Have Physics Bachelors...Want to work with Environment.. Advice

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

I currently have my BS in Physics and am starting to plan my career options for my time after the Navy. I am looking into two very different options and could use some advice and input.

  1. I work with the Nuclear Navy and have some specialized experience in the nuclear field. Because of this I believe that working on a Masters in Health Physics (Oregon State program) with the ultimate goal of working in environmental protection could be right up my alley. But...
  2. I have always been interested in water/wastewater management and engineering and could also try to complete another bachelors degree ( so that I could work towards earning a PE license) in civil engineering (UND online engineering)

I realize these are vastly different but if anyone has any advice on either route or could enlighten me to other effective routes I could take towards a career in helping our environment it would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you all!!

2

You already have a BS in physics. You’d be better off trying to get a master’s degree in civil and/or environmental engineering when you leave the Navy rather than wasting your time on another BS. The rules differ by state, but I believe it is generally still possible to get a PE license in a situation like that. Check with the state you wish to live in, though.

3

With only a research based masters in env e I feel that I would be missing out on a lot of the background knowledge. if I am going to be an engineer I surely want to do it right and be as knowledgable as possible. I agree though, I would hate going through a bachelors again. I would love to be inching closer to the phd level.

4

Even if you are behind, the admissions committee won’t admit you if they don’t think you can handle it or will reflect poorly on them when you graduate. In all likelihood, you will probably just have to take a few courses to catch up in a few key areas, and they will likely be rather ho-hum for someone with a physics background; after all, engineering is just applied physics. It might take you like 3 years instead of 2 to get the MS, but in the end you will have an MS in 1 year fewer than trying to get a second BS.