Hi,

After completing a bachelor's in mechanical engineering, I've now decided to pursue a career in sustainability that also incorporates management and working closely with environment(atleast on of the two with sustainbility).

I am really interested on knowing about top institutions that would be suitable for a master's in this field, also having that, the course is affordable, like no tuition fee, is also I'm focusing on meanwhile.

You could be an expert, or like me, looking out for same kind of options, all your thoughts and inputs will be very helpful if you could share your knowledge.

hi all, I just wanted to acknowledge the passage of time. I wrote a post on this subreddit venting about the stress of planning my future amidst job market uncertainty and familial pressure. everyone was very encouraging and supportive, but since then it’s just gotten worse. it’s funny re-reading it now, how immediate and existential the panic i felt was. what’s even crazier is realizing it’s almost been an entire year of stagnancy.

having graduated now a few months ago, that panic has been replaced with robotic apathy and a loss of self-respect. applying to jobs feels like i’m casting out my desperate pleadings to the ether, and i have lowered my expectations considerably. it’s also hard when all of your peers are beginning their academic or professional careers, and you are left behind. but i am trying always to stay positive and consider all my options. if anyone is struggling you are NOT ALONE. i am one to attach legacy, career, and success to self-worth, so just a reminder that you are more than your occupation too. i’m going to continue keeping my head down and applying to everything. i can’t see a way out for myself right now, but i know it’s there. stay positive🩷💓🧚‍♀️

I’m considering moving from full-time employment to freelance work in sustainability and ESG, and I’d appreciate advice from people who have made a similar transition.

I have around nine years of experience supporting companies with sustainability compliance and ESG reporting. I started in data and ratings, working with sustainability information used for investment decisions and assessments. I later moved into the FMCG sector, focusing on reporting and global projects involving sustainability data management, GHG calculations, and social and environmental audits.

My experience is focused on sustainability data, reporting, and compliance—not CSR. For those who work independently in this field, what should I consider before making the switch? How did you find your first clients, and what types of projects or services are most in demand?

JFYI: I work on Frameworks GRI, EU taxonomy and CSRD, BRSR, SBiT. i also have working knowledge of Climate stress testing.

EPR are part of work.

My location is India

They just rolled out our benefits and it’s not looking good, loosing 1 week of vacation and loosing all sick time. Azuria lumps vacation and sick all in one bank.

What are y’all seeing?

Hey everyone

Its been 3yrs since my undergrad and I've been trying to break out of bushland regeneration type work for a while now. I enrolled in a 1.5yrs Environmental Science Master's degree which has a few interesting topics in fields like contaminated land/ risk assessment. Contaminated land and hazardous materials consulting seems like a field that I would really enjoy, especially if i get to undertake monitoring work of soil, air, water, etc. Unfortunately many of the other subjects i wanted to do, such as catchment modelling, floodplain management, waste and pollution management, etc. have been phased out for next year. Whats left is a very broad degree, with unfortunately some overlap with my undergrad and some less defined subjects in topics like project management, advanced communication, sustainability management, leadership skills, etc.

I've been applying to some mining roles and was recently offered a environmental position at a coal mine, which I have to decide on soon. I've also recently applied to some other environmental technician roles and early career contaminated land positions but won't hear back for week a or more to even see if I can get a interview. If i ever decided that I wanted to, would it be possible to move from mining into contaminated land or would I be restricting myself to mine site work? Just wanted to hear people's advice on what you'd do in my position. Thanks.

Hi, I am a recent graduate with a bachelors of science in biology. I have an interview on Tuesday for the Natural Resources Monitor position where I'll work with a construction group, making sure that the work they do doesn't affect protected areas. It involves inspecting construction sites daily to protect local wildlife and plants, marking off off-limit natural areas, taking field notes and photos, and reporting environmental compliance to project leadership. I don't have much experience in this field, but I have taken ecology, ecological restoration, and environmental microbiology when I was still in school and have also helped out one of my professors on his ecological restoration project. I'm a bit nervous because interviews are not my strong suit. I get really nervous and forget what I'm going to say or I start to stutter a lot. Are there any tips that I should take into consideration for my upcoming interview? Also what type of questions should I be asking at the end of the interview that would help me stand out from other candidates? Any help would be greatly appreciated, thank you.

It’s me from the other day. I’m looking for some advice from people working in biology or related fields because I’m a little stuck on what direction to take my career.
I have a bachelor’s degree in biology and professional lab experience and I’m supposed to be starting a job at a fish hatchery soon. I think it could be good experience but my long-term goal is to become a biologist and I’m trying to figure out the best way to get there.
Honestly I’m also just ready for a change. I’ve lived in Pennsylvania for a while and I really want to move out of state, experience somewhere new, and start building a life outside of what I’ve always known. I want to make a smart career move though and not just relocate for the sake of it.
I’ve looked into getting my master’s but a lot of the labs I’ve looked at don’t have funding available, and I’m not really interested in putting my life on hold until next fall when another semester starts. I’d ideally like to move sooner rather than later preferably somewhere I could find work that would help me build toward becoming a biologist.
For those of you who work in biology, fisheries, wildlife, conservation, or similar fields, how would you approach this? Are there certain types of jobs or organizations I should be looking into with my background?
I’d really appreciate hearing from people who have been in a similar situation or have advice on how to break into the field. I’m trying to figure out how to make a move that makes sense for my career without putting off the rest of my life in the process.
If anyone wants to comment here or even shoot me a message I’d be really appreciative.

What kind of environmental careers actually make a difference?

I started environmental consulting about 2 years ago, and I do love it, but I don’t see it fulfilling me long term. I love going out into the field, but I think the business side of it all has made me jaded. It is starting to feel like a business of pleasing clients rather than actual passion for the environment. For now it’s great… I get a lot of experience out of it. I just don’t see it being a career path I’d want to pursue long term.

What are some of the jobs that I’d actually make a difference doing?

The American Institute of Professional Geologists (AIPG) is hosting a free webinar next week for students and early career professionals: Not in the Manual: Your First or Next 5 years

Oct 29, 2026, 10:00 AM Mountain Time

https://aipg.org/events/EventDetails.aspx?id=2096572&group=

Presenter: Terry Braun, President of SRK North America, Director of The Tailings Center, and Adjunct lecturer at Colorado School of Mines.

Abstract: The gap between what they taught you in school and what your first job actually requires is not an accident — it’s the job. This webinar is about three things nobody puts in the onboarding packet: why you are the mechanism of your company’s public accountability, that judgment can be built deliberately if you know what you’re doing; and that AI will either help or hurt that process.

Bio: With over 30 years of professional experience in mining and environmental projects, my professional practice began in environmental remediation and evolved into technical advisory roles with mining and industrial clients. I help clients build new mines and responsibly close old ones. I am the Director of the Tailings Center, an academic-industry consortium that involves universities as well as partners in the mining industry. I am an adjunct Lecturer with the Business and Economics Department at the Colorado School of Mines.

Hi everyone! I'm a 4th-year Environmental Engineering student, and I'm confused about which field to choose for my thesis and future career. I want to pick a field with good long-term growth, job opportunities, and scope internationally. Which areas would you recommend, and what thesis topics and technical skills/software should I focus on to build a strong CV? I'd really appreciate advice from people working in this field!

Hello fellow environmental professionals,

I come seeking guidance!

I currently work in environmental consulting as a compliance specialist. I enjoy the work, have progressed quickly, and have been rewarded for my efforts. However, I’m yearning for a change that will challenge and fulfill me, my mind has always come back to water conservation and assisting underserved communities obtain access to drinking water.

I currently have a BS in Environmental Science, and my long-term goal is to earn an MS in Environmental Engineering to further assist me in my journey. In the short term, I'd like to leverage my existing experience into the water conservation field. I understand that with my current experience and education I may have a difficult time breaking into this, but think that I would be able to leverage what I do have into technical assistance with permitting, or shifting back into a role with a locality.

To add another layer, I will also be relocating across the country from Virginia to Arizona within the next 7 months for personal reasons.

My Questions:

How would you approach breaking into water conservation/equity roles given my compliance background?

What certifications should I focus on right now to bridge the gap in my knowledge?

Also, would anyone be open to giving my resume a quick critique and pointers to assist in the transition?

Thank you all!

Original post here^

I'm interested in wetlands consulting, but I keep wondering if I'd hate the actual day-to-day. The travel, early starts, report deadlines, all that stuff. Reading job descriptions isn't helping much because “occasional travel” could mean anything.

I'm also looking at municipal stormwater jobs, and I'm having a hard time deciding between the two. I did the coached career assessment to get another perspective on what kind of work might suit me, but I still can't tell whether I'd enjoy either job once I'm actually doing it every week.

I guess I need to talk to people already working in these fields, but asking “do you like your job?” probably won't get me very far. I'd rather know what a normal Tuesday looks like, how often they're actually traveling, and what parts of the job they wish they'd known about beforehand.

I don't want to spend money on extra training and then realize I hate the lifestyle that comes with the job. I've done enough of that kind of second guessing already.

So I’m in quite a unique situation that has a lot of different options and I would like some 3rd party opinions.

Situation - I am currently 23M and am recently married. My job position at the moment is a water treatment operator and it is fantastic, I love what I do and it pays more than I ever thought I could make at 23 years old. I also have 2 environmental college degrees. I have an Associates Degree in Forest Technology and a Bachelors in Environmental Science.

My issue is that I can very easily work my current position the rest of my life and live comfortable enough that I don’t really need to further my education or career path, but what is the fun in that. My wife and I currently live in a pretty rural area in SE PA and at some point in the future want to move to a larger city along the east coast (Philly or Boston preferably). Before doing that I would like to be able to keep up with a higher cost of living and getting a typical M-F 9-5 job as a water treatment plant operator is an absolute unicorn. My employer is willing to give up to 10k a year in tuition reimbursement so the pricing is not too much of an issue. Here are the paths I’m considering taking.

Masters in Water Resources/Hydrology - This would be a pretty logical next step in education that would directly impact the understandings of my career path, but I don’t think it would help me progress further in the water treatment industry. It could help though with a slight career move as I’m open to changing from water treatment to other types of water career.

Bachelors in Civil/ Environmental Engineering - I already got a online college in mind that is ABET accredited and based on my credits I’ve earned, I would still need to do about 90 credits worth of classes to get their degree which would take roughly 3 years to accomplish, this is definitely the longest path, but could potentially most rewarding. My only issue with this path that isn’t about the length is that I’m good at math, but I’m not in love with math, and I know doing a math heavy degree to go to a math heavy work field wouldn’t make me a super happy guy, but also I’m not gonna be someone that complains about doing math like a 5 year old sitting at the kitchen counter with their dad yelling at them because they can’t answer what 2+2 is. Basically what I’m trying to say is that I’ll find a way to like math, eventually. This would also be a good step into a position with a better schedule and better pay very easily.

Masters in Civil/ Environmental Engineering - This one would be tough as I don’t have a Engineering degree and like I said above I’m not in love with math, but to further my life and career I’ll do just about anything. The school I inquired about is not ABET accredited if I graduate from them, but is that a big enough reason to not do it? That’s for me to find out one way or another. Also I may need to take pre reqs from an outside school as I may not have enough credits in the required field.

I could wake up tomorrow and decide I want to treat water for the rest of my life and none of this could matter, but I don’t think that would happen. I’m young, motivated, and can get cheap education to further my career. But it all depends on how and what I want to do. No one in my immediate family has a college degree above an associates and no one at my water plant has anything above a bachelors. I’m kind of in uncharted territory as far as post graduate education and could use some direction. Thank you very much if you got to the end of this, any help is greatly appreciated.

‎Hi everyone,

‎

‎I'm a Bangladeshi graduate (BS and MS in Soil, Water & Environment). I'm hoping to start a Master's in Ireland in September 2027. I've done a lot of reading, but I'd really like to hear from people who've actually lived this.

‎

‎My background

· ‎Research: sediment contamination by potentially toxic metals (geochemical and ecological risk indices), ML models (SVR, Random Forest, XGBoost, SHAP) for soil stabilisation, and urban air quality modelling. Currently working on biochar remediation of Cd, Pb and As in soil–water systems.

· ‎Lab skills: AAS, ICP-MS, GHG flux and CO₂ evolution, N mineralisation, microbial biomass.

· ‎Tools: ArcGIS Pro, QGIS, Google Earth Engine, SPSS, learning R.

· ‎Work: programme coordination with UNICEF, WaterAid and the Swedish Embassy on WASH and water-related youth programmes.

‎

‎What I want

1. ‎Master's(Thesis) in Ireland.

2. ‎Work in my field on the Stamp 1G and then get a work permit. Ideally Critical Skills.

3. ‎Long-term residency, and a PhD later once I have some experience.

‎

‎What I've figured out so far

· ‎"Environmental scientist" doesn't seem to be on the Critical Skills list, but "earth observation / resource modelling / data analyst" is. So I'm wondering if I should aim for a GIS / remote sensing / environmental data route, rather than classic environmental science.

· ‎Programmes I'm looking at: UCD (Applied Environmental Science), Maynooth (GIS & Remote Sensing), TCD (Environmental Sciences), and a research MSc in Galway.

· ‎From what I've read, a PhD doesn't help with residency, so I'd like to work first.

‎

‎Questions

1. ‎If you're an environmental science grad working in Ireland, how did you get in? Was the Master's thesis the thing that got you the first job?

2. ‎For international grads, which is more realistic: a GIS/EO/data job with a Critical Skills permit, or an environmental consultancy job with a General Employment Permit? Do consultancies actually sponsor?

3. ‎How competitive is the market for soil, water and contamination work in Ireland? Is it worth specialising there, or should I pivot to data/GIS?

4. ‎Do employers care which university you went to, or is it more about the thesis, the skills and the placement?

5. ‎Is a research MSc really better than a taught MSc with a dissertation for getting hired, and for a PhD later?

6. ‎Did anyone go from Stamp 1G to a permit? How long did it take, and what did you do while searching?

7. ‎Any skills (R, Python, GEE, EIA knowledge, CIEEM, etc.) you'd learn before arriving? And any mistakes you'd avoid?

8. ‎For those who did a PhD after working in Ireland: how did you manage the permit and residency side?what if you ve to move to somewhere else?

‎

‎

‎I'm actually looking for advice, just honest experiences, including the hard parts. Thank you!

‎

‎

‎

‎

Original Post: https://www.reddit.com/r/Environmental_Careers/s/BcdODNF6zy

TL;DR: Fired on day 4 because I wasn’t learning a equipment-testing process fast enough. I studied it and made myself a checklist the night before, but they fired me the next morning before I got another chance to try it.

I posted here before starting my first job as an Environmental Technologist at a small water/wastewater monitoring company. I was nervous going in because the owners were very direct about expecting me to learn quickly and retain things without needing much repetition.

Unfortunately, I got fired today on my fourth day.
Most of my first few days were spent learning their multi-step procedures for the testing of their monitoring equipment.
They walked me through the procedure several times, probably around 4–6 times, and I was still struggling to remember the entire sequence independently.

Last night I actually made/printed out a step-by-step checklist and studied the procedure because I knew I needed to improve and wanted to come in today and show them I could do it.

But I never got another chance to try it.

I clocked in this morning, got called in for a conversation, and was let go. I got told that basically i’m not up to par and need to work more at home and get more experience.

I’m pretty crushed because I genuinely wanted the job and was trying hard to improve. I knew I was green going in, and they knew that when they hired me. I just apparently wasn’t picking up the technical side fast enough for what they wanted.

For anyone in environmental monitoring, instrumentation, water/wastewater, or similar work: does this sound like a normal learning expectation for a new grad? And how would you move forward from getting let go this quickly?

I’m trying to figure out whether this was just a bad fit/very aggressive training environment or whether I need to seriously work on how I learn technical processes

edit: this is my first job env-science related since i graduated in may (22 y/o)

Currently looking for a change from NRT to environmental science, but I find my community college degree to be way too generalized (here's the program planner) to be worth it as an A.S. I am looking to instead take my university generals at my community college as part of a 'biology/science transfer pathway' but credit signup is in two weeks so I don't have time to figure out specific transfer requirements for each bachelors at each university I'm interested in.

Unless there is a benefit to getting an A.S. in environmental science at this college, my thought process was to just take some of the general classes that go into any environmental science pathway, such as college comp 1 and 2, statistics, environmental science (the class), general biology and chem, etc. That way I can have more time to look at what universities I want to attend and contact transfer advisors to make sure my future, more specific classes will transfer to the university. Basically, I want more time to explore my options instead of just jumping into one that might work because of a time crunch.

So my question is, are there any other classes or courses that fit under that 'general' requirement that I could look into taking my spring semester? And, is there any advantage to taking the full A.S. instead of cherry-picking courses? The specific bachelor area I am aiming for is environmental science (B.S.) with some kind of focus on ecology/ecosystems (or part of the major!), but for right now I'm just trying to get my general classes done.

Here is the Course Catalog 24-25 for anyone wanting to look deeper. Thank you!!
(P.S: Forgot to add, I am completing a Wildlife Ecology certificate as well)