These days it is feared that human activity is causing a lot of problems with our environment. As a result, there is a great demand for graduates to fulfil the many job roles that have been created by environmental legislation. These roles are usually involved in minimisation & prevention of pollution, waste, climate change, resource depletion and other such issues. Some departments need environmental researchers, others need planners, whilst more legally focused minds will be needed in implementing the legislation as law. Such a rewarding and worthwhile course choice may well be worth investigating further by those aiming to enter environmental fields as a career.
Environmental graduates can go on to work in areas such as emergency planning, maintenance and preservation of national parks, research collaboration, waste prevention, sustainable energy management, town planning and a large number of other careers. A good environmental course will allow you to go into any of these fields, although more specialisation may then be required to steer students towards specific fields of study.
The length of an environmental course can vary depending on the level of the course. There are a number of higher certificate course options out there, the average length of those is two years. There are also degree courses in environmental engineering and sciences and they tend to last three to four years. However there are also short environmental courses offered at community colleges, these can give an idea of what is involved and also serve to supplement knowledge. In this way participants can test the waters before committing to a more lengthy study programme or can upgrade current skills & knowledge to further career prospects.
The following institutes have a selection of courses on offer for anyone looking to get into the areas of environmental study..
1. http://www.naturalscience.tcd.ie – Trinity College Dublin – Trinity College has a Centre for the Environment and thus has a vast array of courses. They are both undergraduate and postgraduate but the research that is conducted there may just give you the career edge.
2. http://www.nuigalway.ie/natural_sciences/ – The School of Natural Sciences in NUI Galway offers a range of undergraduate, postgraduate and research options for environmental students.
3. http://www.ucd.ie – Environmental Institute at University College Dublin – UCD offers a general degree in the environmental sciences, and it is designed to give individuals an introduction to the elements involved in it!
4. http://www.wit.ie/ – Waterford Institute of Technology – There is a two year National Certificate in environmental engineering on offer here, which is slightly different and offers a shorter term study option than the degree courses on offer elsewhere.
5. http://www.itcarlow.ie/ – Institute of Technology Carlow – This institution offers a range of courses, from the one year diploma to the two year National Certificate and includes a good range of work placement opportunities.
Further Resources
View the following link for Findacourse.ie Environmental Course Listings