Environmental Engineers

design engineer management environmental hazard investigative site plan information research

Engineer, Environmental Engineer, Environmental Remediation Specialist, Sanitary Engineer

What they do:
Research, design, plan, or perform engineering duties in the prevention, control, and remediation of environmental hazards using various engineering disciplines. Work may include waste treatment, site remediation, or pollution control technology.
On the job, you would:
  • Design, or supervise the design of, systems, processes, or equipment for control, management, or remediation of water, air, or soil quality.
  • Assess the existing or potential environmental impact of land use projects on air, water, or land.
  • Collaborate with environmental scientists, planners, hazardous waste technicians, engineers, experts in law or business, or other specialists to address environmental problems.

Knowledge

Engineering and Technology

  • product and service development
  • design

Math and Science

  • chemistry
  • arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, or statistics

Arts and Humanities

  • English language

Business

  • customer service

Skills

Basic Skills

  • keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements
  • listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions

Problem Solving

  • noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it

People and Technology Systems

  • thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one
  • figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it

Abilities

Verbal

  • communicate by speaking
  • communicate by writing

Ideas and Logic

  • make general rules or come up with answers from lots of detailed information
  • notice when problems happen

Math

  • add, subtract, multiply, or divide
  • choose the right type of math to solve a problem

Memory

  • remember words, numbers, pictures, or steps

Personality

People interested in this work like activities that include ideas, thinking, and figuring things out.

They do well at jobs that need:

  • Integrity
  • Attention to Detail
  • Analytical Thinking
  • Dependability
  • Cooperation
  • Initiative

Technology

You might use software like this on the job:

Analytical or scientific software

  • Insightful S-PLUS
  • The MathWorks MATLAB Hot Technology

Desktop communications software

  • Eko

Compliance software

  • Material safety data sheet MSDS software
  • Regulatory compliance management software

Education

Education: (rated 4 of 5)
bachelor's degree or
master's degree
usually needed

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Job Outlook

Bright
New job opportunities are very likely in the future.
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See more details at O*NET OnLine about environmental engineers.