Comments about ES program from ES Alums (paraphrased, summarized,
and quoted)
While I am so so so excited that all of these great things are
going on NOW for HWS, I wish I were able to take advantage of
them a few years ago!…(plus teaching MS program here)…All
of these things are great, great news. Too bad Mr. Gearan didn't
arrive sooner than the year after I graduated...Congratulations
to you environmental folk over there!
It's nice to see they finally made ES an official major…..
My work in the Geoscience dept at Hobart is most valued today.
A close second to that is my Biology/Ecology course work…Did
my education work for me? Yes, for sure. However, in hindsight
it is easy for me to say that many of the courses I took do not
relate to what I am doing now, and that if I were to do it again,
I would have focused more on the sciences and lab courses to learn
as much as I could in a four year timeframe.
It sounds like things are happening at HWS! Keep up the hard
work and thank you for the update.
Loved ES program; hardest/most rewarding class was Environmental
Econ, proud of SIE work/project.
It's nice to hear that ES is going strong at HWS.
Thank you all for your guidance and teaching; I hope all is
well at school and that your students are finding your classes
as enjoyable as I did.
Pleased to see ES expand to energy issues; "wind energy"
project is simply amazing, that is definitely a project which
will provide invaluable experience for the students involved later
on; I would definitely say my HWS education served me well, especially
the variety of environmental topics I had been exposed to already
prior to law school. It gave me a very good foundation from which
to "tackle" environmental law and the mass of statutes,
regulations, and ideas that it encompassed.
It is great to hear about all of the great Environmental Programs
that are being initiated at HWS.
Great to hear all the news. I am, of course, jealous of all
the students who get a green building and all the new features
of the program; good luck with the program and keep us informed,
it is super to hear from the campus i love most.
Craig Rimmerman is superb. I'd recommend taking as many of his
classes (even if they have nothing to do with the environment)
as possible, that's my number one piece of advice, even for those
going for a BS. I think Jim Ryan has a class where they wrote
a full blown EIS. They are so very fundamental and so complicated
that that would really be a valuable class.
Environmental econ has been of significant use to me lately;
just last week I completed a cost-benefit study in support of
a proposal to acquire about 70 acres of wetlands in Staten Island.
We buy and restore the creeks and floodplains that are still around
and restore and "engineer" them to handle urban storm
water....; sounds like great things are happening with the ES
program, which pleases me to no end since I chose HWS specifically
for that major.
Advice to ES students from ES Alums (paraphrased, summarized, and
quoted)
Internships are important to gain experience towards jobs
I got a BA, and it was a mistake not to get a BS. I know all
the difficult lab classes absorb most of your free time and social
life, but I regret now having a BS. It's also imperative to learn
to argue and debate intimidating opponents with ease. It would
also be good to get involved with the public participation process
on the Finger Lakes National Forest.
I found it very hard to find a job with a BA and not a BS. The
MS degree has made all the difference for me. I would also recommend
MS program in planning, urban ecology, restoration ecology, wetlands
science, or geography (GIS) related fields. Ecological restoration
is becoming a big field. ….Mass, RI & Conn are all in
dire financial situations, environment is low on priority level,
need to spend much time fundraising, many state positions don't
offer benefits, etc
…in hindsight it is easy for me to say that many of the
courses I took do not relate to what I am doing now, and that
if I were to do it again, I would have focused more on the sciences
and lab courses to learn as much as I could in a four year timeframe.
Job searches would recommend the consulting world to graduates
who are unsure of what exactly they want to et involved in…you
are constantly exposed to many different aspects of the Environmental
career field, be it business, education, science, engineering,
or even writing. A new employee also has the ability to learn
from many co-workers with significant education in many individualized
areas.....Graduate work...easy for me to say do it, and do it
right away, full time, before you start working. Get it over with
(went to night school on and off for 3 years). If getting an MS
straight out of College, I recommend a degree in a field applicable
to many types of environmental jobs, such as an MBS, or Civil
and Environmental Engineering Degree for example. This will allow
an individual to pursue many different career paths and still
be able to use the MS degree to higher advantage in finding work.
While a MS in Chemical Engineering is a great degree to have,
it might not help much when trying to land a job with an Energy
Conservation firm looking to build in their market share in wind
and solar power. I guess it really depends on what the individual
wants to do. On the other hand, there are many (perhaps a majority?)
individual in the work place without the MS degree who are in
high up positions and are extremely educated in what they do.
As you know, a MS does not usually teach one how to do his/her
job, but will hopefully provide a stronger foundation than an
undergraduate degree to build upon.
Since NYS doesn't recognize my ES degree as enough to teach
science, or to start graduate work, I have to get a second bachelors
degree-which is really frustrating. I think ES at HWS would be
well-served if there is a career-focused counselor who could shed
some light on what kind of careers there are in the field and
what kind of classes students should take.
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