Careers in Sustainability

The time I decided to pursue Environmental Science and Engineering at IIT Bombay (I’ve written about it in a previous article), amidst all the other concerns, a major one was with regards to the career opportunities that this field has to offer. A large number of people whom I had spoken to were of the opinion that this field is not just nascent, but also rather niche which can significantly restrict my career opportunities. 3 years into my major, I can confidently say that a majority of those concerns were unfounded. The multidisciplinary nature of our course work, and environment and sustainability, as a sector, opens up a wide range of opportunities. To offer a perspective, my major has core courses ranging from the study of microbial cell cycles and biotechnology for wastewater treatment to writing python and MATLAB codes for environmental data analysis of air pollution in Delhi!

With all the information that I have collected through articles, seminars, and humans that I have interacted with over the past few years, I plan to mention some of the major professional careers in the fields of Environment and Sustainability. This by no means, is an exhaustive list. And the purpose of this article is only to guide people better and give them a starting point. The more you tread, the more you know!

• Core Research - Environmental research is a very broad field ranging from the more popular domains such as air and water pollution and waste management to rather exotic domains such as marine ecosystems, environmental archaeology, meteorology, etc. Remote sensing and computational technologies are ever-evolving and constitute a huge area of research. Several leading universities and research centers, across the world and here in India are pursuing spectacular research work across the various fields within Environment.

• Non-Core Research - Although not directly related to a core environmental science and engineering background, research in the non-core sector related to national and international climate change mitigation, adaptation plans, corporate sustainability, and climate change resilience, impact assessment, etc. is being done at various universities, think tanks and governmental panels related to environment and climate change. With more and more countries and organizations committing to carbon neutrality and footprint reduction, research in this sector is on the rise.

• Academia - The demand for academicians with a background in environmental science is steadily growing, to keep up with the market demand. A large number of universities abroad have established courses in the field of environmental science and engineering and the trend is steadily catching up in India too.

• Core Industry - Almost all governmental agencies, businesses, and industries (FMCG, chemical, food, textile, etc.) hire environmental engineers for various kinds of projects related to planning, designing, management, and engineering of environmental systems. With government norms getting stricter and investors actively wanting to invest in ethical businesses, these organizations are further incentivized to have environmental technologies and systems in place.

• Semi-Core - With increased awareness surrounding business sustainability, EPR (Extended Producer’s Responsibility), impact investing, and climate related financial risks, several domains related to Environment have emerged within the corporate sector. Some of them include environmental consulting, climate impact assessment, green financing, etc. Apart from these, a large number of for-profit and not-for-profit social enterprises have evolved and work on environmental and climate change issues. While the traditional non-core skills are key, a background in environmental science can definitely set you apart.

• Starting up - As mentioned earlier, the field of environment is a broad and multidisciplinary one. All you need for starting up is to identify a problem and come up with a clever solution. And when it comes to Environment, it's really not that difficult to identify problems.

The above list, as iterated earlier, is just a glimpse into this broad field. As first-year students in a new program, we (my batchmates and I) had a hard time figuring things out on our own. All the professors, PG/Ph.D. seniors and other professionals I got in touch with have been very kind and patient in sharing their knowledge and experiences with me. I hope everyone who is reading this article, finds this useful in one way or the other.

If you've reached this far, I truly appreciate your time. Through this blog, I plan on writing about sustainability, social impact, climate change, and how actors, ranging from governments to markets to individuals, are changing their ways to make the world a better place. Since I'm still learning, I'd love to receive feedback on my work. Check out my bio for my instagram and linkedin. Stay safe!