I’m planning on majoring in this field (didn’t get into economics). I want to know what can I do with this degree (doesn’t necessarily have to be in the field of Environmental studies). I am an incoming junior in college and I don’t know what I want to do after college. All I know is I want to make decent money and be able to live a comfortable life (80 k+ one day hopefully rising to 100k+). I know this isn’t a lot to go off at all, but if it helps I am from the Bay area and have always had an interest in tech companies and working in that kind of environment. I also know it is very competitive and I don’t think an Environmental Studies degree is very helpful in that field. Any suggestions on what jobs/careers to look into with a ES degree would be much appreciated.
You seemed to be confused a bit. Use Google and see what you come up with. Email your college counselor and start a conversation now before school starts.
Jobs directly related to your degree include:
Environmental consultant
Environmental education officer
Environmental engineer
Environmental manager
Marine biologist
Nature conservation officer
Recycling officer
Sustainability consultant
Waste management officer
Water quality scientist
Jobs where your degree would be useful include:
Environmental health practitioner
Estates manager
Geotechnical engineer
Landscape architect
Town planner
Toxicologist
Transport planner
If you are looking to go into the Tech sector, Environmental studies will not get you there unless you possibly major in GIS (Geographic Information systems) if available or consider Graduate school in this speciality.
Yes, look at the GIS course offerings at your school. Presumably you can still take some Econ courses even if you are not a major.
Most of the Environmental studies programs I have researched seem to be short on science and more geared towards environmental policy/planning. I don’t believe any would qualify a student for any sort of engineering position, landscape architect, marine biologist, or many of the other science heavy jobs on the above list.
A degree in environmental science, not studies would prepare one better for jobs like toxicologist, water quality scientist, waste management specialist, etc.
Not sure that ES would be helpful at all for the tech sector.
Some schools do offer an Environmental Studies major as a BA or a BS, so the science component would be present with the BS. It seems you are at UCSB? UCSB does offer a BS in Environmental studies and does not offer Environmental Science. I agree that Environmental Engineering and Marine Biologist are a stretch with just a degree in Environmental Studies but have known students go onto Grad school in these disciplines. As I stated above, Environmental Studies will not get you into the tech sector other than looking into a GIS degree. Also you need to clarify what area of the tech sector are you interested in pursuing. An Econ minor with an Environmental Science major could be a good combination if you are interested in working for Non-Profit Environmental groups.
BA vs BS Environmental studies: https://es.ucsb.edu/academics/es-major/ba-vs-bs
Thanks for all responses, and honestly I 100% understand that ES does not really help in the field of tech, I merely mentioned because I had interest in it growing up surrounded by many companies of that nature. Genuinely I do not know what I want to do after college and I need to sort of figure that out.
Also worth mentioning I am looking into pursing a TMP certificate. Still don’t know how helpful that would be for someone in my position. Will be speaking with an advisor about it tomorrow.
Can you double major in Geography with an emphasis in GIS?