Environmental Engineer

Environmental engineers use science and engineering principles to protect and improve the environment. The quality of air, water, and soil is their primary focus. They seek solutions to water-borne diseases, waste water management, and air pollution. They work to improve recycling, waste disposal, and industrial hygiene. They analyze soil and water samples. They understand the law as it applies to protecting the environment

Environmental engineers combine the knowledge of biology and chemistry to devise solutions to environmental problems. Concerns such as air and water pollution, recycling wastes, waste disposal and other public health issues, fall under their field. Environmental engineers study waste management of hazardous substances in order to analyze the risk, the treatment and the methods of containing such hazards. They also sketch regulations so as to prevent the occurrence of mishaps. Municipal water supply systems and industrial wastewater treatment systems are both designed by environmental engineers. They are also in charge of conducting research on proposed projects for the benefit of the environment, analyzing scientific data, and performing quality control checks.

Both local as well as global environmental issues are applicable to environmental engineers. These engineers work to protect wildlife as well as to prevent the production and repercussion of acid rain, global warming, ozone depletion as well as harmful automobile emissions.

A large number of environmental engineers are employed as consultants so that their clients can be helped to comply with environmental regulations and to clean up hazardous sites after their manufacturing and production activities.

In 2002, environmental engineers occupied around 47,000 jobs. About half of them were employed by firms who provided professional, scientific, and technical services and around 15,000 engineers worked with the Federal, State and the local Government companies. The rest worked in different manufacture and production industries.