Demand growing for environmental engineers

Engineers can be a calculating bunch, in the most literal sense. It’s their job to crunch hard numbers to find solutions to all manner of problems.

But environmental engineering goes far beyond mathematics and physics. The work requires a command of a broad range of disciplines, including chemistry, biology and environmental law.

And rather than designing buildings, industrial machinery, or power plants, environmental engineers work to mitigate harmful environmental impacts such projects can have.

Perhaps for that reason, the discipline tends to attract more socially inclined engineers and a larger cohort of female students, says University of Alberta environmental engineering professor Daryl McCartney.

“Typically, most engineering departments are around 25 per cent female and 75 per cent male,” he says. “Whereas in environmental engineering, we’re at about 50 per cent already.”

Rachelle Ormond is an environmental engineer based in Squamish, B.C., about 65 kilometres north of Vancouver. She chose the field because of her environmental concerns.

Ormond says there’s a wide variety of opportunities for environmental engineers. “For myself, I’ve had lots of different jobs. I’ve worked at landfills, waste water treatment plants, oil and gas remediation, also working with groundwater.

“I’ve also worked with farmers and helped them with their drinking water and water treatment. But most environmental engineers have different jobs,” she says. “One of my friends is working with tidal energy. Another girl is working at a research institute that is looking at ways to reclaim waste water in third-world countries.”

The demand for environmental engineering has grown over the past few decades. Today industrial projects of any significance all require environmental engineers to ensure adherence to environmental regulations, says Ormond.

“TYPICALLY,

MOST ENGINEERING DEPARTMENTS ARE AROUND 25 PER CENT FEMALE AND 75 PER CENT

MALE,”

DARYL MCCARTNEY

Environmental engineers need to be knowledgeable about a dauntingly varied array of subjects, and the pace of change in the profession requires them to commit to a lifetime of learning.

The rewards available to graduates who can deal with the pressures of the job are considerable.

Beyond that, there’s the satisfaction that comes with the job itself.

“I think for environmental engineering, it’s the fact that you are having a more tangible effect on people’s lives,” says Ormond. “Even the smallest towns, they usually have an environmental engineer.”