Environmental/outdoor careers...please help?

Question

I'm 24, female, in good health and in good physical condition. I love the outdoors, wildlife, the environment. My husband and I will be stationed in Alaska for the next 4 years. I want to start going to school, but I'm not sure what courses to take. I'd like to know if there are any good careers working with wildlife, the environment, or anything outdoorsy that will keep me physically and mentally stimulated. Anyone have any ideas or know where I should start? If you could help, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Answer 1

The best thing I could suggest is to find something you would like to see what degree would fit best. Would you like to be a park ranger? Then maybe law enforcement would be best. Otherwise you could probaby find something in enviromental science or some type of naturalist studies. Or maybe you would want to be some type of camp counselor for youths on camping trips. Child psychology maybe? No matter what - First aid and CPR are always needed and often required for outdoorsy positons when you work with the public. Geology or Zoology are other possiblities.

Take a look at positions available at the state parks and go from there. It sounds like a lot of fun. Good Luck.

Answer 2

Below is a list of current job openings in the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.  As you can see they are varied and require different levels of education.

If you are going to school, you could study forestry, recreation management, Park Administration and many other fields.  In many cases you could get an entry level position and work up from there.

If you have time, volunteer in a park and see what goes on.  You might find some aspects of the job don't agree with you, like cleaning restrooms for a ranger or treating exotic invasive plants with a chain saw and herbicides.

On the other hand, there may be opportunities to explore other avenues within an agency.  The future is wide open.

Vacancies Currently Advertised

Job Title             Location           Requisition Number     Closing Date  

Park Ranger [PDF 80  KB] Clermont 37001350-51214619-

20080721135406 7/29/2008

OPS Distributed Computer Systems [PDF 74 KB] Temple Terrace 37936029-51308180-

20080718130848 7/29/2008

OPS Parks Service Specialist [PDF 74 KB] Cocoa 37979219-51361264-

20080714103722 7/29/2008

Construction Managers [PDF 88 KB] Tallahassee 37001075-51211928-

20080709082132 7/31/2008

OPS Environmental Specialist III [PDF 83 KB] Orlando 37920005-51308146-20080711153938 7/31/2008

Park Ranger [PDF 77KB] White Springs 37001510-51206784-

20080715093523 8/01/2008

Engineering Specialist II [PDF 85 KB] Temple Terrace 37010721-51153573-

20080716084108 8/01/2008

Environmental Manager - SES [PDF 90 KB] Tallahassee 37020755-51361513-20080715085806 8/01/2008

OPS Park Ranger [PDF 7 KB] Lithia 37971370-51337974-

20080723094639 8/01/2008

OPS Government Analyst II [PDF 80 KB] Tallahassee 37911085-51308039-

20080721090037 8/04/2008

OPS Planner II [PDF 72 KB] Tallahassee 37950200-51309958-

20080714130424 8/04/2008

Grants Specialist [PDF 80 KB] Tallahassee 37978056-51310360-

20080721103948 8/04/2008

Audit Administrator - SES [PDF 95 KB] Tallahassee 37000018-51193129-

20080721143144 8/05/2008

Environmental Specialist I [PDF 77 KB] Pensacola 37020115-51142684-

20080722123558 8/07/2008

Professional Engineer II [PDF 73 KB] Tallahassee 37001699-51216046-

20080722150226 8/22/20008

OPS Park Ranger [PDF - 145 KB] Jacksonville 37970759-51309061-

20070126155337 9/16/2008

Answer 3

Do a program in environmental science. You could go on making lots of money working for the government by analyzing soil, water, air, plant life, etc. There are a ton of environmental jobs out there.

Answer 4

I am in the environmental field in Michigan. Everyone has a either a geology degree (85 percent) or has an environmental science degree.  In Alaska you could work with the US fisheries and wildlife, state/national parks.  You can call 'environmental consulting firms' that do remediation and get an internship.  You could also look into getting a natural resource degree and that could open the door to working in parks or zoos.