<p>What do environmental engineers do, really? How much math is required?</p>
<p>I have 20 years of experience as an environmental engineer, both as a consultant, and in private industry. Environmental engineering tends to be the “clean up crew” for the chemical and process engineering people. A lot of the work involves cleaning up old factory sites, and mitigating/sampling/analyzing ongoing air, soil and water pollution. Also managing hazardous and toxic materials and hazardous waste. Newly emerging fields in “green chemistry” are rather interesting, replacing tried and true chemical products with less polluting alternatives. Also there is a lot of legal type work, as this is a highly regulated field, with not only the Federal EPA, but also state agencies, and local water and hazardous materials agencies. Environmental Engineering is an offshoot of Civil Engineering. You might also consider Environmental Sciences which requires less math. Environmental Scientists do things like write Environmental Impact Reports, investigate presence of endangered species at construction sites, evaluate impact of stormwater, dust and noise pollution, and sample stream silt, all of which might be required in a site evaluation. Greenhouse gas reporting is a newly required environmental reporting requirement, and it is labor intensive, with report verification requiring a working knowledge of electrical generation, diesel fuel, and natural gas calculations.</p>
<p>i only have about 1 year of experience as an environmental engineering work in remediation but i’d like to make a distinction between environmental science and environmental engineering. We had an environmental scientist at my workplace and he was paid less simply because he couldn’t get a PE. Where I live, you need to have done your undergrad in engineering or have many many years of experience to get a PE.</p>
<p>MaineLonghorn, can we add this to the FAQ somehow? It’s a question that I know many people have, and this is an excellent response.</p>