r/Environmental_Careers

I am at my wits' end trying to land a job in my field; I think I have to pivot or sink.

I thought I did everything right, but it just doesn't seem to matter. I graduated in '24 with an ES degree from a notable school in the US. My major focused on Hydrogeology, with a strong unit load of GIS to back up my skill set for the modern field. I was able to land an incredible internship where I worked alongside incredible folks who really cared about my growth.

I got a year and a half of Hydrology and GIS experience, and it was cloud 9. I felt supported, learned a TON, and loved the mission. Eventually, due to health insurance concerns, I started looking for FT roles, and I eventually made it to the final stage as an entry-level Hydrologist with Jacobs. Unfortunately, a week after a verbal offer, I was informed that the role was canceled due to federal grants being pulled last minute, and I was devastated. Eventually, I was offered a role as an EHS person and took it for more stability.

I quickly learned that the role was way more H&S than ES, and it was hands down the antithesis of what I want to do with my life. The work was thankless, the department was understaffed, and I became a desk jockey doing boring work. Additionally, corporations simply do not give a singular shit about EH&S, and without any state or federal regulations, would gladly dump waste and let workers work in unsafe conditions. I was constantly sidetracked by bureaucratic nonsense that would inhibit me from doing a job well done (I.E being asked to yeet haz waste into the regular bin to save money on the monthly disposal bill. I staunchly refused lol). I worked my entire ass off for 9 months until I was laid off within the year. A classic last-on, first-to-go scenario paired with internal corporate instability and the replaceable nature of EH&S. I was crushed, but by that time I was also mentally and physically exhausted, so it may have been for the better.

Anyways, here I am 3 months later desperately trying to get my foot in the door for positions paying up to 60% less. I've applied like crazy and even interviewed for quite a few positions; however, I just can't seem to land a spot. I can't compete with the advanced degrees and laid-off federal workers that are applying to entry/mid level work. The caveat is that EH&S role recruiters keep finding me, but I simply have no interest in a field that performs no actual science.

I've reached out to prior co-workers and my old mentors at my internship, and the most common piece of advice is to go back to school, paired with "it's tough out there" platitudes. I just can't justify or afford going back to school for something I can't even land a job in.

I'm deeply regretting this field and considering going back to school in the medical field as an RN or Medic (former 911 EMT).

I'm tired.

(TL;DR: Regret ES, cant find a job in my field, can't fathom going back to school for the subject, EH&S is soul crushing work)

I am a pre-nursing student who is passionate about healthcare and people, but I am also passionate about helping the planet. Part of me really wants to switch to environmental science/conservation and have a career in the outdoors, but I still want to be a nurse. Is there any way I can combine both fields? Thank you.

I just finished an interview and was asked what salary I would expect. It was with an environmental consultant. So I told the hiring manager my direct experience...that I've only worked for state environmental agencies (except for one stint as a consultant). I told them I took a pay raise to go from the agency to the consulting firm, and then a salary loss going back to the state agency. I told him I would be looking to earn a higher salary again if I went back into consulting. But I didn't provide a number because honestly I could not think of one. What advice do you all have on this? I have 10-12 years of experience.

I recently changed my major and I have to take 2 out of these 3 science classes ,Physics,Biology or Geology. I'm not taking physics. So I just want to know

This situation is utter misery and I'm so full of shame about it. Just really desperate for feedback of any kind.

I'm 4 months into a 6 month term, one step above entry level, on a small field team at a very small organization. Worked a partial season with them last year, and would have had option of returning next year.

I'm not going to do that, because one of my coworkers is a total psycho. We were hired at the same time, same level of the totem pole. He outperforms me in a lot of ways, and everyone loves him... And he negs me covertly. Very covertly, but very noticeable. The most frequent subject is a medical issue I have, technically a disability. He's made straight up derogatory comments about it on several occasions, mentions it as often as possible, and is absolutely fixated on bringing up the thing this medical condition prevents me from doing. Sometimes it's multiple times a day, every day. He manages to bring this thing up "organically", like "hey I just noticed that __ is ___" or "oooh what's that, is it ___?" But he has told me *to my face* that he brings this thing up all the time because of my medical condition. As if it wasn't obvious.

It's a big, scattered pattern of domineering, sidelining, disguised negativity, name-calling under the cover of jokes (but when you know the way this guy is about my medical condition, it's obviously just name-calling: slow, clumsy, destructive, tired, crazy). And he's just completely nuts in all the usual ways. He talks about stealing from and lying to past coworkers until they "felt like they were going insane". I swear to god he tried to actually gaslight me once. He's talked about "having a sadistic side". He lies about irrelevant stuff, goes from 0 to 100 with oversharing and trauma dumping, has flown off the handle a few times when he wasn't the best at something. Talks like a child. The whole kit and caboodle.

One of our lower-level interns has also recently started making odd comments about my disability and the thing it pertains to. The two of them hang out irl. She'd laughed along with a few of his worst comments about my disability in the past.... I really do think she's joining in with him.

I documented the worst of the behavior, especially the stuff related to the disability since it's the most obvious and frequent, and brought my concerns to my boss a month and a half ago. Didn't discuss the intern, just the main guy. Boss was initially supportive in our meeting, verbally agreed with me that the behavior was out of line, said he'd talk to my coworker the next day.

My boss did not speak to my coworker, and he didn't follow up with me whatsoever (i.e. to say whether he had or hadn't met with him, what he thinks of the situation, what he thinks I should do, anything). I recently found out from another coworker that the conversation still hadn't happened a month after I'd met with him.

Everyone loves this guy, my boss adores this guy. He's a ball of sunshine when he's feeding off others' misery. I'm a nervous wreck. Who would you rather work with? I know I've utterly failed to navigate this. And now that I know I'm not supported, I feel like I'm unraveling. My boss caught me crying last week, said again that he'd talk to the guy, and implied that I was just ~tuckered out~ from the field....

I've only been job searching for a couple weeks, no applications sent. I can coast on savings for a while if need be. But I'm so afraid of the consequences of leaving mid-season after all of this. This is not a job I'd want to leave off my resume; it was my first relevant position since getting my MS at the end of 2024.... I have never left a job on terms this bad. I have no idea if I'm going to be able to retain a letter of rec from this place. Just feel like a total failure, pushover, shambolic mess. But I'm desperate to get the fuck out of here. WWYD

I graduated with my Master's in Ecosystem Sciences two years ago and have been applying to a variety of jobs. I work in retail now. I volunteer with a couple environmental organizations, apply on conservation job board and texas a&m, make art, eat a lot of dried peas.

I am dreaming about...

...switching my current entry level job for entry level job that is vaguely related to my future career--like landscaping or working in an aquarium?

...changing my name on the resume to my middle/mother's maiden name so I sound less French? (3rd generation I'm normal.)

...Not mentioning I grew up on a farm? Because it makes me sound poor, which I am?

...Pursuing another fun sounding job and giving up on environmental work?

I don't knowwww. I just saw another job come up on Indeed that I applied for last week. And my rent is my whole paycheck. And my well-meaning customers always bring up if I have graduated and what I want to do. And demoralizing to sell products all day you can't afford to the same retail friendly songs you heard at work when you were 15. Like my whole life has been retail and fast food so I could have a degree and now that I do it is STILL retail (at least not Wendy's anymore).

Wait one final complaint. Career counselors have been so bad to me. Okay that's all.

For context, I live in western Washington and graduated in 2023, and had a few jobs in the environmental science field here and there. They were either terrible due to the people I worked with or seasonal jobs which were low pay/temporary.

I landed another full time job in my field and I love it so far and the people I work with are great! The pay is the most I’ve made so far in this field being $27 an hour. Job is not too intense physically like some I’ve worked prior, with extremely low pay > $20.

However, my new job requires a long commute (at least imo). I start at 6am but live 50 min away, so I have to wake up at 4:30am to make it on time. There is usually little morning traffic for me. However, on the way home it’s usually 1.5hrs. It seems like I need to refuel almost every week now, and with gas prices being higher here (WA) I am unsure how sustainable it is.

I wanted to ask if I should consider moving for this job or not. I currently live with my parents and rent is very cheap being $400. I pay other things currently like car insurance, phone bill, school tuition etc.

What would you guys do?

EDIT: I work 4x10s mon-thurs

I only recently decided I wanted to work in environmental science as I am currently taking APES in high school and I plan to major in it come college. Now my real issue is deciding what jobs are worth the study time and money to get there bc as of rn I’m so lost. Anything in general related to this field would help me sm 💔

Im 20. I haven't been to college yet, but I want to get a job in the future reversing pollution in rivers, lakes, and oceans. I've been watching American Water College on YouTube to try to get an idea of what I'll need to know. I've been studying math via American Water College YT (most of the math is calculating how to find the proper amount of chlorine, converting units, etc). Also ocean ecology, lake ecology, and river ecology. What other things should I study to get a headstart before college? If you're someone currently working in water treatment, do you have any tips or advice about the job? Thanks

*Edit: PS I'm American but I want to work outside the US so if you can recommend any resources that use metric units, I would love to see those

I am a MS Civil/Environmental Engineering student who decided to put off going into the workforce a couple of years to bolster my knowledge breadth (undergrad Chemistry BS, Biology BS). I'm now finishing up my degree and noticing there are very few, if any, entry level positions focused on ESA or remediation. Every large firm I look for will have 20-30 open positions for upper-level remediation focused positions, and 1-none for entry level positions. Smaller firms are even worse.

How am I supposed to get a foot in the field with no entry level jobs present? I specifically put off gaining industry experience in chemistry/microbiology to better my future job prospects and do something that combined my love for all areas of STEM. What sort of jobs should I be looking for? I have plenty of water quality knowledge and could pursue water/wastewater or water resources positions, but worry I will get pigeonholed and never be able to claw my way back into remediation/site assessment focused positions.

Okay. Time out!!! Let's stop with the negativity and think positive for a minute or 20. What are you okay with where you are at currently? You don't have to LOVE something to be happy.

I'm an env consultant. I dropped my kiddos off at school/daycare this morning, got to work around 9, and have a Phase I ESA to work on, among a few ongoing projects. I will say that I'm not satisfied of where I work today, but I'm absolutely thankful for not having to race to work when I know I can get my stuff done on my own timeline, while still satisfying clientele expectations. I have time to go online like so, and do my own thing. I know I can do so much more, so I am job searching. BUT, I remind myself that I have another huge role to play in life currently, and that is to raise some incredible human beings to go on and do good things in this world, too. I am okay with that right there. Life is always changing guys, and so we shall.

Insert some kind of proverbial encouragement about the environment and world and life and etc. here, and take care of your mental health.

Who is next? What are you okay with?

Hi! I (24 F) have recently been looking into applying for PhD programs and was kind of wondering if anyone had any recommendations or advice. I have my Bachelor's from Roger's State University with a 3.8 GPA and a Master's (non-thesis, but with a creative component) in Environmental Science, Professional Science Management from Oklahoma State University with a 4.0. I initially thought I just wanting to work in industry as I have been working as a consultant the past two years, but I recently starting working as an adjunct as well and really am looking towards a PhD.

I know that since I did not do a thesis I may be limited in what schools are willing to accept me, but I really want to try and see what options there are. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you! (Also quick side note, I am pretty open to moving to most locations).

I am an Environmental Engineering student in Canada with about two years left in my degree, and I have been having a bit of a career crisis lately. I would really appreciate hearing from people who have actually worked in the industry, especially anyone whose career has taken them somewhere less conventional.

I think part of my problem is that I know much more about the kind of life and work I want than the exact job title I want.

I want a career that feels big, for lack of a better word. I would love to live in different places throughout my 20s, work internationally at some point, travel for projects, spend time in the field, and work on problems that have a tangible impact on people or the environment. I do not want to spend my entire career sitting at the same desk doing similar calculations or reports every day. I don't even know if it is meaningful for me to stay in Canada and get my Peng after I graduate or maybe go work abroad.

At the same time, I genuinely like engineering and want something intellectually challenging. I want to become technically good at something and feel like I am solving difficult problems, not just doing vaguely “environmental” work.

Some areas that have caught my attention are:

• Water and wastewater, especially infrastructure in developing or underserved communities
• Humanitarian engineering and disaster response
• Environmental emergency response
• International development/infrastructure
• Sustainability work that is tied to actual projects and operations rather than primarily reporting

But again I feel like there is more out there that maybe I just don't know about. Also a big problem with these is that I feel like meaningful work never ends up paying well and I am graduating with student loans.

My experience so far has mostly been in consulting. I have worked in mechanical/building systems and sustainability, including HVAC/plumbing design, LEED, life-cycle assessment, carbon-related work, drawings, calculations, and technical documentation. I am grateful for that experience, but it has also made me realize that it is not for me at all being in a desk all day staring at a screen and I never felt that passionate about any of it.

I keep looking at all these different paths and have no idea which one actually leads to the type of career I am imagining, or whether I am romanticizing careers that do not really exist.

I would especially love to hear from anyone who travels for work, works internationally or remotely, spends significant time in the field, works on disaster/humanitarian/environmental response, or has moved between countries throughout their career.

I am also curious about how you actually get into these areas as a new graduate. Should I focus on developing a strong technical specialty first (water, remediation, mining, etc.) and then try to move internationally? Are there particular internships, certifications, graduate programs, companies, government agencies, NGOs, or early-career positions that would put me on the right trajectory?

And if you were in my position with two years left in an Environmental Engineering degree, what would you do now to start building toward this kind of career?

I know this is broad. I am just at the point where I feel like I have a lot of ambition and curiosity but no map for where to direct it. I would really appreciate hearing what careers are actually out there beyond the ones universities tend to show us.

Hey everyone. I’m working on a phase I in Indiana and I came across an interesting scenario. An adjoining upgradient property has a documented release of TCE. The RSL is 5.0 and the ISL is 7.2, but the property had a concentration of 7600 in 2010. The boring that this reading came from is 150 feet (upgradient) from my property. However, four more borings from the same year along the boundary of my property and this one showed levels of TCE below 5.0. I’ve seen some abrupt plume boundaries before, but this seems insane given the short distance and the fact that the contamination should be migrating towards my property. The regulatory body (IDEM) has issued the adjoining property an NFA provided that they follow an ERC, and has stated that they don’t expect offsite migration to be an issue due to a building being present on the adjoining property. The NFA was issued in 2010, so I think migration (especially of TCE) downgradient is likely, but a phase II could be argued as unnecessary since there have been borings between my property and the contaminated one. How would you rule this one?

Additional info: my Subject Property and the adjoins property are owned by the same person, and the two parcels were once two tracts of the same parent parcel. Initially, the ERC applied to both tracts, but the 4 borings I mentioned earlier were sufficient for IDEM to remove the ERC from my tract (eventually my parcel). So I think any pushback I give (recommending a phase 2) will be met with resistance from the current owner since IDEM has essentially cleared him. However, if I say there are no concerns and my client then tries to sell the property, and a new potential buy gets a phase II done and finds contamination, that could blame my client and site my phase I against him.

I am 36f and have made multiple posts on reddit asking about my situation, and it's clear. I fucked up too badly. The only thing I ever wanted in life was an environmental policy job and it's over for me. I'm too old and a second master's won't fix it. How do I move forward with my life?

I have been frantically posting to reddit asking for advice and the overwhelming opinion is that it is over for me.

How can I find a reason to live again? All that awaits me is being a wage slave with no time off or sick pay. I am so distressed since I got fired that I haven't been eating and have lost 10 lbs.

My life honestly feels like it is over, I see no way out of my situation. Please help me come to terms with this. It's all I cared about and I can't have it because I fucked up too badly.

Bengaluru-based IT professional, recently laid off. To clear my head, I went on a safari in Karnataka, India and honestly, the naturalist there blew my mind.

The way he understood animal behaviour, bird calls, and spotted things that were invisible to me was insane. I am now thinking if it would even be possible for me to look at this as a viable option.

Would really appreciate real-world gyaan from people in the field.

A few things I’m trying to understand:

1. Training / certification
I came across The Naturalist School in Bengaluru and Pugdungee Safariscourse for naturalists. Are these good routes to break into the field? Is it required to get a naturalist job?

2. Degree vs passion
Is a degree in Zoology / Forestry / Wildlife Biology a must? Or can someone from an IT background make the shift?

3. Pay reality
How much pay can one realistically expect? In India?

4. Actual lifestyle
I know it sounds romantic from the outside, but what’s the real scene?

Stuff like:

• long hours?
• guest handling?
• living in remote areas?
• limited connectivity?
• low starting pay?
• burnout?
• career growth?

Would love to hear from current naturalists, lodge folks, people working in Karnataka / Central India, or even ex-corporate folks who made the jump.

Any advice, reality checks, course recos would be super helpful.

Thanks in advance :)

I joined a new firm a little over 3 months ago after being overworked and underpaid at my previous job. During the interviews, the project managers wanted me to join a big project the company had been working on for a few years which involved a lot of remediation work, and some other smaller projects where I had a lot of background experience in.

My first month I barely received any work to do. The PMs did not actually contact the client about gaining permission for me to join until the third week, so I spent a lot of my time just watching training videos and sitting on my hands. Eventually I was able to be onboarded, however it the three months I’ve been around I have only done one single day in the field and that’s it, literally nothing else. I learned that apparently during the time between my interviews and me joining the firm, the PMs decided to train another employee to fill in the manpower gaps, so essentially they don’t even need me on this big project anymore.

I’ve been placed on a different project since then but it’s hardly related to my expertise and the vast majority of the work involves filling out checklists and photo logs. I know it’s very early but I feel like I’ve been wasting my time working here, and definitely feel mislead about what type of work I would be doing too. I’ve never felt the need to jump ship this early at a job but my gut is telling me that I won’t be utilized properly here. What should I do?

Hey I'm trying to get some info for my kid. They want to work as a wildlife technician or someone who restores habitats occasionally working with animals. They were wondering if environmental science provides those opportunities or if they should switch to majoring in fisheries, wildlife, and conservation. Thanks for any advice.