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Environmental Scientist
Studies the environment and develops solutions for pollution, conservation, and sustainability.
Did you know?
The Ocean Cleanup estimates the Great Pacific Garbage Patch covers 1.6 million sq km, about twice the size of Texas.
How subjects help
- Biology: Survey the plants and animals living near a factory to see if pollution is harming them.
- Chemistry: Test soil, air and river water to find harmful chemicals and trace where they came from.
- Geography: Map where floods, forest loss or pollution happen so towns can plan how to respond.
- Mathematics: Analyse years of measurements to show whether a cleanup is really making a difference.
A famous name
Rachel Carson: Her 1962 book Silent Spring exposed pesticide damage and helped start the environmental movement.
Try it yourself: Survey the litter on your street
- With an adult, choose a short stretch to survey, such as from your door to the corner or one side of a park path. Measure it in footsteps and write the number down.
- Make a tally chart with columns such as plastic bottles, cans, sweet and crisp wrappers, paper and "other".
- Walk slowly and tally every piece of litter you can see, without touching any of it.
- Add up each column. What was most common, and where do you think it came from? Repeat the same stretch next week to see if it changes.
Environmental scientists survey litter in the same measured area using fixed categories, so results from thousands of places can be compared and used to push for changes such as bottle return schemes.
Adapted from Keep Scotland Beautiful: Community Litter Hub: data collection.
Also try: Read a tree's life story.
Known for it in
Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands, USA, Australia