EnviroEducation.com - Helping You Sort It All Out
By Ward Allebach, Co-Founder, Enviro Education

For those of you who know that you want to enter the environmental field, as a student or a professional, you can breath a little easier.

EnviroEducation.com is just what you've been hoping for.

No more will you have to spend frustrating hours weeding through hundreds of responses to your queries on big search engines. We've already done it for you.

Everything on EnviroEducation.com has been researched, written and designed for those who are pursuing an environmental career. We've got a growing list of more than 2,000 environmental department and program listings and more than 1,000 links to help you with everything from searching for and applying to environmental programs to finding and winning environmental scholarships.   Then, we go beyond the academic, providing a clearinghouse for finding environmental jobs at top companies, government agencies and the conservation sector and training to receive environmental certificates and licenses.

But our main focus is on students and environmental education. Here's a description of what you will find on our site, by section:

On our front page, as you've probably already noticed, the primary focus and perhaps the most useful tool is our search engine.

If you know or have heard of a particular environmental program, and you want to find out more about it, you may punch in that name (or a portion of the name) at the top, where it says "Search by Name." If the school you are interested in is found in our database of environmental listings, it will appear on your next screen.

A broader search can be completed just below this (Search by Your Preference), where you can simply select the state or the subject you are interested in, using our pull-down bars. Say, you're interested in studying Forestry in the state of North Carolina. Make those selections, click Search, and you'll get your results.

If you don't find what you're looking for, but you know it exists, please let us know by clicking Feedback so we can give you more personalized help.

On the left side of the front page, you'll find our latest articles and interviews about environmental education and environmental careers. (You can see our full archive at EnviroEducation.com/interviews/, which includes dozens.)

Some of the articles have been written by us, and some have been contributed by top environmental program leaders from prominent universities or by environmental business and conservation leaders from around the country. Some examples:

• Interested in knowing what the future may hold for environmental careers? Don't miss "Trends in Environmental Jobs and Employment", an interview with Kevin Doyle of the Environmental Careers Organization.

• Interested in some insight into the application process at a prominent school? Check out this piece contributed by Stanford University's Environmental Egineering Department to walk you through how they handle it.

• Need to track down some money for your environmental studies? We put together a killer "Environmental Scholarships Guide." And there's more...

Adding to these resources, we're always on the lookout for environmental professionals, students and academics in every discipline imaginable to share their education and work experience. For example:

• If you know that you want to get involved in oceanography, see our interview with Evan Forde, a 30-year veteran with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

• If you're intrigued by agricultural engineering, read about how Kim Scamman's found her way in the field, and it will give you some ideas about how to get there yourself.

• If you want to hear first-hand from a student about what it's like to study in the field, see our interview with Toby Shackelford, who is working on his Bachelor's at Northern Arizona University.

• We also have interviews covering more than a dozen other environmental fields, such as Ecological Design, Environmental Advocacy, Forestry, Outdoor Education, Meteorology, and much more!

These features are always growing, changing and covering more and more ground. AND, we want to be sure that we're give you truly useful information as you explore a career in the environmental field, covering important topics like:

• Getting into the best environmental programs
• Choosing environmental programs
• Finding environmental scholarships
• The hottest environmental careers
• Environmental professional's salary surveys
• Environmental student surveys
• Graduate school and international student features

Not all of this these will appear at once, though! We're accepting, writing and reviewing articles on an ongoing basis, and we'll be adding new ones on a regular basis to keep the site interesting and fresh for you. Come back every month and you're bound to find newer, rich sources of information. So, please bookmark this site and visit us frequently - you'll find that we have a lot to offer as you make your way toward an environmental career!

Now, we get more detailed.... On the left, you've already noticed our rainbow-colored Chapter buttons. You'll find more than 1,000 links to articles, books, directories, companies and resources for the environmentally-concerned. Here's the breakdown:

Here, you'll find links, books and articles that will help you prepare your application to an environmental program. You'll find general and specific information on the process of applying, including information on Accreditation, Choosing a Program, Planning to Apply, and other Environmental Program Directories to help you in your search.

Most of the books you'll see here are focused on the environment as a career. If the description is something that you think will help you along the path, then you click on your choice and go directly to Amazon.com to purchase the book. Very convenient, and it cuts out the agony and frustration of looking through a larger search engine. If you know of a worthy addition, please let us know!

Here are even more books, links and articles to help you pursue an environmental career! This includes finding great environmental internships, an inside look at the environmental job market, and searching for environmental jobs. We not only have links to the best Environmental Job Boards, we have resources that will refine your search, your resume, your cover letter, and your interviewing skills specifically geared toward environmental employers!

Paying for your environmental education may be daunting, but we hope that this section will take at least a little of the fear out of it. We've listed more than just financial advice, but also more than 100 environmental scholarship, fellowship and award opportunities which may catch your attention. And, through our feature article on Environmental Scholarships, we hope that you will be on your way to a better night's sleep with the security of knowing that there is, indeed, funding within your reach.

The environment is an emotional issue to many, many people. If you're entering or already in the environmental field, there's a good chance that you have strong feelings about the importance of environmental protection. This Chapter gives you more than just a few outlets where you can discuss the issues that concern you most. Express your views, learn through the experience and knowledge of others, network with professionals in the field. This is an excellent forum to do it.

You probably already know that the environment is a complex field. There's a lot of technical terminology that you must be familiar with, depending on your specific area of interest or study. In this Chapter, you'll find dozens of glossaries that delve into the language of the environment, explaining the lingo that you may need to know and learn. Look for something specific that you may have come across, or just browse through the language of a certain discipline.

All environmental systems are connected, so you must know that issues all over the world are affected by many of the actions we take here. Concerned people everywhere are working to resolve environmental problems, and this Chapter shows just a glimpse of the international news, the issues and the organizations. We'll continue to add more, but, in the meantime, please help us make this Chapter truly global by submitting any links that you know of!

This Chapter is a work in progress. We're trying to complete a good definition for every conceivable environmental major, with information on what you'll learn, what kind of job you could get when you graduate, what salary range you can expect, and examples of the programs available. Please revisit us to see your field of interest, or submit one through Feedback that you'd like to see us finish soon.

Most newspapers don't even touch the tip of the iceberg when it comes to reporting on the most important environmental issues. In this Chapter, you'll find on-line newspapers, magazines, journals and papers devoted solely to the environment. You can bookmark the ones that cover the most current news on the stuff you care about most. Some will even e-mail directly with environmental news you every day!

When you're in the environmental field, you'll find that you need all of the resources you can get. Here's our compilation of professional and conservation organizations, as well as information on a variety of environmental topics, government agencies and training opportunities. As you can imagine, there are a lot more resources out there than we have listed here, so please help us to continue building this Chapter by letting us know what you know.

There are tests for certificates and licenses in every environmental profession. And the requirements can be drastically different from state to state even within the same discipline. In the academic world, there are tests after tests to prove your professional competency. This Chapter is definitely in the building phase, but it includes a few resources already that could help you prepare. Eventually, we hope to have links to all sorts of on-line tests and resources, including sample tests, prep courses and more. Please check back soon to see how it's coming, or send us your Feedback as to what you'd like to see in this Chapter.

As you will see, there's a head-swimming amount of information on EnviroEducation.com! We have more than 1,000 links and listings for more than 2,000 colleges & universities with environmental programs.

But we want it to be even bigger and better than that. This site is designed to help you, the future environmental professional. It will grow, but with your Feedback, it will grow even faster! Take a look around, and let us know what you think.