Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health
Conduct research or perform investigation for the purpose of identifying, abating, or eliminating sources of pollutants or hazards that affect either the environment or public health. 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.
Most important skills
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
- Writing
- Speaking
- Science
- Complex Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Active Learning
Key knowledge
- English Language
- Biology
- Customer and Personal Service
- Law and Government
- Computers and Electronics
- Public Safety and Security
- Chemistry
- Administrative
What the work involves
- Conduct environmental audits or inspections or investigations of violations.
- Review and implement environmental technical standards, guidelines, policies, and formal regulations that meet all appropriate requirements.
- Provide advice on proper standards and regulations or the development of policies, strategies, or codes of practice for environmental management.
- Prepare charts or graphs from data samples, providing summary information on the environmental relevance of the data.
- Monitor environmental impacts of development activities.
- Research sources of pollution to determine their effects on the environment and to develop theories or methods of pollution abatement or control.
- Monitor effects of pollution or land degradation and recommend means of prevention or control.
- 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.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Investigative, Realistic, Conventional.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Bachelor's Degree (47.5% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 4 years, up to and including 6 years (29.1%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years (34.5%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 4: Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Low | Lower on contact with others than 72% of occupations compared | 39% of surveyed respondents chose “Contact with others most of the time” |
| Dealing with the public | High | Higher on dealing with the public than 79% of occupations compared | 58% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | Moderate | Higher on teamwork than 56% of occupations compared | 52% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 81% of occupations compared | 47% of surveyed respondents chose “Some freedom” |
| Time pressure | Moderate | Lower on time pressure than 55% of occupations compared | 75% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Conflict situations | Moderate | Higher on conflict situations than 57% of occupations compared | 45% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Low | Lower on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 63% of occupations compared | 44% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month” |
| Consequence of error | Low | Lower on consequence of error than 70% of occupations compared | 45% of surveyed respondents chose “Fairly serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: moderate
- Conflict situations: moderate
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: low
- Consequence of error: low
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 1.7%
- Contact with others about half the time: 25.51%
- Contact with others most of the time: 38.95%
- Constant contact with others: 33.83%
n = 30, Incumbent 08/2023
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 0.71%
- Fairly important: 11.78%
- Important: 14.27%
- Very important: 15.19%
- Extremely important: 58.05%
n = 30, Incumbent 08/2023
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 6.82%
- Important: 3.31%
- Very important: 37.53%
- Extremely important: 52.35%
n = 30, Incumbent 08/2023
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0.18%
- Very little freedom: 9.74%
- Limited freedom: 26.21%
- Some freedom: 46.71%
- A lot of freedom: 17.16%
n = 30, Incumbent 08/2023
Time pressure
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 1.55%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 20.47%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 75.32%
- Every day: 2.65%
n = 30, Incumbent 08/2023
Conflict situations
- Never: 0.71%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 45.37%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 14.37%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 38.45%
- Every day: 1.1%
n = 30, Incumbent 08/2023
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 5.92%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 44.05%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 39.28%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 9.93%
- Every day: 0.82%
n = 30, Incumbent 08/2023
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 6.5%
- Fairly serious: 44.54%
- Serious: 41.69%
- Very serious: 0.85%
- Extremely serious: 6.42%
n = 29, Incumbent 08/2023
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O*NET-SOC 19-2041.00 · SOC 19-2041 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8