If you have a pure passion for nature and the environment around you, a career in this field awaits you, Mamta Todi finds out

CLIMATE change, global warming, increasing pollution and a big world, which is more difficult to live in, are the major issues these days. If correcting these aspects of life drives you strongly, a career in environment related fields is definitely for you. With innumerable undergraduate and post-graduate degrees in environmental sciences being offered by a majority of the institutions, choosing a career with nature is no big deal.

"Plenty of career opportunities that are there for the students trained in environmental sciences. They include teaching, research, corporate sector, manufacturing of green products, environmental managers to implement ISO 14001 and other green measures and to start your own NGO," says M Prof M Ravichandran, Head Department of Environmental Management at the Bharathidasan University.

"Students must choose environmental sciences not only from the career and money earning point of view but for saving the world and mankind. If many people come in this field the awareness will grow and this awareness in also one of the ways to mitigate most of the environmental problems," highlights Dr Arun Srivastava, Assistant Professor at the School of EnvironmentalSciencesinJawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi.

What is it all about?

Environmental science is an interdisciplinary field that involves both the physical sciences (physics, chemistry, biology, geology, geography, resource technology and engineering) and the social sciences (resource management and conservation, demography, economics, politics and ethics). It encompasses the surrounding conditions that affect man and other organisms.

If one thinks that becoming an environmental activist was easy, they must think twice. "Environmental science is an interdisciplinary subject requiring expertise in various scientific disciplines. Thus specialisations will be in fields such as environmental chemists who will specialise in analysing for various contaminants in air/water/soil etc; microbiologists specialised in behavior and spread of microbes under polluted environments; environmental toxicologists who will look in to aspects t such as the toxicities generated by pollutants as well as pathogens; biotechnologists who can study the impact of genetic engineering; hydrologists and groundwater specialists who can study the impact of contamination on water resources; soil scientists who will monitor the effect of pollutants on t soil fertility. Environmental engi- t neers will be dealing with designing equipments to monitor and control pollution from various industries/ urban conglomerates etc," explains Prof Ballukraya Professor in the Dept of Applied geology at University of Madras.

The basic courses available are environmental sciences, environmental management, environmental biotechnology, sustainable develop- t ment both at undergraduate and post i graduate levels.

Career opportunities A well trained postgraduate in environmental science can look forward t to gainful employment in many sectors given today's awareness as well as legal necessities. All major industries will be required to have such scientists to manage their effluents/ emissions and also carry out periodical studies on environmental impact t in their surroundings. For example t any oil producing entity or refinery need to monitor the impact on local environment - air, water, soil, animals and plants - from their operations and thus constant measurements on various environmental parameters have to be recorded.

"In an era of climate change, there is huge scope for environmentalism, never seen before. Earlier remuneration was low but now environment professionals are paid good in industrial, service and research sector.

Energy & electricity management, Renewable energy, water management, remote sensing, waste management are some of the specialities that students can look at taking," says Abhishek Pratap, Senior Campaigner in Toxics & Climate with Greenpeace India.

Many NGO's involved in environmental issues will also look to employ such graduates to monitor environmental impacts. Another profitable avenue will be in the area of consultancy, which can be started by enterprising graduates in environmental science.

Environmental scientists/engineers will be in demand to design/ operate/install a large variety of environmental monitoring and pollution control devices. Also, a few opportunities will be available with organisations such as pollution control boards, national environmental engineering research institute etc. Waste management industry offers up to Rs 25000 per month for the beginners.

The road ahead Undoubtedly there will be a boom in near future. Green products, green energy appliances, pollution control technology, environmental auditing, environment impact assessment, bioremediation technology, application of GIS and GPS, Nanotechnology and various other areas are gathering momentum and surely in ten years down the line there will be a boom in this sector, say experts. Housing industry is coming forward to introduce green concepts. Energy is yet another; non conventional eco-friendly sources will have an edge over conventional sources. Corporate sectors will have to employ environmental managers to be able to compete in international markets.