Career Exploration

Tips for career exploration

  • Get experience: The best way to explore possible career pathways is to start getting experience in different areas of environmental work. Internships, field courses, and volunteer work are a few of the ways to get experience.

  • Conduct informational interviews: Conduct informational interviews with people who work in career industries of interest to you in order to gain insights into a career field or company and build your network. You can find folks to reach out to on the Career Advice Network or LinkedIn.

  • Talk to ENVS faculty: Visit office hours with ENVS faculty or lecturers, and ask them if they have advice for you. Tell them about your interests, your passions, your experience (and if you don't have experience yet, that's ok). You can ask them about grad school, too!

  • Discover where ENVS alumni have worked: Look at what kinds of jobs ENVS alumni have done. This might give you ideas of possible careers or positions you could consider.

  • Reflect: Take some time each quarter to think about what classes, internships, or other experiences you enjoy -- and what you don't enjoy. Sometimes we speed through life and don't stop to think about whether our activities are a good fit for our strengths and interests. Keeping track of these reflections will help guide you toward a career that works for you!

  • Meet with a career coach: The UCSC Career Success office has career coaches on staff who are available to meet one-on-one with students.  

Types of careers our graduates have pursued

(We also have a list of specific jobs held by ENVS alumni!)

Environmental Consulting

Wildlife Ecology

International construction and development

Department of the Interior

Coastal zone planning

State and National Parks

Urban, regional and land-use planning Bureau of Land Management
Environmental law Department of Fish and Game
Natural history museums

Private aid organizations

Environmental mediation Farm advising
Peace Corps Plant ecology
Freelance writing/media production County Agricultural Commissioner's Office
Resource policy analysis Integrated pest management research/consulting

Environmental Protection Agency

Small scale agriculture-farm management
Environmental health monitoring Horticulture-arboretum management
Waste management Landscape design/maintenance
Recycling management Environmental organizer
Teaching - all levels Special interest groups
Outdoor education - all levels United Nations specialized agencies
Science education through school gardens

Agency of International Development