Environmental Engineers

A good way to explore becoming an environmental engineer is to talk to someone in the field. Contact your local EPA office, check the Yellow Pages or the Internet for environmental consulting firms in your area, or ask a local industrial company if you can visit. The latter is not as far-fetched as you might think: Big industry has learned the value of earning positive community relations, and their outreach efforts may include having an open house for their neighbors in which one can walk through their plants, ask questions, and get a feel for what goes on there.

You cannot work as an environmental engineer without having a bachelor's degree. However, you can put yourself in situations in which you're around environmental engineers to see what they do and how they work. To do so, you may volunteer for the local chapter of a nonprofit environmental organization, do an internship with an environmental organization, or work first as an environmental technician, a job that requires less education (such as a two-year associate's degree or even a high school diploma).

Another good way to get exposure to environmental engineering is to familiarize yourself with professional journals. Journals that may be available in your library include Chemical & Engineering News (http://cen.acs.org), which regularly features articles on waste management systems, and Environmental Engineer & Scientist (https://www.aaees.org/publications).

You should also check out the American Society for Engineering Education’s precollege Web site, http://egfi-k12.org, for general information about careers in engineering, as well as answers to frequently asked questions about engineering. In addition, the society offers Engineering, Go For It!, a comprehensive career guide, at http://students.egfi-k12.org/read-the-magazine.htm. 

Check out IEEE Spark (http://spark.ieee.org), an online publication that seeks to inspire students ages 14 to 18 to explore and pursue careers in engineering, technology, and computing.