Careers in Environment
Environmental engineers focus on addressing environmental challenges such as air and water pollution, waste management, recycling, and public health concerns. Their work often involves conducting hazardous waste studies, evaluating sewage and industrial wastewater systems, analyzing data, researching complex projects, and ensuring quality control in environmental systems.
HCE Courses
The HCE program offers a variety of coursework in the environment area. These courses include:
- Advanced Foundations technical electives
- ENGR 3110 and ENGR3410 [4 credits] – Materials & Energy and Environmental Materials (Hoar, Salifu, Gaudette)
- ENGR 3112 [3] – Thermodynamics (Brace)
- ENGR3114 [3] – Bioprocess Engineering (Hoar)
- Technical electives
- ENGR4330 [3] – Green Building Design (Mohebbi)
- ENGR 4320 [4] – Quantitative Sustainable Design (Brace)
- ENGR 4410 [3] – Engineering for Sustainable Development (Conroy)
- ENGR4420 [4] – Water Quality Engineering (Hoar)
Job Titles
Below is a list of potential job titles in civil and environmental engineering, showcasing the diverse career paths available in the field. Roles marked with an (*) may require additional education, training, or licensure. Your job competitiveness depends not only on the degree earned but also on skills and hands-on experience. Students should pursue as many project experiences as possible through coursework, independent studies, or internships, to help deepen their knowledge in their areas of interest.
Air Quality Engineer
Architectural Engineer
City Engineer
Civil Engineer
Civil Engineering Manager*
Construction Managers
Design Engineer
Engineer
Hazardous Waste Engineer
Industrial Health Engineer
Product Safety Engineer
Product Safety Engineer
Project Engineer
Project Manager*
Quality Assurance Manager*
Quality Control Manager*
Railroad Design Consultant
Research Hydraulic Engineer
Solid Waste Engineer
Structural Engineer
Transportation and Highway Systems Manager
Water Resources Engineer
Key Terms, Professional Organizations, and Companies
When you’re first looking for a job or internship in the environmental space, it can be challenging to know where to start. The tabs below highlights some of the key terms you can use when searching for opportunities, professional associations, and companies to start your search and networking. Note that professional opportunities for environmental engineers span private industry (e.g. engineering firms like the companies listed below), public organizations (municipalities, departments of environmental protection), and non-profit organizations.
- Environmental Engineering
- Water/Sanitation Treatment
- Wastewater
- Water Utility
- Environmental consulting
- Environmental remediation
- International Development
- Sanitation Engineer
- Environmental Quality Assurance
- Water resource engineer
- Air Pollution engineer
- Civil Engineering (sometimes includes environmental engineering)
- Environmental compliance specialist
- Environmental scientist
- American Water Works Association
- Water Environment Federation
- New England Water Environment Association
- American Society of Civil Engineers
- American Academy of Environmental Engineers
- EPA
- Departments of Environmental Protection
- Municipal/city/town water/wastewater bureaus
- US Army Corps of Engineers
- National Labs (sometimes associated with grad school)
- AECOM
- Advanced Drainage Systems (ADS)
- Jacobs
- HDR
- Stantec
- Geosyntec
- Black and Veatch
- CDM Smith
- Brown and Caldwell
- Veolia
- Woodard and Curran
- Hazen (and Sawyer)
- Carollo
- Arcadias
- Xlyem