What career path should I pursue? Sustainability/education edition
December 3, 2022 10:58 AM Subscribe
I am a returning college student in my early 30s, currently in an undergraduate degree program in environmental studies. My previous work background is in education-related paraprofessional roles. I would love to find a way to combine my interests in sustainability, environmental justice, and evidence-based education and/or communications, but I am not certain what roles and academic preparation would be a good fit. I greatly appreciate suggestions for how to narrow and focus my academic and career path.
Possibly-helpful details:
Possibly-helpful details:
- I have a previous associate's degree in math & science (physics/mathematics/chemistry focus) and I have been taking biology, environmental science, environmental studies, and biochemistry coursework in working on my current degree program
- I have enjoyed most of the subjects I have studied about equally, but have especially appreciated the direct relevance to present environmental and societal needs in my current coursework
- I have worked and/or volunteered with all age groups from preschool through adulthood - I love working with people and it's hard for me to choose a favorite age group
- I am especially interested in human-environment interactions, sustainable planning, environmental advocacy, and psychology of environmental communications. I have found Dr. Katharine Hayhoe's work on talking about climate change particularly inspiring. I would particularly like to find ways to help environmental and sustainability work feel more meaningful, efficacious, and connected, and decrease the sense of isolation, shame, and fear a lot of us, of all ages, feel when thinking about environmental needs.
- I have a lot of flexibility in choosing the coursework within my environmental studies degree; I could also still switch my major at this point in time if a different major makes more sense.
- I am not sure if I want to pursue graduate work after I complete my bachelor's degree. I would only want to do so if there is a good career-relevant reason to do so, but I am open to preparing for graduate school if that is what makes the most sense.
I am going to put a few suggestions not as a career track, but what I would recommend if I met you, which is to try some of these things in small doses. It can help you get relevant experience and potentially offer other opportunities and give you the vocabulary to discover other niches. Some of the stuff I will suggest below could even help you with finances now, if applicable, and grad school, if you want to go that route. I'm just dropping it into different boxes, for a choose your own adventure, so to speak:
Lab or research-based: I am making some assumptions based on your Associate's degree and this environmental and sustainability work and this efficacious, which could potentially mean getting experience doing research in this area and down the road designing studies in these areas. If that calls to you in any way whatsoever, this would usually involve signing up for independent study in a lab with faculty next semester (or the following one) and doing hands-on stuff with the lab and faculty. I would highly recommend this to any undergrad in the sciences because often times it opens up other opportunities, ranging from writing your own scientific poster/paper (or getting your name on some), opportunities to go to conferences (funded), and sometimes pay in the summer and/or throughout the year, although this also depends on your PI's funding and other grants funding students etc. Anyway, if you do this - I would go through the about me pages of the faculty in your department (consider adding psychology since it sounds related to your interests, too) and see - Do they do research related to what you want to do in any way whatsoever? Can you find related science papers they have published related to this? Also, talk to admin people for the academic department (does any faculty do research in X, they might know). If so, email the faculty you identify (Tell them you would like to volunteer and do research/work in their lab and make an appointment). When you meet them, tell them about the type of research that interests you (I read your paper about X), along with other research that inspires you, etc. If they have space in their lab, they will take you on for the following semester.
Communications: Since you state this as a goal - have you done research on your own university to see if they have any publications for the public, about the research done by your departments? Often times they people who do this have a background in the science area with the goal to explain it in general terms - I think you could easily volunteer and/or work there and potentially get a few clips, which would be great for communications.
Education: That blurb above also applies to lab, except for research in education (and/or doing presentations in outreach to local schools). Go back to that about me page for faculty. Often there is a faculty member (or a few) who do a small amount of research in the science field + education. That might be where you want to volunteer instead of the lab - but also make yourself familiar first with their research, what they do.
Outreach. Same approach (plus see if the admin person for your department knows who this is?) - these people sometimes give presentations. If they had a volunteer, interested in area X, it might be a great place to get experience, etc.
Let's say you go a different career track than research or whatever. I still think some of the experiences would be helpful, especially when you want something to be efficacious, etc., because at the end of the day a study can be designed in advance with endpoints for efficacy, etc., and have real data to this works / or not to achieve desired change. Even if you go into policy or communications or whatever later on - that vocabulary and being able to assess the data and studies is likely to be a useful job skill.
Good luck.
posted by Wolfster at 12:20 PM on December 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
Lab or research-based: I am making some assumptions based on your Associate's degree and this environmental and sustainability work and this efficacious, which could potentially mean getting experience doing research in this area and down the road designing studies in these areas. If that calls to you in any way whatsoever, this would usually involve signing up for independent study in a lab with faculty next semester (or the following one) and doing hands-on stuff with the lab and faculty. I would highly recommend this to any undergrad in the sciences because often times it opens up other opportunities, ranging from writing your own scientific poster/paper (or getting your name on some), opportunities to go to conferences (funded), and sometimes pay in the summer and/or throughout the year, although this also depends on your PI's funding and other grants funding students etc. Anyway, if you do this - I would go through the about me pages of the faculty in your department (consider adding psychology since it sounds related to your interests, too) and see - Do they do research related to what you want to do in any way whatsoever? Can you find related science papers they have published related to this? Also, talk to admin people for the academic department (does any faculty do research in X, they might know). If so, email the faculty you identify (Tell them you would like to volunteer and do research/work in their lab and make an appointment). When you meet them, tell them about the type of research that interests you (I read your paper about X), along with other research that inspires you, etc. If they have space in their lab, they will take you on for the following semester.
Communications: Since you state this as a goal - have you done research on your own university to see if they have any publications for the public, about the research done by your departments? Often times they people who do this have a background in the science area with the goal to explain it in general terms - I think you could easily volunteer and/or work there and potentially get a few clips, which would be great for communications.
Education: That blurb above also applies to lab, except for research in education (and/or doing presentations in outreach to local schools). Go back to that about me page for faculty. Often there is a faculty member (or a few) who do a small amount of research in the science field + education. That might be where you want to volunteer instead of the lab - but also make yourself familiar first with their research, what they do.
Outreach. Same approach (plus see if the admin person for your department knows who this is?) - these people sometimes give presentations. If they had a volunteer, interested in area X, it might be a great place to get experience, etc.
Let's say you go a different career track than research or whatever. I still think some of the experiences would be helpful, especially when you want something to be efficacious, etc., because at the end of the day a study can be designed in advance with endpoints for efficacy, etc., and have real data to this works / or not to achieve desired change. Even if you go into policy or communications or whatever later on - that vocabulary and being able to assess the data and studies is likely to be a useful job skill.
Good luck.
posted by Wolfster at 12:20 PM on December 3, 2022 [1 favorite]
I just hired a sustainability coordinator for my public library. The job is a Venn diagram of economic feasibility, social equity, and environmental stewardship with a heavy reliance on Indigenous ways of knowing/de-colonisation. They run educational programs as well as look at our processes from a sustainability perspective. So maybe look at Public Libraries as well as municipal governments.
posted by saucysault at 12:21 PM on December 3, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by saucysault at 12:21 PM on December 3, 2022 [2 favorites]
Sent you a MeFi mail message!
posted by Maude_the_destroyer at 3:40 PM on December 3, 2022
posted by Maude_the_destroyer at 3:40 PM on December 3, 2022
Another vote for public libraries--I work for a public library system in a midsize city, and it's pretty cool. How they're run definitely depends on the individual city (and I hear they don't pay well in small towns--I'm talking about cities with a whole network of libraries, like NYC) but libraries in general tend to have communal and environmentalist values, and involve outreach to kids, unhoused folks, and other underserved populations. A lot of the jobs within the library don't actually require a library science degree; I would guess it's about half, within my library system. The very nature of libraries is sustainable and it's a pretty liberal field, but a lot of them do have a dedicated sustainability coordinator, as saucysault mentioned above.
posted by Nibbly Fang at 11:10 AM on December 4, 2022
posted by Nibbly Fang at 11:10 AM on December 4, 2022
Response by poster: Thank you so much for all of the ideas and perspectives! I will look further into trade-association and library/government-associated paths, and it's fantastic to hear that sustainability is increasingly incorporated into library systems (which I have always deeply appreciated!).
I'm attending college primarily online, which complicates the lab/research path somewhat, though there are a few opportunities to conduct in-person research as well and it may be worth investigating them. I think my primary interest is in understanding, applying, and sharing research-based approaches, but as Wolfster notes, having experience with formal research design may be helpful for data collection and assessment of projects even if I don't follow a longer-term academic research path.
posted by beryllium at 4:12 PM on December 8, 2022
I'm attending college primarily online, which complicates the lab/research path somewhat, though there are a few opportunities to conduct in-person research as well and it may be worth investigating them. I think my primary interest is in understanding, applying, and sharing research-based approaches, but as Wolfster notes, having experience with formal research design may be helpful for data collection and assessment of projects even if I don't follow a longer-term academic research path.
posted by beryllium at 4:12 PM on December 8, 2022
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Concerning grad school, bear in mind you can always go back later if you career gets to a point where you benefit from a Master's programme.
posted by biffa at 11:49 AM on December 3, 2022