Environmental Protection Specialist
Impact: Environmental quality, public health, and natural resource conservation
Ensures compliance with environmental laws and regulations, monitors environmental quality, and develops programs to protect natural resources.
What the day looks like
- People interaction
- Moderate
- Team vs solo
- 60% Team / 40% Solo
- Client facing
- Sometimes
- Impact visibility
- High
- Travel
- 10-20% domestic for site visits and inspections
- Schedule flexibility
- Moderate
- Remote work
- Limited Remote
- Typical work hours
- 40-50 hours/week
- Stress level
- Moderate
At a glance
- Median salary
- $80,000
- Entry-level
- $50,000 - $65,000
- Senior
- $110,000+
- Growth by 2033
- 8% (faster than average)
- Demand
- Growing
- Freelance potential
- Low
- Salary growth potential
- High to 80-120% growth from entry to senior
- Typical student debt
- $30,000 - $50,000
Skills you'll use
Hard skills
- Environmental Regulations
- Data Analysis
- GIS
- Project Management
- Report Writing
- Sampling
Soft skills
- Problem-solving
- Communication
- Critical Thinking
- Attention to Detail
- Adaptability
- Collaboration
Technical complexity: High
How to get there
- Minimum education
- Bachelor's Degree
- Licensing
- Varies by State
- Years to mid-career
- 3-5 years
- Years to senior
- 7-10 years
- Career switching
- Moderate
Where this career leads
How people arrive here
Where you can go from here
Typical progression
- Environmental Protection Specialist I
- Environmental Protection Specialist II
- Senior Environmental Protection Specialist
- Environmental Program Manager
Future outlook
- Automation probability
- 25% to moderate risk
- AI disruption risk
- Low
- Demand trend
- Growing
How people feel about it
- Overall satisfaction
- 3.9/10
- Meaning
- 4.2/10
- Work-life balance
- 3.5/10
- Prestige
- 7.5/10
- Social perception
- High