April 3, 2003
A: FROM MENTOR AZURE DEE EMERLE IN CT
Environmental engineering training offers you opportunities to work
in any aspect of environmental protection. The major areas include air
pollution control, industrial hygiene, radiation protection, hazardous
waste management, toxic materials control, water supply, wastewater
management, storm water management, solid waste disposal, public health,
and land management, as well as many sub-categories.

The kind of work you can do as an environmental engineer is very
diverse. Environmental engineers work in industry to make sure
pollutants are removed from various streams released to the air and
water. They also work to make sure that solid waste is properly disposed
to prevent ground water contamination. Environmental engineers develop
and design equipment to create a cleaner environment. You can be a
researcher, a designer, a planner, an operator of pollution control
facilities, a professor, a government regulatory agency official, a
manager of programs, or be involved in professional society work. Your
employer can be private consulting engineering firms, universities,
private research firms, testing and chemical laboratories, government
agencies of all types like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or
Department of Energy (DOE) or all types of major corporations and
private businesses such as oil companies, nuclear plants, and pulp and
paper mills.

Environmental engineering provides limitless opportunities as to type of
work, for whom you work, and where you work. I think environmental
engineers will be needed in the future. As the world population grows,
the need to protect our waters, control our waste, and manage our land
will become important for survival. We will also need to continue to
research and develop new technologies for alternative fuel sources (such
as the new hydrogen car).