Guidance.help

Environmental Science Teachers, Postsecondary

Under the title Environmental Science Teachers, Postsecondary, workers teach courses in environmental science. The job can ask you to evaluate and grade students' class work, laboratory work, assignments, and papers. With a code of ISR, this is mostly a job for people drawn to research, analysis and working through hard problems. Social interests also help, rated 6.3 out of 7. Plan on graduate school and often five years or more of related experience; O*NET labels this extensive preparation. Strength in speaking, reading comprehension, and writing helps most here. Expect to prepare course materials, such as syllabi, homework assignments, and handouts. If you want research, analysis and working through hard problems, keep it on your list. If you need leading, persuading and making business decisions, it may feel thin.

What they do

Teach courses in environmental science. Includes both teachers primarily engaged in teaching and those who do a combination of teaching and research.

Main tasks

  • Evaluate and grade students' class work, laboratory work, assignments, and papers.
  • Prepare course materials, such as syllabi, homework assignments, and handouts.
  • Supervise students' laboratory and field work.
  • Advise students on academic and vocational curricula and on career issues.
  • Keep abreast of developments in the field by reading current literature, talking with colleagues, and participating in professional conferences.
  • Supervise undergraduate or graduate teaching, internship, and research work.

Skills

  • Speaking
  • Reading Comprehension
  • Writing
  • Science
  • Learning Strategies
  • Instructing

Who this career fits

May suit you if

  • You enjoy working out why something happens, not just what happened.
  • You get energy from helping other people move forward.
  • You are prepared for graduate-level study and a long training path.
  • You are comfortable relying on speaking and reading comprehension.

May not suit you if

  • You lose interest when a job asks for long stretches of analysis.
  • You want to lead people or run the business side. Enterprising rates 2.5 out of 7 here.
  • You want to be working in the field within the next few years.

Interest profile

O*NET rates each occupation from 1 to 7 on six interest types. The code ISR takes the three highest, and Investigative comes first here.

Preparation

Extensive preparation. Many jobs here need graduate study, and people often spend five years or more building specialist experience.

Most-reported requirement in the O*NET survey: Doctoral Degree. This reflects what workers reported most often and is not a legal minimum. Licensing rules can differ by state or industry, so confirm what applies where you plan to work.

Also called

  • Adjunct Professor
  • Assistant Professor
  • Associate Professor
  • Environmental Engineering Professor
  • Environmental Sciences Professor

Related careers

Is this your direction?

See how your interests line up with ISR and 906 other careers.

Take the career test

This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.