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Date: 05/18/2025

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.

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    Work Activities

    Work Activities

    • Plan or develop research models, using knowledge of mathematical and statistical concepts.
    • Communicate scientific or technical information to the public, organizations, or internal audiences through oral briefings, written documents, workshops, conferences, training sessions, or public hearings.
    • Monitor effects of pollution or land degradation and recommend means of prevention or control.
    • Design or direct studies to obtain technical environmental information about planned projects.
    • Process and review environmental permits, licenses, or related materials.
    • Evaluate violations or problems discovered during inspections to determine appropriate regulatory actions or to provide advice on the development and prosecution of regulatory cases.
    • Develop programs designed to obtain the most productive, non-damaging use of land.
    • Supervise or train students, environmental technologists, technicians, or other related staff.
    • Research sources of pollution to determine their effects on the environment and to develop theories or methods of pollution abatement 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.
    • Monitor environmental impacts of development activities.
    • Design or direct studies to obtain technical environmental information about planned projects.
    • Provide advice on proper standards and regulations or the development of policies, strategies, or codes of practice for environmental management.
    • Review and implement environmental technical standards, guidelines, policies, and formal regulations that meet all appropriate requirements.
    • Provide scientific or technical guidance, support, coordination, or oversight to governmental agencies, environmental programs, industry, or the public.
    • Develop the technical portions of legal documents, administrative orders, or consent decrees.
    • Develop methods to minimize the impact of production processes on the environment, based on the study and assessment of industrial production, environmental legislation, and physical, biological, and social environments.
    • Monitor effects of pollution or land degradation and recommend means of prevention or control.
    • Supervise or train students, environmental technologists, technicians, or other related staff.
    • Investigate and report on accidents affecting the environment.
    • Conduct applied research on environmental topics, such as waste control or treatment or pollution abatement methods.
    • Prepare charts or graphs from data samples, providing summary information on the environmental relevance of the data.
    • Analyze data to determine validity, quality, and scientific significance and to interpret correlations between human activities and environmental effects.
    • Conduct environmental audits or inspections or investigations of violations.
    • Determine data collection methods to be employed in research projects or surveys.

    Skills

    • Management of Personnel Resources

      Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.

    • Programming

      Writing computer programs.

    • Equipment Selection

      Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.

    • Mathematics

      Using math to solve problems.

    • Management of Financial Resources

      Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.

    • Judgment and Decision Making

      Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.

    • Critical Thinking

      Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.

    • Systems Analysis

      Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.

    • Troubleshooting

      Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.

    • Active Learning

      Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.

    • Science

      Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.

    • Time Management

      Managing your time and the time of other people.

    • Monitoring

      Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.

    • Coordination

      Changing what is done based on other people's actions.

    • Technology Design

      Making equipment and technology useful for customers.

    • Complex Problem Solving

      Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.

    • Negotiation

      Bringing people together to solve differences.

    • Operations Monitoring

      Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.

    • Repairing

      Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.

    • Operations Analysis

      Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.

    • Learning Strategies

      Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.

    • Operation and Control

      Using equipment or systems.

    • Equipment Maintenance

      Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.

    • Management of Material Resources

      Managing equipment and materials.

    • Speaking

      Talking to others.

    • Social Perceptiveness

      Understanding people's reactions.

    • Systems Evaluation

      Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.

    • Installation

      Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.

    • Quality Control Analysis

      Testing how well a product or service works.

    • Instructing

      Teaching people how to do something.

    • Persuasion

      Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.

    • Service Orientation

      Looking for ways to help people.

    • Reading Comprehension

      Reading work-related information.

    • Active Listening

      Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.

    • Writing

      Writing things for co-workers or customers.

    WorkKeys®

    Applied Math
    5
    Workplace Documents
    5
    Graphic Literacy
    5

    Abilities

    • Oral Expression

      Communicating by speaking.

    • Rate Control

      Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.

    • Written Expression

      Communicating by writing.

    • Far Vision

      Seeing details that are far away.

    • Static Strength

      Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.

    • Manual Dexterity

      Holding or moving items with your hands.

    • Fluency of Ideas

      Coming up with lots of ideas.

    • Speech Clarity

      Speaking clearly.

    • Perceptual Speed

      Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.

    • Gross Body Coordination

      Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.

    • Multilimb Coordination

      Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.

    • Auditory Attention

      Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.

    • Speed of Closure

      Quickly knowing what you are looking at.

    • Finger Dexterity

      Putting together small parts with your fingers.

    • Spatial Orientation

      Knowing where things are around you.

    • Glare Sensitivity

      Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.

    • Gross Body Equilibrium

      Keeping your balance or staying upright.

    • Time Sharing

      Doing two or more things at the same time.

    • Peripheral Vision

      Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.

    • Speed of Limb Movement

      Quickly moving your arms and legs.

    • Response Orientation

      Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.

    • Depth Perception

      Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.

    • Inductive Reasoning

      Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.

    • Explosive Strength

      Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.

    • Memorization

      Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.

    • Trunk Strength

      Using your lower back and stomach.

    • Information Ordering

      Ordering or arranging things.

    • Deductive Reasoning

      Using rules to solve problems.

    • Problem Sensitivity

      Noticing when problems happen.

    • Reaction Time

      Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.

    • Flexibility of Closure

      Seeing hidden patterns.

    • Selective Attention

      Paying attention to something without being distracted.

    • Mathematical Reasoning

      Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.

    • Oral Comprehension

      Listening and understanding what people say.

    • Control Precision

      Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.

    • Visual Color Discrimination

      Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.

    • Category Flexibility

      Grouping things in different ways.

    • Originality

      Creating new and original ideas.

    • Arm-Hand Steadiness

      Keeping your arm or hand steady.

    • Speech Recognition

      Recognizing spoken words.

    • Extent Flexibility

      Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.

    • Visualization

      Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.

    • Hearing Sensitivity

      Telling the difference between sounds.

    • Stamina

      Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.

    • Sound Localization

      Noticing the direction that a sound came from.

    • Dynamic Flexibility

      Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.

    • Wrist-Finger Speed

      Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.

    • Dynamic Strength

      Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.

    • Written Comprehension

      Reading and understanding what is written.

    • Number Facility

      Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.

    • Near Vision

      Seeing details up close.

    • Night Vision

      Seeing at night or under low light.

    Knowledge

    • Design

      Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.

    • Law and Government

      Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.

    • Sociology and Anthropology

      Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.

    • Economics and Accounting

      Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.

    • Building and Construction

      Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.

    • Mechanical

      Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.

    • Medicine and Dentistry

      Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.

    • Education and Training

      Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

    • Customer and Personal Service

      Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

    • Transportation

      Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.

    • Philosophy and Theology

      Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.

    • Mathematics

      Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.

    • Personnel and Human Resources

      Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.

    • Chemistry

      Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.

    • History and Archeology

      Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.

    • Therapy and Counseling

      Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.

    • Production and Processing

      Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.

    • Telecommunications

      Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.

    • Foreign Language

      Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.

    • Fine Arts

      Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.

    • Sales and Marketing

      Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.

    • Physics

      Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.

    • Geography

      Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.

    • Psychology

      Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.

    • Communications and Media

      Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.

    • Engineering and Technology

      Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.

    • Biology

      Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.

    • Public Safety and Security

      Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.

    • English Language

      Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

    • Administrative

      Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.

    • Food Production

      Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.

    • Computers and Electronics

      Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

    • Administration and Management

      Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

    Career Video

    Additional videos and more information available on CareerOneStop

    Pay

    • Ohio Annual Salary 79760/yr
    • Typical Salary
    • Ohio Hourly Wage 38.35/hr
    • Typical Hourly Wage

    Ohio Employment Trends

    • Currently Employed 2,530
    • Yearly Projected Openings 200

    Typical Education

    Personality

    Investigative: People interested in this work like activities that include ideas, thinking, and figuring things out.They do well at jobs that need:
    • Integrity
    • Analytical Thinking
    • Attention to Detail
    • Cooperation
    • Dependability
    • Adaptability/Flexibility

    Tools

    • Air samplers or collectors
    • All terrain vehicles tracked or wheeled
    • Anemometers
    • Coliwasas
    • Colorimeters
    • Combustible or hazardous gas detectors for power generators
    • Desktop computers
    • Digital cameras
    • Dosimeters
    • Electromagnetic field meters
    • Explosimeters
    • Flow sensors
    • Flowmeters
    • Gas chromatographs
    • Global positioning system GPS receiver
    • Heat stress monitors
    • Ion analyzers
    • Ionization chambers
    • Laboratory bailers
    • Leak testing equipment
    • Liquid scintillation counters
    • Logging instruments for water wells
    • Mainframe computers
    • Manometers
    • Mass spectrometers
    • Moisture meters
    • Multi gas monitors
    • Nephelometers
    • Notebook computers
    • Oil content monitors analyzers
    • Open stream current meters
    • Ozone analyzers
    • Personal computers
    • Photometer
    • Portable data input terminals
    • Precipitation or evaporation recorders
    • Psychrometers
    • Radiation detectors
    • Radon detectors
    • Recreational motorboats
    • Sample preparation bombs
    • Single gas monitors
    • Soil core sampling apparatus
    • Soil testing kits
    • Sound measuring apparatus or decibel meter
    • Spectrometers
    • Spectrophotometers
    • Temperature transmitters
    • Toxicology test kits or supplies
    • Turbidimeters
    • Viscosimeters
    • Water analyzers
    • Water samplers
    • pH meters

    Technology

    • Analytical or scientific software
    • Compliance software
    • Computer aided design CAD software
    • Data base user interface and query software
    • Development environment software
    • Document management software
    • Electronic mail software
    • Enterprise resource planning ERP software
    • Geographic information system
    • Graphics or photo imaging software
    • Internet browser software
    • Map creation software
    • Object or component oriented development software
    • Office suite software
    • Presentation software
    • Project management software
    • Spreadsheet software
    • Word processing software

    Tags

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