodegradable polymer used to encapsulate grass seed and fertilizer. This product soaks up and holds water right there for the seed, is less likely to blow away than traditional grass seed, and the birds won't eat it. Their facility is highly automated...again requiring someone with engineering skills to design. This product is now sold nationwide at home centers and even ChinaMart.

Please remove the Zebra mussels from Lake Erie.:(

too late

you guys all have your heads in the sand:)....I have a BS in Environmental Science and a Masters in Environmental studies. I work for a consulting firm and make good money. I work on a variety of issues from permitting support to our clients, wetland work, fisheries work and wildlife work. Great degree if you like to work out side.

:thumb:

For myself I'm the field of Environmental Science as Environmental Engineer. I work on habitat restoration for forests and coastal, water quality, and urban development.

I had to know and learn environmental science part like biology, ecology, chemistry, organic chemistry, surface water to ground water, and geology. Also I had to learn and know the engineering part of it like civil, mechanical, and structural... then apply all this together to improve life and/or solve problems. That environmental engineering in nutshell and I really enjoy the field I'm in and working with people in different field and traveling around the world and applying them to help or improve life...


Environmental Science, Environmental Studies, Environmental Engineering, and the other environmental major can be apply to any field....

Also to the OP are you attending Boulder or Mine?

Only get a "hard" degree if thats what you really want to do, otherwise you're wasting your time and money just like some lazy schmuck with an "easy" degree (god, schools should be fined for letting some of these idiots waste their money of degrees they'll never use).

I got an "easy" geography degree and make more money than all the engineers I know. Really comes down to how hard you work and what marketable skills you develop, regardless of your discipline (I basically paid for the right to say I have a college degree). Eventually, to advance you'll need to get a masters, if only to get a piece of paper with your name on it. Also note, having a masters DOES NOT mean more money. Some places will only promote you if you have a masters, were in the armed forces, or are an engineer.

And if you really want to make serious cash, get a MBA in finance. Yeah the market looks bad now, but like anything, work hard and you'll make more money than anyone on here

you guys all have your heads in the sand:)....I have a BS in Environmental Science and a Masters in Environmental studies. I work for a consulting firm and make good money. I work on a variety of issues from permitting support to our clients, wetland work, fisheries work and wildlife work. Great degree if you like to work out side.

I was going to say thsi sounds like a degree that can be radically different depending on the school in question. At some it will be a joke degree, at others a serious and possibly lucrative degree.

Where I went to undergrad it turns out PE was a serious degree. But it also was not an easy degree, it had a couple of classes that were ball busters.

http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos311.htm for the full info on this degree & its uses

Excellent major for a Big Ten football star recruit who is a bit short on "gray matter".

Would be expecting a bit much with the SEC, or Big 12 bound lad. :p :D

...And if you really want to make serious cash, in an "offer no value added", "suck life out of viable companies" kind of way, get a MBA in finance. Yeah the market looks bad now, but like anything, work hard and you'll make more money than anyone on here

fify :D :p

a geology degree is one of the dumbest mistakes i've made to date.

I got a BS geology degree in 2009, as a very non-trad student. I'm currently working for an archaeological consulting company. I have been working with the Holocene deposits at arch. sites and I have started working with lithic materials. As a student I worked a summer with the Colorado Geological Survey as an assistant field mapper.

My SO, BS geology 2006, will be doing his third summer for the CGS field mapping.

We both have a minor in GIS and that is very useful for field work and mapping. I was a student GIS intern at the BLM for a year. I'd love to work for the BLM.....

If you do any kind of earth science, make sure you know some GIS. Everyone uses it.

How many of these government enviromental jobs will still be around after this present economy?

............. looks like the government is the only one hiring!

agreed haha, but doesn't mean you won't make any money.

How many of these government enviromental jobs will still be around after this present economy?Sure why not? Federal employees earned an average of $65k. Not bad really. Except for pilots, every occupation is paid 10-20% more by the government than by private industry. And you can be certain that your paycheque won't bounce, ever. They'll just print more money as needed.

I was going for a 6 yea envinronmental enginn dual degree. I would have gone home with an environmental science and a mechanical degree degree with a minor in comp sci.

I was going to use it for government work, either advance fire safety or ranger work. most of the jobs you can get with something like that, are extremely quiet.