Environmental engineers work to prevent, control or remediate any hazards to the environment using their engineering expertise. Their work might focus on topics like waste disposal, erosion, and water and air pollution.

"Most people really don’t know what environmental engineers do," says Dan Wittliff, managing director of environmental services with GDS Associates in Austin, Texas. They hear "environmental engineer," and they often think "environmentalist," he adds.

"It’s not only about Earth Day and environmental consciousness," Wittliff says. "Those can be part of what an environmental engineer does, but in terms of what an environmental engineer does day in and day out, you’re really focused on what the regulations say, what you’re required to do to meet those regulations and how you’re going to do it, [while also bearing in mind] the cost and the timeline."

The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 6.1% employment growth for environmental engineers between 2022 and 2032. In that period, an estimated 2,900 jobs should open up.

Environmental engineers will need at least a bachelor’s degree in civil, chemical, environmental or general engineering. Environmental engineering is a relatively new discipline. Wittliff, who earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 1972, says, "If you’re older than 50 and practicing as an environmental engineer, you don’t have a bachelor’s degree in environmental engineering."

Those who take the environmental engineering route can expect to work in the classroom, laboratory and out in the field. Some programs also make it easier to get your master’s with a five-year program, which combines both bachelor’s and master’s degrees. A master’s degree, though not necessary to find a job, can open opportunities teaching at higher education institutions or performing research. Wittliff followed up his bachelor’s degree with an MBA.

Additionally, after working a few years in the field, many environmental engineers choose to get licensed as a professional engineer by graduating from an accredited program, earning four years of professional experience and passing both the Fundamentals of Engineering and the Professional Engineering exams.