Nature of green careers

The job profiles in green careers are as diverse as the problems they address. A degree in Environment Science and Technology definitely sets the pace in building a green career. Your employer can be private consulting engineering firms, universities, private research firms, testing laboratories, government agencies at different levels, or all types of major corporations and private businesses.

Some of the careers are profiled below:

1. Environmental Scientists: As an environmental scientist one can be involved in treatment of toxic as well as non-toxic wastes as well as municipal solid waste management, air pollution management which includes modeling, forecasting, developing clean technologies for air and water pollution control, watershed management and landuse planning.

2. Environmental Engineers: Environmental engineers are involved with designing, constructing, and maintaining systems to control waste produced in urban and rural areas or by industries and developing strategies for protecting areas under environmental threat.

The buzz word today is clean technologies and this is rapidly growing sector.

3. Environmental Managers for the Industrial Sector: A growing need today is of environmental managers in industries which involves advising businesses, pressure groups and political parties on a huge range of environmental issues. These include waste disposal, managing contaminated land, creating corporate environmental strategies and the management of sensitive habitats. Environmental impact assessments and environmental auditing are two of the main tasks for which an environmental manager is employed both in the private sector and by Government monitoring bodies such as the Pollution Control Boards in every state. Large companies in sectors such as chemicals, energy production and mining need specialist managers to ensure that the organization meets its environmental obligations and adheres to rules and norms that have been developed by the Government.

This field offers an enjoyable and satisfying career with many different opportunities.

4. Environmental Consultant: Independent environmental consultants undertake environmental impact assessment, environmental audits, implement better waste management, create environmental policy and advice on ecological land management.

5. Environmental Auditors: Environmental auditing is a relatively new and fast growing area. The work maybe in waste minimization, conducting comprehensive general environmental reviews., involve looking at the management structure of organizations to make sure that the commitment, resources, training and allocation of responsibilities exists to put an environmental management system in place.

6. Natural Resource Managers If you love to work with communities, then this is the field for you. You will be involved in managing natural resources through the application of technology, policy and eliciting public participation. Your job will involve managing watersheds, afforestation, ecorestoration,

exsitu conservation programs that are increasingly implemented by both Government and NGOs.

8. Wildlife Managers: This highly enjoyable career ensures that you are applying your knowledge of wildlife and human interrelationships in nature as well as your skills in management for managing wildlife.

9. Eco - Tourism Managers: Conservation of wildlife and wildlands is now closely linked to eco-tourism another rapidly developing field.

10. Environmental Educators and Communicators: Reporting environmental issues such as people wildlife conflicts, outbreak of environment related diseases, natural disasters, nuclear tests, construction of dams are issues that are increasingly addressed by newspapers and televisions. CNN-IBN and other news channels have dedicated environmental journalists. Teaching and training at various level is another rewarding career that can be taken up.