What Can I Do with an Environmental Science Degree?

Envi­ron­men­tal stud­ies are much more than sim­ply study­ing the envi­ron­ment. It also includes man­ag­ing vital nat­ur­al resources and explor­ing sus­tain­able sources of ener­gy. Those who have a pas­sion for tak­ing care of our plan­et will some­times choose envi­ron­men­tal stud­ies or envi­ron­men­tal sci­ence degree pro­grams because it pro­vides them with the skills they need to make pos­i­tive changes to the nat­ur­al world around us.

Stu­dents who have tak­en entry-lev­el jobs often choose to return to school to fur­ther their careers. In the past, hav­ing to attend school on cam­pus could cost them their job. With the intro­duc­tion of online learn­ing plat­forms, stu­dents can now opt for online degree pro­grams that offer flex­i­ble sched­ules and a lev­el of con­ve­nience that is unsur­passed. Stu­dents can con­tin­ue to sup­port their fam­i­lies and, at the same time, get the edu­ca­tion they need to apply for pro­mo­tions and posi­tions with more respon­si­bil­i­ties and high­er pay. Are you ask­ing your­self “What can i do with an envi­ron­men­tal sci­ence degree”? Keep reading.

What Is the Dif­fer­ence Between Envi­ron­men­tal Stud­ies vs Envi­ron­men­tal Science?

Envi­ron­men­tal sci­ences involve study­ing the core fun­da­men­tal sci­ences. This includes physics, math, biol­o­gy, chem­istry, earth sci­ence, atmos­pher­ic sci­ence, and geol­o­gy. Envi­ron­men­tal sci­ence is essen­tial when it comes to under­stand­ing how things with­in nature func­tion and how the envi­ron­ment is affect­ed by oth­er ele­ments in our world. This includes deter­min­ing how a car­bon foot­print is deter­mined and the effect it has on our future.

Envi­ron­men­tal stud­ies, on the oth­er hand, involve under­stand­ing social sci­ences and how they impact our nat­ur­al envi­ron­ment. Stu­dents cov­er envi­ron­men­tal issues like cli­mate change, ecol­o­gy, envi­ron­men­tal health, envi­ron­men­tal pro­tec­tion, envi­ron­men­tal edu­ca­tion, and oth­er envi­ron­men­tal prob­lems. How we use the nat­ur­al resources we have avail­able to us is part of this equa­tion. This type of degree pro­gram also involves more effi­cient ways to use our nat­ur­al resources and how to pre­vent their deple­tion. Sus­tain­able forms of ener­gy are avail­able and can be effec­tive­ly used to meet our needs.

Is a Degree in Envi­ron­men­tal Sci­ence Worth It?

The val­ue that is placed on an online envi­ron­men­tal sci­ence degree can be deter­mined by the time and mon­ey you put into earn­ing it, or, it can be deter­mined by what you do with it. When it comes to the finan­cial cost, you can make a degree more afford­able by apply­ing for schol­ar­ships and grants that can be used to cov­er the cost of your edu­ca­tion. When it comes to the time you spend, you do have options. If you choose an online envi­ron­men­tal sci­ence degree pro­gram, you can make the most of the flex­i­ble sched­ule by find­ing a job in your cho­sen career field.

One of the best ways to deter­mine the val­ue of an online envi­ron­men­tal sci­ence degree is how you use it. You get the most val­ue out of a degree that you use to make pos­i­tive, and in this instance, pow­er­ful changes in how we impact our envi­ron­ment. This can be through help­ing to cor­rect the dam­age we have already caused or work­ing to pre­vent future dam­age. Pre­vent­ing future dam­age or reduc­ing our car­bon foot­print, involves many dif­fer­ent con­cepts, includ­ing effec­tive­ly man­ag­ing our nat­ur­al resources. Man­ag­ing our sus­tain­able resources is also important.

What Indus­tries Use Envi­ron­men­tal Sci­ence Degrees?

In some way or anoth­er, almost every indus­try must deal with envi­ron­men­tal sci­ence. Dis­pos­al of waste, ener­gy usage, and the over­all oper­a­tion of the busi­ness will all have an impact on the envi­ron­ment. An envi­ron­men­tal sci­ence degree can be used to eval­u­ate a company’s abil­i­ty to main­tain ener­gy-effi­cient prac­tices. Indi­vid­u­als who take the time to earn an envi­ron­men­tal sci­ence degree may not find work in one par­tic­u­lar indus­try. Instead, they may be able to pur­sue a career as an inde­pen­dent con­sul­tant who works with com­pa­nies in many dif­fer­ent industries.

Being able to look at each company’s best prac­tices when it comes to envi­ron­men­tal man­age­ment can be extreme­ly ben­e­fi­cial. The com­pa­ny is able to refine its busi­ness prac­tices to use more effi­cient meth­ods and save mon­ey on ener­gy costs. The inde­pen­dent envi­ron­men­tal con­sul­tant is not tied down to one indus­try but instead can work with sev­er­al. This makes their job inter­est­ing and will also give them job secu­ri­ty since they will work with each com­pa­ny for short peri­ods of time.

Is an Online Envi­ron­men­tal Sci­ence Degree Just as Good as One Earned in a Classroom?

Many stu­dents are con­cerned that employ­ers may pre­fer a degree earned in a class­room is more ben­e­fi­cial than one earned online. The fact is, more employ­ers than ever before, are encour­ag­ing their employ­ees to pur­sue their degrees online. Part of the rea­son for this is that it will allow the employ­ee to remain on the job while they are tak­ing their class­es. If the stu­dent is work­ing in a field where envi­ron­men­tal sci­ence is essen­tial, this ensures the employ­er will be able to offer more respon­si­bil­i­ty to the stu­dent over time.

The fact is, uni­ver­si­ties and col­leges offer the same degree pro­grams they teach in their class­rooms to stu­dents who enroll in their online class­es. Most schools also offer the same type of resources as well. Schools have also start­ed to offer accel­er­at­ed degree pro­grams online so that stu­dents can com­plete their edu­ca­tion in a much short­er peri­od of time. In some cas­es, the time it takes to com­plete a degree pro­gram can be short­ened to 18 months to two years, depend­ing on the pro­gram the stu­dent is enrolled in.

School and Program Accreditation

Accred­i­ta­tion is extreme­ly valu­able when dis­cussing envi­ron­men­tal sci­ence degree pro­grams. It is impor­tant that stu­dents know that the degree pro­gram they choose will pro­vide them with a qual­i­ty edu­ca­tion. Accred­i­ta­tion is a way for indus­try pro­fes­sion­als to val­i­date the effec­tive­ness of either the school or the degree pro­gram in ques­tion. Ensur­ing that a school or degree pro­gram offers the most accu­rate infor­ma­tion pos­si­ble is essen­tial if stu­dents can expect to succeed.

There are two types of accred­i­ta­tion. Region­al accred­i­ta­tion is giv­en to schools that meet strict require­ments. Spe­cial­ized accred­i­ta­tion is used to eval­u­ate degree pro­grams. Nei­ther type of accred­i­ta­tion is per­ma­nent. They both must be reviewed fol­low­ing a strict renew­al sched­ule that is used to main­tain the integri­ty of the review process and ensure schools and pro­grams are con­sis­tent­ly in compliance.

What is Region­al Accreditation?

Region­al accred­i­ta­tion is what is giv­en to col­leges and uni­ver­si­ties that are able to prove they meet the stan­dards of edu­ca­tion that are required by each indus­try. Every indus­try has spe­cif­ic stan­dards that must be met by schools of high­er learn­ing if they are to achieve accred­it­ed sta­tus. In order to be accred­it­ed, schools must per­form a self-eval­u­a­tion to deter­mine whether or not they are eli­gi­ble for the award. Receiv­ing accred­it­ed sta­tus is an ongo­ing process and must be renewed reg­u­lar­ly. An accred­it­ed online envi­ron­men­tal sci­ence degree is able to pro­vide you with the high­est qual­i­ty edu­ca­tion possible.

What is Spe­cial­ized Accreditation?

Spe­cial­ized accred­i­ta­tion is what is giv­en to degree pro­grams that ful­fill all of the edu­ca­tion­al require­ments an indus­try has in place for grad­u­ates who earn their degrees. Much like region­al accred­i­ta­tion, spe­cial­ized accred­i­ta­tion ensures that a stu­dent receives the qual­i­ty edu­ca­tion that is required for them to suc­ceed. Spe­cial­ized accred­i­ta­tion must be renewed peri­od­i­cal­ly so that it isn’t allowed to lapse. Envi­ron­men­tal sci­ence degree pro­grams that have earned accred­it­ed sta­tus offer stu­dents the best chance at earn­ing the high­est pay and receiv­ing the best oppor­tu­ni­ties for advancement.

What Are the Best Col­leges for Envi­ron­men­tal Sci­ence Degrees?

The best col­leges for envi­ron­men­tal sci­ence degrees are those that pro­vide you with the tools you will need to be suc­cess­ful. This will mean dif­fer­ent things to dif­fer­ent stu­dents. Many peo­ple believe that the best schools and degree pro­grams are those that have earned accred­it­ed sta­tus. That is true in many sit­u­a­tions, but it is impor­tant to remem­ber that there are many envi­ron­men­tal sci­ence degree pro­grams that are not accred­it­ed but are still capa­ble of pro­vid­ing the lev­el of edu­ca­tion that will guar­an­tee your suc­cess. If you have ques­tions about accred­i­ta­tion, your aca­d­e­m­ic advi­sor can pro­vide you with the answers you need.

Do Employ­ers Look for Stu­dents with an Accred­it­ed Online Envi­ron­men­tal Sci­ence Degree?

While it’s true that employ­ers look for stu­dents who have earned an accred­it­ed envi­ron­men­tal sci­ence degree, they also know that each stu­dent has the abil­i­ty to make the most of their edu­ca­tion, accred­it­ed or not. An accred­it­ed online envi­ron­men­tal sci­ence degree gives stu­dents the advan­tage they need to suc­ceed. Employ­ers real­ize, how­ev­er, that it’s the student’s dri­ve and ambi­tion that will push them past the lim­its of their edu­ca­tion and allow them to begin work­ing on their careers.

Types of Environmental Science Degrees

There are many types of envi­ron­men­tal sci­ence degrees. Earn­ing a Bachelor’s degree is one of the best ways to kick off a career in the envi­ron­men­tal sci­ence field. There are many schools that have done away with the tra­di­tion­al Associate’s degree, com­bin­ing the basic cours­es with those includ­ed in the online Envi­ron­men­tal Sci­ence Bachelor’s degree pro­grams. This gives stu­dents the same basic edu­ca­tion in a much short­er peri­od of time, allow­ing them to build their careers and gain expe­ri­ence. An online degree makes it eas­i­er for the stu­dent to move for­ward due to the incred­i­bly flex­i­ble sched­ule and easy-to-use online learn­ing platform.

What Can I Do with a Bachelor’s Degree in Envi­ron­men­tal Studies?

There are sev­er­al career options for grad­u­ates who have earned a Bachelor’s degree in envi­ron­men­tal stud­ies online. Envi­ron­men­tal sci­en­tist, geo­sci­en­tist, con­ser­va­tion offi­cer, and an envi­ron­men­tal engi­neer are all pos­si­ble career options. Stu­dents who are inter­est­ed in work­ing with the envi­ron­ment can start by find­ing employ­ment in areas like the Depart­ment of Nat­ur­al Resources or a recy­cling plant. Work­ing in an envi­ron­men­tal field gives you a head­start on your edu­ca­tion and allows you to explore the many dif­fer­ent career options you have avail­able to you.

What Is the Dif­fer­ence Between a BA and a BS Degree?

A Bach­e­lor of the Arts (BA) is actu­al­ly quite dif­fer­ent than a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence (BS) degree. A Bach­e­lor of the Arts degree focus­es on the phi­los­o­phy and the human­i­tar­i­an aspect of an envi­ron­men­tal sci­ence degree. This means study­ing why humans do what they do when it comes to the envi­ron­ment. Becom­ing a “throw­away” soci­ety where every­thing is eas­i­ly replace­able has had a dev­as­tat­ing impact on the envi­ron­ment. With a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence degree, the edu­ca­tion­al focus falls on the core class­es that are used to lay an edu­ca­tion­al foun­da­tion. Biol­o­gy, math, sci­ence, and Eng­lish are just a few of the most common.

What Spe­cial­iza­tions Are Avail­able in an Envi­ron­men­tal Stud­ies Degree Program?

There are many spe­cial­iza­tions that envi­ron­men­tal sci­ence majors can choose from. An envi­ron­men­tal sci­en­tist or engi­neer works to main­tain the envi­ron­ment in its most nat­ur­al state. This can mean help­ing a com­pa­ny find the safest, most envi­ron­men­tal­ly-friend­ly way for a com­pa­ny to com­plete a project or repair dam­age it may have caused the envi­ron­ment over time. Envi­ron­men­tal man­agers are able to research and main­tain sus­tain­able forms of ener­gy and, in turn, mak­ing those forms of ener­gy eas­i­ly acces­si­ble to con­sumers. Con­ser­va­tion offi­cers also involve an envi­ron­men­tal spe­cial­iza­tion. Con­ser­va­tion offi­cers work to pro­tect the envi­ron­ment, mak­ing it pos­si­ble for res­i­dents to explore nature and still keep it as pris­tine as pos­si­ble. Many stu­dents in envi­ron­men­tal sci­ence pro­grams will take on intern­ships to get in the door of envi­ron­men­tal sci­ence jobs. While you may learn to con­duct research in your pro­gram, intern­ships help you prac­tice the com­mu­ni­ca­tion skills and oth­er soft skills you’ll need in the workplace.

Certifications and Licenses

You don’t nec­es­sar­i­ly have to get a master’s degree to get high­er jobs and pay. Cer­ti­fi­ca­tions and licens­es are good ways to val­i­date your expe­ri­ence in your gen­er­al area of exper­tise. When a per­son com­pletes their edu­ca­tion, they have their degree to rely on. Indi­vid­u­als who have worked in the envi­ron­men­tal indus­try for many years will only have their expe­ri­ence and the skills they earned while on the job. They can take the knowl­edge they have gained through expe­ri­ence and com­plete a cer­ti­fi­ca­tion course that will give them the cre­den­tials they need to apply for advanced posi­tions with­in their com­pa­ny. A cer­ti­fi­ca­tion pro­gram is also ben­e­fi­cial if the per­son is between degree pro­grams and wants to update their skills. Licens­es give an employ­ee the val­i­da­tion they may need to get an insur­ance bond.

What Can I Do with an Environmental Science Certificate?

An envi­ron­men­tal sci­ence cer­tifi­cate will val­i­date the years of expe­ri­ence you have earned while being on the job. Cer­ti­fi­ca­tion pro­grams can be com­plet­ed in six months to a year, depend­ing on the school and how advanced the cur­ricu­lum is. An envi­ron­men­tal sci­ence cer­tifi­cate is the best way to, not only val­i­date, the skills you already have or upgrade them, allow­ing you to take advan­tage of all the lat­est pos­si­ble infor­ma­tion. With an envi­ron­men­tal sci­ence degree, you can advance your career at your own pace and take advan­tage of any new oppor­tu­ni­ty that comes your way. With the right cer­ti­fi­ca­tion, you can advance your edu­ca­tion as well as your career.

Are There Dif­fer­ent Types of Envi­ron­men­tal Sci­ence Certifications?

There are many dif­fer­ent types of envi­ron­men­tal sci­ence cer­ti­fi­ca­tions that will allow a stu­dent to per­form in a vari­ety of capac­i­ties. Envi­ron­men­tal man­agers and com­pli­ance offi­cers work to effec­tive­ly man­age and reg­u­late the use of valu­able nat­ur­al resources. ISO and EMAS cer­ti­fi­ca­tions are also options that will allow you to expand on your career and start explor­ing new oppor­tu­ni­ties. Car­bon Trust Stan­dards and For­est Stew­ard­ship are great options for stu­dents who want to help pro­tect the envi­ron­ment and teach oth­ers what can be done to pre­vent future types of damage.

Careers in Environmental Science

So what can you do with an envi­ron­men­tal sci­ence degree? Careers in envi­ron­men­tal sci­ence can be extreme­ly lucra­tive. Depend­ing on what type of career you choose, you can work to main­tain the envi­ron­ment, pro­tect it from abuse, explore new types of sus­tain­able ener­gy and even look for ways to make bet­ter use of the nat­ur­al resources we so often take advan­tage of. A career in envi­ron­men­tal sci­ence is a great way for indi­vid­u­als to be able to work out in nature and explore their world at the same time. Envi­ron­men­tal engi­neers can find work in many dif­fer­ent indus­tries and will even allow grad­u­ates to become inde­pen­dent con­sul­tants, set­ting their own hours.

Experts in envi­ron­men­tal stud­ies work in career paths like envi­ron­men­tal law and envi­ron­men­tal pol­i­cy, and work in places like the fed­er­al gov­ern­ment, state gov­ern­ment agen­cies, non­prof­it orga­ni­za­tions, the pri­vate sec­tor, and more. Agen­cies include the Envi­ron­men­tal Pro­tec­tion Agency. They work on projects like pro­tect­ing habi­tats, forestry, nat­ur­al resource man­age­ment, water resources, waste man­age­ment, and ecosys­tem pro­tec­tion. An envi­ron­men­tal lawyer works to influ­ence pol­i­cy­mak­ers and Through the use of envi­ron­men­tal stud­ies, we can begin to under­stand how to pro­tect our plan­et by chang­ing our own habits.

Envi­ron­men­tal sci­ence careers include pub­lic health, ecol­o­gist, mete­o­rol­o­gist, and more. They may con­duct envi­ron­men­tal research on air qual­i­ty, water quality,

What Jobs Are Avail­able with an Envi­ron­men­tal Sci­ence Degree?

If you’re won­der­ing what to do with an envi­ron­men­tal sci­ence degree, you can apply for many dif­fer­ent jobs with an envi­ron­men­tal sci­ence degree. Envi­ron­men­tal man­age­ment, envi­ron­men­tal sci­en­tists, and geo­sci­en­tists are all pos­si­ble options for envi­ron­men­tal sci­ence bach­e­lor degree jobs. This type of degree gives you the infor­ma­tion and skills you need to work as a con­sul­tant, help­ing all types of indus­tries live in har­mo­ny with the world around them. Earn­ing an envi­ron­men­tal sci­ence degree also offers the man­age­r­i­al skills that are need­ed for nat­ur­al park man­agers and con­ser­va­tion offi­cers to effec­tive­ly man­age and care for the lands they are respon­si­ble for.

What Jobs Can I Get with a Cer­tifi­cate in Envi­ron­men­tal Science?

A cer­tifi­cate in envi­ron­men­tal sci­ence can accom­plish sev­er­al things. For some­one who is work­ing in an entry-lev­el posi­tion with­in a nat­ur­al park or state recre­ation­al area, earn­ing a cer­tifi­cate in envi­ron­men­tal sci­ence is the best way to move up to the next step. The cer­tifi­cate will help you build on the skills you learn while work­ing. Cer­ti­fi­ca­tions are also avail­able for indi­vid­u­als who want to work as an EMA or an envi­ron­men­tal safe­ty com­pli­ance offi­cer. The job oppor­tu­ni­ties are only lim­it­ed by the bound­aries you set for yourself.

Environmental Science Degree Salary

The salary you earn as an envi­ron­men­tal pro­fes­sion­al can range great­ly depend­ing on your skills, edu­ca­tion, and the extent of your edu­ca­tion. Skills can be earned in many ways. Stu­dents who are enrolled in online class­es may be able to take advan­tage of men­tor­ship oppor­tu­ni­ties that come avail­able at state parks or nation­al recre­ation­al areas. The more expe­ri­ence you have, the high­er your bach­e­lors in envi­ron­men­tal sci­ence salary.

The fact that an envi­ron­men­tal sci­ence degree can be used in many ways ensures that you will be able to pur­sue your choice of career. You can find work in nation­al parks, large cor­po­ra­tions, or as an inde­pen­dent con­sul­tant who helps com­pa­nies min­i­mize their car­bon foot­print and run their busi­ness more efficiently.

What Is the Aver­age Salary for an Envi­ron­men­tal Sci­ence Degree Graduate?

Grad­u­ates who have earned an envi­ron­men­tal sci­ence degree can expect to earn around $75,000 per year on aver­age, accord­ing to the Bureau of Labor Sta­tis­tics. Indi­vid­u­als with lit­tle expe­ri­ence or who are just start­ing school can start out mak­ing $35,000 to $40,000 per year. Grad­u­ates who have both the edu­ca­tion as well as the much-need­ed expe­ri­ence can make close to $80,000 or more each year on aver­age. Envi­ron­men­tal man­agers will make more when they are able to assist with improv­ing sus­tain­able ener­gy sources. It is up to you to take advan­tage of every pos­si­ble opportunity.

How Can I Boost My Earn­ing Potential?

The best way for you to boost your earn­ing poten­tial is to first find a job in your cho­sen career field. The next step, as you start to gain expe­ri­ence, is to enroll in a cer­ti­fi­ca­tion or envi­ron­men­tal sci­ence degree pro­gram that will pro­vide you with the train­ing and skills you need to over­come obsta­cles and move your career for­ward. Once you have the expe­ri­ence and the edu­ca­tion, then it’s up to you to start pur­su­ing the oppor­tu­ni­ties that come your way. Many of these oppor­tu­ni­ties may be from with­in your own com­pa­ny. Oth­ers may be from oth­er com­pa­nies that have heard about the work you do. Either way, it is up to you to pur­sue each opportunity.

Professional Organizations

Grad­u­ates with a degree in envi­ron­men­tal sci­ence can find sup­port in many orga­ni­za­tions that are ded­i­cat­ed to careers in the envi­ron­men­tal sci­ence field.

The Asso­ci­a­tion for Envi­ron­men­tal Professionals

The Asso­ci­a­tion for Envi­ron­men­tal Pro­fes­sion­als offers grad­u­ates an oppor­tu­ni­ty to work along­side oth­er envi­ron­men­tal pro­fes­sion­als. They have access to advice and valu­able resources they can rely on when they face dif­fi­cult sit­u­a­tions. Belong­ing to this asso­ci­a­tion is a great way to look for new chal­lenges and over­come obsta­cles you may run into.

Eco­log­i­cal Soci­ety of America

The Eco­log­i­cal Soci­ety of Amer­i­ca is com­mit­ted to work­ing with envi­ron­men­tal pro­fes­sion­als who are work­ing for the bet­ter­ment of the plant. Find­ing eco­log­i­cal bal­ance is the pri­ma­ry goal of this orga­ni­za­tion and the many pro­fes­sion­als they work with.

Soci­ety for Con­ser­va­tion Biology

The Soci­ety for Con­ser­va­tion Biol­o­gy brings togeth­er expe­ri­enced pro­fes­sion­als and recent grad­u­ates who can learn from one anoth­er on many dif­fer­ent top­ics. In the study of biol­o­gy, under­stand­ing how things with­in the envi­ron­ment work. Soci­ety encour­ages every­one to work togeth­er to bring about a health­i­er, much more eco-friend­ly environment.

Relat­ed Rankings:

25 Best Bach­e­lor’s in Envi­ron­men­tal Science

15 Best Online Bach­e­lor’s in Envi­ron­men­tal Science

10 Fastest Online Bach­e­lor’s in Envi­ron­men­tal Science

10 Most Afford­able Bach­e­lor’s in Envi­ron­men­tal Science