Health Environmental Scientists and Specialists: Salary, Job Description, How To Become One, and Quiz

Job description

Health Environmental Scientists and Specialists conduct research or perform investigation for the purpose of identifying, abating, or eliminating sources of pollutants or hazards that affect either the environment or the health of the population. Using knowledge of various scientific disciplines, may collect, synthesize, study, report, and recommend action based on data derived from measurements or observations of air, food, soil, water, and other sources.

• Provide scientific or technical guidance, support, coordination, or oversight to governmental agencies, environmental programs, industry, or the public.
• Review and implement environmental technical standards, guidelines, policies, and formal regulations that meet all appropriate requirements.
• Collect, synthesize, analyze, manage, and report environmental data, such as pollution emission measurements, atmospheric monitoring measurements, meteorological or mineralogical information, or soil or water samples.
• Analyze data to determine validity, quality, and scientific significance and to interpret correlations between human activities and environmental effects.

Salary

Health Environmental Scientists with little to no experience tend to make between $42520 and $53580 while the more experienced ones can earn over $94590 per year.

One of the easiest ways to increase your salary as a Health Environmental Scientist and Specialist is to move to a higher paying state like DC. Right now, the highest paying states for Health Environmental Scientists are DC, CO, CA, NM and VA.

However, a higher pay at DC doesn’t guarantee that you will make more because the living expenses at DC might be twice as high than where you are currently at now.

Three other factors that can increase your salary as a Health Environmental Scientist and Specialist is the degree you hold, the industry you work in, and lastly the company you work for.

Requirements

We asked other Health Environmental Scientists what degree they had when they got the job and most of them said they had a Bachelor’s Degree followed by a Master’s Degree.

Other than that, we also asked them what did they major in and here are the most popular majors that came up.

Pros and Cons

Here are some of the pros and cons of being a Health Environmental Scientist and Specialist.

What is the job like

70% of Health Environmental Scientists said they were satisfied with their job and 65% said they feel like their job is making other people’s lives better.

Is this right for me

You can read more about these career personality types here.

People who are suitable for this job tends to like working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. They like searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally..

They also like work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They like working with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery.

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