Environmental engineers help find ways to conserve and protect the environment.
Environmental engineers apply engineering principles to environmental issues. They also draw from the physical and biological sciences as well as chemistry to work on projects as varied as building treatment facilities, preparing environmental impact reports for developers or working to mitigate air pollution. Environmental engineers may also design buildings or other public works that will support and sustain the surrounding environment.
General Tasks
Entry-level environmental engineers may have undergraduate degrees in any of the engineering disciplines. Some may even have degrees in chemistry, biology or physics. Employers expect their new hires to be self-motivated and able to assist with basic environmental engineering projects. These projects may include remedial designs, feasibility studies, environmental field studies and hazardous waste site sampling and investigations. Entry-level environmental engineers may document research findings, and prepare technical reports. Entry-level environmental engineers play a supporting role to senior engineers and report to managers.
Function
Environmental engineers conduct environmental assessments that may lead to solutions to environmental problems; they may design new engineering tools and may even get a chance to take part in public policy discussions. Environmental engineers can work in a variety of surroundings such as urban offices in which they work on city development projects or environmental policy issues, or they may work in the field testing new equipment.
Types
Beginning environmental engineers may find jobs in specific regions of the world where they concentrate on developing environmental solutions specific to an area that may have experienced deforestation, acid rain or industrial pollution. Environmental engineers may work on preserving the environment by developing buildings or parks that respect environmental regulations. Some environmental engineers expand their knowledge and marketability in the field by obtaining law degrees so that they can specifically work on public policy issues and effecting change at the local, state or even national level.
Considerations
People may pursue degrees in environmental engineering because they want to directly participate in improving the environment by developing designs and tools that aim to preserve habitats. Environmental engineers have the opportunity to help people effectively use natural resources as well as balancing the needs of people and animals in a given area.
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