Jobs and Graduate School with the Baccalaureate Degree in Environmental Science

The baccalaureate degree prepares graduates to seek entry-level employment in the diverse and vigorous environmental job market or to advance to graduate or professional school. Since Earth Day in 1970, environmental technology has become one of the largest sectors of the U.S. economy. Government policies have yielded cleaner air and water. Industry has adopted new technologies that have added to the bottom line, generated or saved jobs, and greatly improved the environment.

The environmental management industry in 1996 employed more than 1.3 million Americans in more than 110,000 organizations and generated export revenues of more than $16 billion. The industry's 1994 revenues of $172 billion compare favorably with 1994 revenues in such industries as paper and allied products ($144 billion), petroleum refining ($128 billion), and aerospace ($105 billion), and were nearly as large as motor vehicles and car bodies ($198 billion). Employment in the industry in 1994 was larger than in chemicals and allied products (824,000), paper and allied products (621,000), aerospace (535,000), and motor vehicles and car bodies (234,000).

The environmental-protection business driven by government regulations (pollution control, waste management, and remediation) is maturing, growth rates having declined from 10-15% per year during 1985 to 1990 to slower growth (1-5% per year) from 1991 to 1996. New demand and faster job growth now relates to resource productivity and environmental improvements that enhance competitive advantage. Thus, the industry is shifting focus from customers who merely seek regulatory compliance to those seeking to reduce waste or generate less pollution and those seeking to integrate environmental management into their overall business strategy, by adopting processes and designs that are economically and environmentally advantageous. This process of inventing solutions that turn costs into productive investments is a major new challenge and opportunity, expected to result in profound shifts in productivity and technology. Exports to overseas environmental markets, both sophisticated technologies to industrialized nations and basic environmental infrastructure to developing nations, are growing much more rapidly than domestic markets. In addition to the environmental protection and cleanup business, a substantial job market (not included in the statistics in the preceding paragraph) occurs related to land and water use and management, endangered species, and urban and regional planning. Many businesses do work all the above areas.

Employment History of SNRE Graduates with the Baccalaureate Degree

About 35% of our graduates go on to graduate or professional school, either immediately or within a year of two of graduation. Generally these individuals seek to develop mastery in environmental science, environmental law, or a related discipline, or they intend to enter the job market at a level that maximizes income and leads to a policy or management role with the employer.

The single biggest employer of our baccalaureate students is government agencies, which hire about 25% of our graduates. These are usually city or county environmental offices, and, less often, state offices or the regional water management districts. Most state and federal agencies prefer to hire at the master's or doctoral levels.

The second biggest employer of our baccalaureate students is environmental consulting companies, which hire about 15% of our graduates. These are companies looking for entry-level employees who typically start by doing Phase I environmental audits, working in teams under supervision, learning the style and repertoire of work of the company. Then they take on new tasks, such as wetlands delineation and eventually become team leaders and then move on to positions of greater responsibility. Some environmental consulting companies really value our graduates because the degree program is unusually comprehensive, and these companies come back to us repeatedly as new positions open up. There are other environmental consulting companies, however, that want employees who are licensable as professional engineers or professional geologists, and these companies are not interested in hiring our graduates.

Small numbers of our graduates have gone to work for a wide array of other types of employers, including environmental education centers, non-government organizations, and corporate environmental offices. Every year a few join the Peace Corps or military service. And every year some go to work for employers not in an environmental field.

A salary survey across 12 universities including UF provides information on recent starting salaries in environmental science. The job titles "government" and "environmental technician" appear to be equivalent to positions commonly taken by our graduates.

Job & Internship Listings in the School Office

As a service to our students, the School subscribes to the biweekly Environmental Career Opportunities news service for entry-level and advanced job-seekers. One copy of the list of current vacancies is available in the School office for your examination. Our students may request the username and password from the School advisor to access the current list of job openings on the internet.

Entry-level Employment. Appropriate job titles recently advertised include:

Advanced Study. Appropriate programs at the University of Florida include:

Professional degree programs

Job Sources