<p>Hello everyone. I just transferred from Hawaii to California. My program of study in Hawaii was marine biology. Ideally, I would like to make modest living doing something that is both rewarding and keeps my integrity intact. Money is not important to me.</p>
<p>I have tried lots of things in the past...
*I once considered civil engineering, but it wasn't for me. I was pretty good at calculus and physics, but I was burnt out by the time they started doing programming...
*I also looked into business and economics, but again, I have serious reservations against it since all they seem to care about is profit :/.</p>
<p>Things that I am passionate about are: marine biology, research, political activism, social and environmental justice, land stewardship, public policy, etc.</p>
<p>I was considering a double major in marine biology and environmental studies with a focus on environmental policy at UC Santa Cruz. The other option I have is to do environmental studies at USC. They've asked for my spring grades, so I think I have a viable chance of getting in sometime next month. Does anyone have any experience or advice? I'm very flexible and would be happy doing any of the following as a career:
*science writing
*Anything that involves working with marine animals, doing research, or working for government organization like NOAA, Wildlife Park Services, Department of the Interior, etc. (even being a park ranger is cool with me!).
*environmental consulting, or anything that keeps selfish people and corporations accountable (i.e. EPA).
EDIT: fixed some typos.</p>
<p>First/foremost - I would try an internship in something that appeals to you to get a better feel for a particular line of work if that is an option.</p>
<p>With respect to the things you listed:</p>
<p>Science writing - it is a part of any position (but could be very large or very small depending on the job).</p>
<p>Anything that… - sounds like you are interested in govt. work. There are plenty of organizations (Fed, State, Local) that would appeal to you (and you’ve listed a few). Start looking into them now and contact them if you have questions.</p>
<p>Consulting - it is entirely possible that you would work (indirectly) for selfish people/corporations in this field.</p>
<p>I’m sporadic with respect to this site, but I will try to answer more questions as time permits.</p>
<p>Thank you :). And about your last point on consulting, I suppose you’re right… sometimes I get a little carried away haha. I guess we all end up selling our souls and working for someone in the end ;). But… I’m sure there are people who do consulting who are not always greedy. For example, I used to generalize and think that all lawyers were selfish *******s. Although it’s probably true for most lawyers (I still hate most of them because a lot of them have tried to sue my family for everything we have even though we’ve never done anything wrong), there are still good ones who are selfless and genuinely want to help people. It’s just that they are a small minority.</p>
<p>Anyway, I will keep your points in mind. I have sent a couple emails to a few govt and park organizations, so we shall see what happens. I have already had a job working as a lab intern on Hawaii, and I did enjoy it. I just think that ONLY doing marine biology is too specific. I like doing research, but I’d rather be the one who helps keep all of these things alive so we still have animals to research :p.</p>
<h2>sorry for double posting, but I read more about the major at ucsc and it seems like a good fit for me.</h2>
<p>Environmental Studies/Biology combined major</p>
<p>This course of study provides students with the basic tools of biological science and sufficient understanding of resource conservation, conservation biology, and concerns about environmental sustainability. The Environmental Studies/Biology degree program prepares students for graduate school or a career in the areas of conservation biology, restoration ecology, and other allied interdisciplinary life science fields.</p>
<p>I looked further into the list of jobs for this major and they seem pretty interesting. Most of them involve either research, environmental consulting, working for a govt agency doing land/resource management (EPA), working for State Parks, etc. Those sound pretty cool to me.</p>
<p>@LAgator, what kind of work does an environmental consultant typically do?</p>
<p>Sure, a decent overview of the field - though perhaps broad/basic - can be found at [Environmental</a> consulting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_consulting]Environmental”>Environmental consulting - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>The section under Subdisciplines provides more specific information; there are a <em>lot</em> of different activities that can fall under Consulting. A number of them involve collecting field data, then adding it to a report.</p>
<p>Here’s one example offered in order to provide more specific details: You graduate with a focus on Conservation Biology and get hired at a consulting firm. Your firm gets a contract to perform an impact study for a client who hopes to receive a permit to build a plant. You and your team spend some time in a particular outdoor area to identify and quantify species present in order to determine the effect that this plant would have on the wildlife in the affected area.</p>