With the effects of climate change becoming more evident, many young folks are looking to build careers around finding solutions to the problem.
After all, young people are likely to bear the brunt of climate change’s most severe impacts if it goes on unmitigated — from global warming to more intense natural disasters. In an international survey conducted in 2022, the United Nations Development Program found that 70% of respondents under the age of 18 said climate change was a “global emergency.”
Likewise, a 2021 Pew Research Center survey found that millennials and Generation Z were more likely than older Americans to have recently taken some sort of personal action against climate change, such as donating money or volunteering with climate organizations.
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“When I started working in this field, it was pretty niche and kind of a small area of interest — you always had to explain to people what you were doing,” says Lisa Allyn Dale, an environmental policy specialist and co-director of the Columbia Climate School’s master’s degree in climate and society at Columbia University in New York. “Now, the impacts of climate change have become real and present in almost everybody’s life. I think the way that climate change is now affecting people’s individual lives has a lot more people interested and curious about it.”
Whether you’re interested in engineering solutions to help society adapt to the effects of climate change or want to help governments adopt policies that can mitigate it, experts agree that there are all sorts of ways for students to make a career out of taking action to address climate change.
STEM Majors and Climate Change
To understand how climate change works and engage with much of the research being conducted on it, it’s important for students to have a strong base of scientific knowledge. As a result, majoring in science, technology, engineering and math fields tends to be a common pathway to jobs addressing climate change.
Majoring in environmental science is one clear option for students interested in studying climate change, but it’s not the only one. Majors in geology, chemistry, oceanography or meteorology are other good options, Martha Monroe, a professor of environmental education and associate director of the School of Forest, Fisheries and Geomatics Sciences at the University of Florida, wrote in an email.
Additionally, students who are more interested in engineering can study civil or environmental engineering to learn more about how to help people and societies adapt to the effects of climate change.
Social Sciences and Climate Solutions
While it’s good to know the basics of environmental science and climate change, majoring in a STEM field is not necessary to pursue a career working in climate change. Many students who are interested in climate issues study topics like political science, urban planning and sociology.
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A background in political science or public policy is needed for careers shaping government responses to climate change at the local, state or federal levels.
James Bradbury, the mitigation program director at the Georgetown Climate Center, part of the Georgetown University Law Center, also recommends that students who are interested in pursuing a career in policy get involved in advocacy on campus. Many college campuses have student-run climate activism groups that allow students to gain hands-on experience with the political system.
Bradbury notes that students can learn a lot about how to effect change by getting involved with these groups and that they can be a valuable early experience for students interested in climate policy.
Monroe notes that a career in urban planning can also be an impactful way for students to work against climate change. The study of urban planning touches on topics like public transit, zoning laws and infrastructure — all of which will require a more sustainable and environmentally friendly approach as the climate changes.
“Architecture and urban planning jobs need to be reoriented to reduce fossil fuel consumption and address the realities of climate change, such as building design, location, transportation systems, etc.” she says. “In Florida, towns are raising roadbeds and bridges, and thinking differently about what happens on the first floor, in the likely scenario of flooding. Students who understand the urban planning or construction businesses can then work on the adaptations needed for climate change.”
Humanities and Communications Have a Role
Students who are interested in studying the humanities and the arts can also get involved in climate change work.
Dale says there’s a lot of demand for writers and communications specialists who can break down complex information on climate change and make it easily digestible for a more general audience. As a result, majoring in English, journalism or communications and taking electives on topics relevant to climate change can prepare students for this kind of work.
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She also says that artists and other creative types can play a role in communicating and raising awareness about climate change. Some students, she says, are best suited to creating art or writing poetry about climate change, and that can be a viable way to get involved in the field as well.
“In short, I think any major and every career will be able to make a difference and build a new society, but students need to select the ways they want to go about making change — as a teacher, as a theater major, as a scientist, whatever,” Monroe says.
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Want to Work on Climate Change? Here’s What to Study in College originally appeared on usnews.com
