I still don’t know what I want to do, which makes the path forward considerably less clear:
There are so many things one can do that are ‘environmental jobs’.
- One can work in R&D…
- …on technology, figuring out how to make the next new wizbang gadget that will get you to work, consuming only dung and producing sparkly fresh pixie dust.
- …on ecology, monitoring the state of things as they are. Figuring out the relationships between different organisms and the functioning of ecosystems
- …on policy evaluation, figuring out what the implications of current policy are, and based on some set of criteria, what the optimal outcomes are.
- …policing the behavior of the individuals currently following or not following policy.
- …helping corporations clean up themselves and their reputations.
- …working to educate and inform. Being a cheerleader for sustainability.
- …implementing systems to praise the worthy and/or condemn the unworthy
One can work in implementation…
I think the ones that really appeal to me are policy evaluation and helping corporations clean up their acts and reputations. Additionally, I really want a good reason to keep up on the dung to pixie dust converters. And then there’s the actual activities I want to do a combination of talking to people, dealing with significant analytical challenges, and playing a heavy advisory role.
Sounds like consulting to me. And sounds like some sort of environmental MBA type degree. (there’s an environmental management program like 10 minutes walk from my office, which fills this description pretty nicely. And they offer a part time program as well. Only about $45k to see it all the way through…)
I vote for pixie dust!
to sound like Dad for a moment …
How much student and credit card debt do you currently have? I don’t know the answer to that question, but if you currently have a bunch of debt perhaps you should pay some of it down before borrowing another $45K.
Personally, I paid off all my student loan debt from undergrad/grad before going back for my law degree. That certainly made things easier for me after I finished law school. Plus, while paying down debts I learned a lot about myself and the work world and was absolutely certain I wanted to go to law school by the time I did.
Re: to sound like Dad for a moment …
These were all thoughts I had. I anticipate being free of credit card debt before 2008. I do not anticipate starting another graduate program before fall 2008. I was tempted momentarily, but fiscal discipline shot that one down really fast. I’m not sure if I even want to. But better to examine the question now for applications for next fall than to start looking past the time I would be eligible for any scholarships.
#2 in the R&D camp is a hard problem. Fascinating though. I may be biased, but I think #1 and #3 would benefit from #2 (note: I presume that “ecosystems” includes “climates and ocean currents and wind patterns and atmospheres and…” — although its pretty hard even ignoring those)
I’m inclined to agree. And not one of the hard problems that I feel remotely equipped by nature or by training to work on.
You may be closer in abilities then you think.
The more I learn about the mathematical ecologists down the hall from me in my department, the more I think I could totally become a “mathematical ecologist” with just the right post-doc.