<p>Hello I'm a new user to this forum and have tried searching for information but can't seem to find anything specific to my situation. My question is what would the job prospects be for someone who has a degree in biology BS and environmental science? I am planning to continue onto grad school hopefully for a PHD in environmental science or a related field and trying to get an internship with EPA. Would I be able to find a decent job EPA included or should I try and switch out?</p>
<p>Before I attempt to answer your specific questions, I’d like to offer a bit of background. Permanent research positions in the environmental sciences have dropped over the recent decades. In the environmental research lab where I work, principal investigator (PhD researcher) positions have declined by 25% or so over the past 20 years. Also, support positions (MS technician) positions shifted from permanent to contract. While this depressing situation is indeed the case and there is no sign of improvement, this is not to say that we have not hired during the recent decades. Retirements or vacancies for other reasons are often replaced with new hires. Those vacancies are highly sought after, and it is an employers’ market. When the opportunity to hire arises, we look for researchers who are working in an emerging and important area of research, possess cutting edge skills, or have a variety of complementary skills. What defines emergent and cutting-edge depends on the research field. Doing science requires a variety of tasks and skills, including writing proposals, designing statistically-valid studies, collecting data in lab or field-work, quantitatively analyzing data, and communicating results both orally and written to a variety of audiences. Most science is team work and multi-disciplinary. Scientists often interface with policy. There are many ways a scientist can fit and be productive.</p>
<p>More to your specific questions, if your dual science degrees match your interests and aptitudes and prepares you to compete in the job market that I describe above, then it makes sense and it will help you stand out among other applicants. Try to find a niche or skill set within your field that is needed and not currently occupied or possessed by many other potential applicants and use your education to develop those skills. That will help increase your prospects.</p>
<p>Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but both of those degrees (biology and environmental science) have absolutely dismal job prospects (now and for the forseeable future). You need to go to graduate school in one or either of those fields if you really want to work in environmental science, but you should not go into a PhD program. The reason being: outside of academia there is almost no money for actual research. You’re looking at investing 3-5 years of your life (past a Masters degree) for almost no material gain in your career. If you’re OK with that, then go ahead and go for the PhD. On the other hand, the opportunity cost of missing those 3-5 years of work experience is huge.</p>
<p>My advice for people seeking careers in the government is: don’t count on it, even in good economic periods. Hiring for the federal government is so hit and miss, that it’s very hard to get in unless you know someone who is doing the hiring. Even then, it might not be possible, because the federal government has strict budgeting and hiring processes. If the stars align, then you might be able to find a good job with the EPA, but it might not be where you want to live, and you might find that you don’t enjoy the work. I guess what I’m really saying is: don’t put all of your eggs in one basket.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies and seems similar to what I have found my current plan is to go to grad school and probably just for masters, and my goal is to go into a direction with environmental toxicology. However would this be a better direction as its more specialized and some grad schools I have seen can go over into a medical field would this help my job outlook?</p>
<p>Here’s the rub. If you have to take out student loans (or repay previous student loans) then your employability is a much bigger factor in what you should major in. If you can get the Masters with little or no debt (and you don’t have any hanging over you) then go for it. If you wind up marooned in a field with lots of debt and no job prospects, then life is going to suck.</p>
<p>Just make sure that you know the employment statistics and average starting salary for each field before you decide, and make sure that you can live on that wage.</p>
<p>You should do environmental engineering and urban planning. At least that will have a better outlook. If you can’t find a job here, Europe, China, and other countries in Asia are making huge investments into cleaner technology, green economies, and urban planning.</p>