Photo: ENERGY.GOV (Public domain)
Job description
A given project might mean designing a water treatment system, assessing how a proposed land-use project would affect air, water, or soil, or advising a company or government agency on how to clean up a contaminated site safely. Environmental engineers rarely work alone, typically collaborating with environmental scientists, planners, hazardous waste technicians, and legal or business specialists to address problems that cross disciplines. Much of the job also involves setting project objectives, reporting progress to management, and monitoring how well an environmental improvement program is actually performing over time. The work is desk-based and team-oriented, with a bachelor's degree the standard entry point and pay ranging from about $70,000 to over $162,000.
Pros
- Solid pay ceiling near $162k with faster than average growth (3.9%)
- Meaningful environmental impact designing pollution control and remediation systems
- Collaborative, cross-disciplinary work with scientists, planners, and legal experts
Cons
- Only about 3,000 jobs nationwide, a relatively small, specialized field
- Above-average hours on top of regular time pressure to hit project milestones
- Advising on contaminated site cleanup carries real responsibility for public and environmental safety
A typical day
Morning starts with design review: sizing a stormwater treatment system for a new development, checking the calculations against state discharge rules. At mid-morning the engineer joins a site visit to a remediation project, watching soil borings come up and adjusting the cleanup plan as the contamination map sharpens. The afternoon is split between modeling — running a groundwater transport simulation — and a call with regulators about permit conditions. The day ends reviewing a junior engineer's wetland impact calculations, because the stamped drawings that leave this office carry legal weight.
Tasks at the job
- Design, or supervise the design of, systems, processes, or equipment for control, management, or remediation of water, air, or soil quality.
- Assess the existing or potential environmental impact of land use projects on air, water, or land.
- Collaborate with environmental scientists, planners, hazardous waste technicians, engineers, experts in law or business, or other specialists to address environmental problems.
- Advise corporations or government agencies of procedures to follow in cleaning up contaminated sites to protect people and the environment.
- Develop proposed project objectives and targets and report to management on progress in attaining them.
- Monitor progress of environmental improvement programs.
Workplace & working conditions
Work happens indoors in a climate-controlled setting, and most of the day is spent sitting at a desk.
There's a regular, moderate amount of time pressure. Almost all of the work is done as part of a team.
Education necessary or common
Bachelor's degree
Common college majors
Licenses & certifications
- FE exam at graduation
- PE license (essential in consulting)
- HAZWOPER 40-hour for remediation work
Career path
Related fields
Courses to take
- AP Chemistry — water and soil treatment is applied chemistry
- AP Calculus BC — the engineering math sequence starts here
- AP Environmental Science — the problem space itself
- AP Biology — treatment systems often work through living processes
- AP Physics — fluid mechanics underpins water and air work
Clubs, activities & competitions
- Envirothon — the environmental competition with real field skills
- Science Olympiad — water quality and engineering events
- FIRST Robotics or TSA — engineering process practice
- A watershed or conservation volunteer group
First steps you can take now
- Test water quality in a local stream with a kit and write up the results properly
- Tour your city's wastewater treatment plant — most offer them and it is genuinely fascinating
- Interview an environmental engineer at a consulting firm or utility
- Enter a science fair project on water filtration or soil contamination
