Also called: Principal Scientist, Environmental Project Director
Leads big environmental projects and teams at a consulting firm, winning clients and signing off on high-stakes reports.
You manage a multimillion-dollar cleanup of an old factory site, meet with the client and state regulators, review your team's reports, and pitch new work. You're the expert who testifies if things end up in court.
Estimate; bonuses and ownership stakes are common.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Master's degree, about 6 years after high school. Bachelor's or master's in environmental science, geology, or engineering, plus 15+ years and professional licenses (PE or PG).
Ways in: 4-year college, Graduate school, Certification. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Environmental Science, Environmental Engineering, Geology.
Growing about average.
Low risk for 10 years. AI drafts reports and crunches data; winning clients, leading teams and signing high-stakes reports stay human.
Classes: Chemistry, Earth science, Speech.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.