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Environmental Engineering through the Eyes of the Environmental Protection Division

Liesel Fazekas

Harrison STEM Program

Advanced Scientific Research

Curran

April 25, 2022

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Career Choice.................................................................................................................3

Introduction..................................................................................................................................3

Job Description............................................................................................................................4

A Day in the Life.........................................................................................................................5

Pros and Cons...............................................................................................................................6

Chapter 2: From Here to There........................................................................................................7

Profession Profile.........................................................................................................................7

Education.....................................................................................................................................9

Budgeting...................................................................................................................................10

Chapter 3: Personal Assessment....................................................................................................12

My Skills....................................................................................................................................12

My Personality...........................................................................................................................13

My Motivation...........................................................................................................................14

Chapter 4: Productivity..................................................................................................................15

My Project..................................................................................................................................15

Career Connection......................................................................................................................16

References......................................................................................................................................18
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Chapter 1: Career Choice

Introduction

Ever since I was a little girl, I have been fascinated with global warming and our world’s

environmental problems. Whether researching seismographs or watching the news during

Hurricane Irene, I was obsessed with the weather and how humans impacted the environment.

Fast forward to junior year of high school, I took AP Environmental Science and did several

environmental focused labs in Biomedical Innovations, which sealed my interest in pursuing a

career with an environmental focus. When given the opportunity to set up my own internship in

my senior STEM capstone class, I reached out the closest Environmental Protection Agency

State Office to see if I could explore my interest further. Along my exploration of my career

interests, each step has continued to increase my interest in the environmental field.

Studying and living through the environmental damage humans have created, I have

grown more passionate about finding a solution. As I learn more about environmental

engineering, I have come to find the environmental field is more focused towards maintaining

the current pollution and damage levels rather than working to reverse it. This has inspired me to

dive deeper into researching policies and regulations Georgia has towards environmental

damage. I want to enter this career field to instill change and work towards finding practical

solutions to reverse these negative effects on our environment. In my experience in the

environmental field, I feel purposeful and happy to know it is a growing profession with room

and focus on change.

With the adaptability of environmental engineering in mind, encouraging change and

creativity has increased the interest in the field. Engineering is a growing profession throughout
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the United States (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2022). Because governmental and private

agencies are keen to offer job opportunities to new graduates of engineering programs, it gives

engineers space to innovate and shape their career towards their specific interests. Because of

this, I am drawn towards engineering with an environmental focus.

Job Description

Environmental engineering is an engineering career that focuses on finding solutions to

environmental obstacles that affect the health of environment and society (Learn.org, 2022).

Environmental Engineers have career opportunities in governmental agencies, consulting firms,

and private businesses. Some job tasks include designing wastewater treatment plants, designing

solid waste sites, designing water systems, approving water systems, designing wells, approving

well drilling sites, and many smaller tasks dealing with compliance and permit writing (Nix,

2022). Environmental Engineers earn an average salary of $70,000 per year (Zippia, 2022). The

bottom ten percent of jobs in this field earn around $52,000 per year while the upper end earns

around $92,000 per year (Zippia, 2022). Environmental Engineers need to be knowledgeable and

confident people.

Whether these engineers choose a job on the designing end or compliance end of the

field, people skills are necessary to achieve the goals that are set. Environmental Engineers that

choose the private route through consulting firms or opening and owning a new firm need to be

able to explain the job and design in depth enough for the system owner to understand the costs

and necessary adjustments needed to create a successful system. Environmental Engineers that

choose the compliance route through governmental agencies or private compliance and

regulatory firms need competent people skills even more so than the private route. These

engineers need to be able to read the knowledge level and demeanor of the client to gain
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compliance in the most peaceful way possible. Engineers on the compliance side may be

discussing permit regulations with a skilled operator or an unskilled private landowner. Along

with the textbook skills engineers will learn to achieve a degree, social skills and people reading

are two of the most beneficial skills in this career.

A Day in the Life

As an Environmental Engineer, there are many different job titles to pursue. Taking a job

in the private or governmental route will determine how a day in this career will go. Through my

internship, I have experienced the governmental track up close, but on either track office time

and field time is split similarly and evenly.

In the Environmental Protection Division office, engineers spend their time in the office

reviewing proposed system plans and approving permit requests. Engineers also work with in

their specialties team to collaborate on solutions to problems. For example, an Environmental

Engineer may be in the drinking water team, solid waste team, wastewater management team, or

air quality team. In the past few years, opportunities to do office work at home have been

available. Engineers spend their time out in the field conducting inspections, meeting with

privately employed engineers, and creating modifications for older systems to meet new

standards. Engineers also spend time reviewing rules and regulations of all systems within their

team’s specialty in case a problem arises. Working as an Environmental Engineer within a

government agency gives plenty of opportunities to experience field work while balancing it

with office work to avoid burnout. Many engineering consulting firms prefer separate engineers

for each task. For example, one engineer in the office only to deal with paperwork and

administrative tasks, and one engineer only in the field conducting samples and creating designs

without any assigned office time to complete other tasks. I prefer the governmental positions set
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up because it allows balance in the workplace and avoids boredom or burnout. Governmental

work also gives more guaranteed job benefits and paid time off.

Recently, careers in engineering have been increasing in demand (U.S. Bureau of Labor

Statistics, 2022). Engineering also has a high rate of turnover or position change, which keeps

job openings open constantly. Although environmental engineering specifically is only projected

to grow 4% in the next few years, several thousands of jobs open each year for Environmental

Engineers due to the high rates of turnover and transfer (Zippia, 2022).

Pros and Cons

Environmental engineering has many perks, but like any other job it can be difficult. It is

a job that has steady and decent pay, can be entertaining, and works towards resolving

environmental damage that could turn life-threatening. It is also a job that has a small outlook, is

reluctant to drastic policy change, and can be mentally draining.

With a salary range of around $50,000 to $90,000 per year, environmental engineering is

a sustainable career for the life of an average American (Zippia, 2022). These engineers could

earn even more than this range, depending on the level of education they pursue. Environmental

engineering includes field work and trips outside of the office. Field work instills creativity and

allows engineers to experience their work firsthand instead of constantly behind a computer

screen. Most of the designs and systems are near farmland, so the job comes with pretty views on

the commutes to and from job sites. Environmental Engineers work closely with policy and

gradually permitting less pollution. This allows these engineers to use innovative thinking to find

solutions and design systems that make reversing damage to the environment easier on both sides

of the spectrum. These designs must be easy to implement and favored by the community while
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also helping to reverse environmental damage at a quick enough pace to make a difference for

future generations.

Specifically, Environmental Engineers have a 4% projected growth over the next few

years (Zippia, 2022). This is a concerning number for this career because it is below the national

average of 7.7% for all professions (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2022). Also, policy change

will need to be implemented quickly and dramatically to make a difference for a safer and

cleaner future. Unfortunately, this career field is tricky to create effective change due to the

impracticality of drastically changing any pollution limits because of large corporations. It is

very difficult to make both sides of the spectrum happy, which creates a complicated issue

Environmental Engineers must deal with. Lastly, consulting firms have a reputation of running

engineers into the ground due to the increasing number of tasks Environmental Engineers must

complete. This is because of the increase in policy enforcement and the increase of specificity on

policies, which I have experienced through my internship at the Environmental Protection

Division. These are just a few of the challenges Environmental Engineers must face in their

career field.

Chapter 2: From Here to There

Profession Profile

Environmental engineering, like most engineering professions, takes a lot of problem

solving and critical thinking skills. In this profession, many of the tasks include designing

systems, solving compliance issues, analyzing/collecting data, and creating new ideas for

environmental remediation (AAEE, 2017). Environmental engineering requires structure and

self-discipline to meet deadlines and work on tight timelines when there are environmental
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emergencies, but also gives room for imagination and creativity when finding new ways to make

our planet better.

To anyone who is interested in environmental engineering, there are many specific traits

and learning styles that a person must display to be successful. The basic necessary skills may

include people/social skills, problem solving skills, an active imagination, communication skills,

and comprehension skills. These skills listed may seem simple and broadly applied to almost

every career, but when combining these skills with a passion for the environment, wanting to

help people, and having a tactile learning style, a budding Environmental Engineer arises. Social

skills and communication skills go hand in hand; whether in the enforcement side of this career

or the private side, tone and demeanor is important to portray the right message to a client. To

implement a more environmentally friendly design proposal, the client must agree to it first. On

the enforcement side, if someone is out of compliance, an Environmental Engineer must have the

necessary people skills to respectfully tell the noncompliant person how to fix it. With correct

communication skills, compliance becomes easily attainable, but a message delivered the wrong

way can start lawsuits and messy arguments. Problem solving skills are the most important skill

set for this profession. As the world is hitting its limit on sustainability, Environmental Engineers

must work fast to create solutions and implement them to try to reverse the effects of the damage

humans have already done. Between green house gas emissions, exhausting our natural

nonrenewable resources, and continuous pollution, Environmental Engineers must use problem

solving skills to identify, brainstorm, create, and solve these issues in an economically feasible

way. This poses the greatest challenge on this profession, so those interested in environmental

engineering must be willing to take on this challenge.

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This profession takes grit, patience, persistence, and passion to be successful. With the

combination of great communication skills and effective problem-solving skills, environmental

engineering would be perfect for those up to the challenge.

Education

To become an Environmental Engineer, a Bachelor’s and possibly a Master’s degree is

required (Learn.org, 2022). Environmental engineering is still a new and growing field, so many

universities may not offer an undergraduate degree directly in environmental engineering.

A Bachelor of Science in environmental engineering will make a graduate degree

pathway easier, but many related fields are beneficial to aspiring Environmental Engineers such

as general engineering, environmental science, mechanical engineering, civil engineering, or just

a Bachelor of Science or Bachelor of Science in engineering. Courses and majors that focus on

problem solving, environmental systems, and data collection are beneficial to those wanting to

pursue a career in environmental engineering. For an undergraduate degree, the engineering

industry does not have a specific preference on the prestigious or high-ranking institutions but

does narrow down the legitimacy of an institution once the degree reaches a graduate level.

Regardless of undergraduate or graduate distinction for engineering degrees, the

institution providing the education must be accredited by the Accreditation Board for

Engineering and Technology (ABET) for a degree to be legitimate in the engineering world’s

eyes. In terms of needing a graduate degree or not, the governmental agency track offers more

options to those with just undergraduate degrees and more opportunities to do co-ops or paid

internships alongside working towards a graduate degree. For those interested in starting a

private firm or joining a private firm, a graduate degree in specifically environmental

engineering or civil engineering is necessary. To become a professional engineer, there is a

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Professional Engineering (P.E.) exam like the bar exam for lawyers. The P.E. exam is different

in every state, so if an engineer were to move from Georgia to Virginia, for example, that person

would have to re-test through the Virginia P.E. exam process to keep their licensing. If the

engineer’s goal is to become a senior engineer or partner/owner of a private consulting or

engineering firm, the appropriate licensing as a professional engineer is mandatory.

Budgeting

Environmental engineering has a good return on investment between the degree and the

career. Depending on a preference towards governmental agencies or private firms, a budding

engineer can choose to only spend money on a bachelor’s degree because a graduate degree is

not always necessary in this career choice.

As stated in the education section, smaller institutions and universities are not frowned

upon for undergraduate degrees for this career. This means there is an opportunity to save money

and not take out as many student’s loans by studying undergraduate at an in state or more

affordable institution. As a woman, STEM career fields are mostly male dominated, so there are

many scholarships available to girls interested in engineering. Because environmental

engineering is also a growing field and major, some schools may like the specificity of an

environmental engineering student and offer more scholarship opportunities because schools are

trying to increase engineering student yield upon admittance. If the private firm route is desired,

a graduate degree and professional engineer licensing may be necessary. There are still many

ways to save money and decrease spending on education while trying to achieve a graduate

degree. Some of these programs include 5-year BS/MS degree programs, Co-ops, and paid

internships. A 5-year BS/MS degree program is an undergraduate and graduate degree program

combined that minimizes the amount of time spent in school (Zippia, 2022). Instead of a 4-year
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undergraduate degree and a 2–3-year graduate degree, an engineer can obtain both in the first 5

years out o high school which saves money. A Co-op is when a student alternates semesters

between school and work. A student may want to work at an engineering firm to earn money to

pay for school and gain experience. A Co-op allows this to happen while also allowing the

student to continue working towards a degree. Many of these options for undergraduate and

graduate programs save money and decrease the amount of student loans an engineering student

will have to pay off in the future.

Environmental Engineers earn an average of around $70,000 per year. This salary may

fluctuate based on experience, degrees, and positions within a company, but overall, it is a

sustainable salary (Zippia, 2022). The environmental engineering field has a high return on

investment for new engineers because of the set salaries calculated based on experience and

number of degrees. Because of this, the environmental engineering field makes sure that students

are rewarded with appropriate salary increases based on the amount of money and effort that

student put into earning a certain number of degrees. With these facts in mind, post graduate

engineers would be able to pay between $2,000 - $3,000 of student debt off per year

(SmartAsset, 2022). Also, post-graduate students would have up to a $2,000 yearly surplus

(SmartAsset, 2022). Although this does not seem like much, starting salaries vary largely based

on education level and private versus public industry. So, an engineer that picks a private

company immediately out of school and cuts down on unnecessary expenses will have a much

easier time making more spending money outside of necessary expenses.

Between several affordable college options and high returns on investment within the

engineering industry, living sustainably and earning money will not be at the top of the list of

issues that Environmental Engineers will have to deal with.

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Chapter 3: Personal Assessment

My Skills

Throughout my high school courses, and especially my STEM courses, I have acquired

several life skills, STEM specific skills, and many other useful skills for my intended career field

of environmental engineering. I obtained several specific STEM skills through these courses

such as digital microscopy, gel electrophoresis, gram staining, chromatography, BLAST

biotechnology, PCR, and coliforms testing, but most of these are not directly useful in the

environmental engineering career field. However, I have also developed important broad skills

such as problem solving, critical thinking, project management, communication skills, data

analysis, technological literacy, following the design process, and adaptability. I know these

skills will prove to be useful across all aspects of my life because they are life skills, but the

STEM program taught me these skills in a way that molded them towards STEM careers and

thinking towards possible careers.

Out of all the skills I have learned, problem solving, critical thinking, and communication

will be the most helpful skills in a career in environmental engineering. Because engineering is a

field heavy with designing, creating, and testing, an engineer must have solid problem solving

and critical thinking skills to find the problem and invent the solution through the design process.

Communication skills are also very important because engineering requires a lot of collaboration

and helping others understand the problem and how it relates to your solution. Also, if I were to

enter the compliance side of environmental engineering positions, communication is key to

happy and knowledgeable clientele that are willing to cooperate with you to gain compliance.

There are several other more specific skills I have learned that are used across environmental
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engineering, such as coliforms tests for drinking water samples, but these three life skills will

most likely prove to be the most helpful for environmental engineering.

Some of my strengths that will help me in the environmental engineering field include

social skills, being driven, and my creativity. Some of my weaknesses include taking on too

much work at once and not allocating time efficiently. As I grow as a student and an engineer, I

will need to learn how allocate my time correctly because engineering can be a very time

demanding and mentally demanding field, so being organized is necessary to succeed. Overall, I

have acquired many skills in high school that will benefit me in the engineering field, but I still

have plenty of skills to learn and improve on.

My Personality

The most successful Environmental Engineers occupy personality traits such as

curiosity, creativity, critical thinking, good communication, and a collaborative mindset

(Kettering Global, 2016). Tactile or hands on learning is also a common style found in engineers.

Overall, environmental engineers must be outdoorsy, active minded people.

I have always employed some of these personality traits, but others I have acquired

through learning and life lessons. Curiosity and creativity have always been personality traits and

skills that have come naturally to me. However, my introverted personality made collaboration

and communication skills I had to learn to use correctly to get to where I am now. Problem

solving and critical thinking are a bit of both: nature and nurture. Overall, I know I have all the

right skills and personality traits to excel in the environmental engineering field.

Engineering is field where you need to be creative but a sharp thinker which is cohesive

with the ISTJ Myers Briggs personality type (Career Assessment Site, 2008). My Myers Briggs
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personality type is an INTJ, so I am close to the optimal personality type. I also have a passion

for the environment which makes my personality more fit for this career because I do not lack

passion. Ever since I was little, I found myself fascinated with building things, taking things

apart, and overall using my mind and curiosity to push my limits. This intellectual curiosity I

have grown to embrace sets me on track to be a good candidate for environmental engineering.

All my skills and traits that I possess are generally cohesive to those of an engineer, so I think the

career would be a good fit for me.

My Motivation

Throughout my research, my choice to pursue environmental engineering has only been

reassured as what I want to do because of my love for STEM classes and innovative thinking. I

feel I fit into or will grow into the skills, preparation, and traits needed to be successful in

engineering. I feel this career has a stable, sustainable income, plenty of job opportunities, and

many options to move within the career until I am happy with a position. My next steps will be

to pursue this as a major for my bachelor’s degree beginning in the fall of this year.

I applied to fourteen universities and colleges this year. Each having a distinguished

engineering school or program that I have extensively researched to find which one would suit

me the best. I applied to University of Georgia, Auburn University, University of Miami,

Clemson University, Wake Forest University, Duke University, University of Virginia, Virginia

Tech, Georgia Tech, Lehigh University, Boston College, Dartmouth College, University of

Vermont, and University of Kentucky. Out of these schools, I have been admitted to seven. Eight

of these schools have an environmental engineering major while the rest have civil engineering

with an environmental focus. Five of these schools have five-year MS/BS degree paths, which I

am planning on participating in. When I become an undergraduate student, I plan on joining

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Women in Engineering societies, sustainability clubs and organizations, and participating in an

engineering semester abroad program. Overall, my initial five-year plan is to earn my Bachelor

of Engineering and Master’s in environmental engineering degrees and possibly minor in

business.

After I graduate, or towards the end of my college experience, I plan to intern at an

engineering firm to gain experience and bearings in this competitive field. I plan to move to a

different part of the country after I graduate since my career choice does not limit my location to

any specific places. I would love to go back to school for my Ph.D. or MBA, so I can start my

own engineering firm after that. Overall, I feel confident and secure in my career choice, and I

am excited for the bright future ahead of me.

Chapter 4: Productivity

My Project

My applied learning project is creating a new program and equation for fair penalty

assessment in the Environmental Protection Division (EPD): Mountain District. The current

process for penalty assessment is inefficient and unfair because of its lack of inclusion of all the

variables. Penalty assessment is the process of administering a monetary punishment for

companies and municipalities to serve if they are out of compliance or past the limits allowed on

their designated permits (Stickney, 2022). For penalty assessment to be fair, population, private

versus public, demographics, and city versus county are all factors that need to be assessed first.

Overall, the main problem with the current system is the lack of data used and inefficiency due to

the EPD employees having to do the research and numbers by hand for these factors every time

they find an organization or person out of compliance.

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With the help of my mentor and his resources, I have done extensive research on the

counties and city populations for each of the counties the Mountain District office covers. My

idea is to gather all the necessary research through the databases given to me and enter it into an

excel spreadsheet with formulas. These formulas would allow the user to input the county or city

name and the spreadsheet will populate with all the correct factors for that county or city. The

spreadsheet itself will calculate the penalty and factor in all the necessary variables at the click of

a button.

This spreadsheet will help the EPD: Mountain District office work more efficiently and

correctly in their penalty adjustment duties. This way companies and municipalities are held

accountable in the right way and encouraged to comply instead of having to serve a blanket

penalty whether they were barely over a limit or majorly over a limit. Also, this will help smaller

communities have more affordable ways to pay off a penalty while also putting money towards

fixing the issue instead of going broke from the penalty alone.

Career Connection

Environmental engineering is a broad career with many opportunities, as stated

previously above. Depending on the track a new engineers chose to take, an engineer will take on

compliance and inspection roles if employed by a governmental agency. The Environmental

Protection Division has district offices across the state that all operate differently but under the

same set of bylaws and guidelines. Some EPD offices have different preferences on how each

branch team operates, but at my internship, each member of any branch team is expected to go

out into the field for inspections, complaints, and testing. Penalty assessment is also a task any

inspector or investigator within the EPD must participate in.

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My project is creating a new formula and spreadsheet to make penalty assessment more

efficient and fairer. Any Environmental Engineer in the EPD would have to conduct penalty

assessment and paperwork for any inspection that returns out of compliance. By creating

efficiency on the office work side of engineers in the EPD, the engineers will have more time to

review designs, go out into the field for other tasks, and use their knowledge more effectively.

Without this new spreadsheet, EPD employees, such as an Environmental Engineer, spend more

time doing repetitive research and calculations to do penalty assessment by hand and on their

own.

Although this project will only overlap with engineers working with the EPD, it is a

beneficial project for the EPD employees, small communities with smaller money pools, and

overall companies and municipalities because it allows more time to focus on the important

things, such as reversing environmental damage and limiting emissions and pollution. By giving

Environmental Engineers more time to focus on what they are trained to do, new solutions will

arise in the environmental field, affecting everyone positively.

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References

AAEE. (2017, June 22). Traits companies look out for while hiring environmental engineers.

Retrieved from AAEE: aaee.net/2017/06/22/traits-companies-look-for-environmental-

engineers/

Career Assessment Site. (2008). Myers briggs type for civil engineers. Retrieved from Career

Assessment Site: https://careerassessmentsite.com/tests/myers-briggs-test/mbti-

personality-types/istj/careers/civil-engineers/myers-briggs-istj-career/#:~:text=For

%20example%2C%20the%20analytical%2C%20structured%2C%20project-driven

%20mental%20processes,a%20good%20match%20

Kettering Global. (2016, October 6). Top personality traits of engineers. Retrieved from

Kettering Global: https://online.kettering.edu/news/2016/10/06/top-personality-traits-

engineers#:~:text=Top%20Personality%20Traits%20of%20Engineers

%201%20Curiosity.%20Children,project%20managers%2C%20and%20others%20from

%20various%20business%20units.

Learn.org. (2022). Environmental engineering degree information. Retrieved from Learn.org:

https://learn.org/articles/What_are_Some_Well-

Known_Colleges_You_Can_Attend_for_an_Undergraduate_Environmental_Engineering

_Degree.html#:~:text=Degrees%20in%20environmental%20engineering%20that

%20prepare%20students%20for,the%20many%20emerging%20career%20pa

Nix, R. (2022, February 18). Professional Profile #3: Interview. (L. Fazekas, Interviewer)

SmartAsset. (2022). Student loan calculator. Retrieved from SmartAsset :

https://smartasset.com/student-loans/student-loan-calculator#vzRhGQzhyN
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Stickney, M. (2022, February 18). Profession Profile #3: Interview. (L. Fazekas, Interviewer)

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2022, January 4). Occupational outlook handbook:

Environmental engineer. Retrieved from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics:

https://www.bls.gov/ooh/architecture-and-engineering/environmental-engineers.htm

Zippia. (2022, February 9). Average environmental engineer salary. Retrieved from Zippia: The

career expert: https://www.zippia.com/environmental-engineer-jobs/salary/