Updated October 10, 2022
If you are an investigative & inquisitive individual towards nature, you might have heard of Environmental Technician. It’s alright though, if you haven’t come across it. I will be explaining here about an environmental technician (ET), his roles & functions, salary, and many other things.
Essentially, the environmental technician (ET) is an individual responsible for managing complex equipments, testing various samples related to the environment, preparing reports, etc. They assist the environmental scientists or senior technicians in making plan to reduce, prevent and eliminate the environmental hazards.
Key Highlights of Environmental Technicians Job Position
The following are the key aspects of Environmental Technicians (ET) Job profile:
| Job Profile | Environmental Technician |
| Environmental technicians also known by | Environmental Science and Protection, Technician Environmental Specialist, Environmental Health Specialist, Environmental Engineering Technician |
| Work Experience | It requires a suitable work experience. |
| Academic Qualifications | Must have at least Bachelor’s or master’s degree in environmental science |
| Personal Qualities & Skills | Rational, practical, inquisitive, Critical thinking, problem solving ability, communication skills, keen observational eye to detail, etc. |
| Salary | RS 50k p/m in India And $46k per annum |
| Work Environment | Can work in offices, laboratories, on the field, and might combo thereof |
Who is an Environmental Technician?
Numerous individuals are dedicated to improving environmental conditions with proper analysis, planning, and execution. Among such working individuals, Environment Technician is a position who monitors and collects the samples of various media contamination and then tests them in the laboratory.
Actually, they work under the supervision of environmental scientists and help them to evaluate, monitor, and inspect hazardous environmental situations. Moreover, he/she is also involved in maintaining equipment, managing waste operations, and assisting with regulatory compliance and other duties.
Education & Training for an Environment Technician
Like other jobs’ requirements, the students aspiring to pursue a career in Environmental Technician would also require to meet crucial qualifications. For this opening, the individuals should be equipped with theoretical knowledge and hands-on experience in numerous laboratory tests and machineries used in the very field. If you are aspiring to grab the opportunity, you need the following educational qualifications and training:
(a) Environmental Science is a scientific field that insists the students to have the fundamental knowledge of science. And for this, peers will need to gain an intermediate certificate in the science stream.
(b) If you are seriously aiming to make a career as Environmental Technician, you must complete at least Bachelor’s degree or Associate’s degree in Environmental Science. This will make your base to be able to understand and contribute your part in mitigating environment-related issues.
(c) You are eligible to hold this position after completing your graduation. But, to be specialized in a particular area and enhance your acumen, a master’s degree in environmental science is quite important. This will considerably increase the rank of the post.
(d) The internship or training is valued for environmental technician. Some career avenues demands experience from the individuals.
What are the Skills & Qualities Needed for Environmental Technicians?
This Environment Technician position has its advantages, assisting environmental scientists in conserving the environment. Since it is a vital job profile in the field of environmental science, it requires myriad skills & qualities from the candidates. The following points show some specific soft skills and personal attributes:
(a) Communication Skills: You should have better communication to interact and share research with your colleagues.
(b) Critical thinking skill: The aspirants aiming to hold an Environmental Technician job must be equipped with critical thinking ability. It will allow you to weigh possible solutions to issues.
(c) Technical Writing Skills: This job profile deals with analyzing, evaluating, and inspecting hazardous environmental situations, which should be adequately expressed on the paper. And without having technical writing skills, individuals will have difficulty putting research and findings over documents.
(d) Reading comprehension skills: You must have excellent reading comprehension skills to understand work-related documents.
(e) Analytical Ability: Having embraced analytical ability will allow you to analyze complex issues within a minute and give a correct plan to the problems.
(f) Flexibility in Work Environment: The environmental technicians will have a dynamic working environment. Sometimes, they will work at laboratories, and in the next moment, they will have to explore the field to investigate and inspect. Therefore, they should have
(g) Interest in the Outdoors and Protecting/Improving the Environment: Whether you will sustain yourself in the job or not lies in the interest of the individual. Therefore, it is necessary for the aspirants to have an interest in protecting/improving the environment.
(h) Keen Observational eye: It is an area that deals with robust research & findings which require keen attention skills to recognize and identify potential problems without delay.
(i) Inquisitive
(j) Introspective
(k) Methodical Practical
Roles & Functions of Environmental Technician
The mentioned below are some of the tasks generally done by an environmental technician:
(a) You will be involved in managing and monitoring the data collection of complex pieces of machinery.
(b) In the course of the job, you will operate light & heavy equipment, which include oil spill boom, pumps, generators, vacuum, equipment, bobcats and several others.
(c) The prevalent task of the environmental specialists or technicians is to collect water samples from industrial wastewater and water from other sources to assess pollution problems.
(d) You, as an Environmental Technician, will be engaged in lab testing of numerous samples relating to research in the environment.
(e) The environmental technician will regularly monitor several industrial projects that have the potential to cause pollution in the environment.
(f) You might also have a role of performing basic calculations & computer data entry if required.
(g) The most significant role of the environmental technicians is to prepare & maintain necessary reports and also stow the critical records.
The individuals won’t get a seniority position at the beginning of their career but work under the direct supervision of an environmental scientist or a more senior technician. It is so because the job position requires accuracy, precision and keen observational attention, which come along with work experience. From the ongoing description, it’s evident that the work profile follows a hierarchy. The peers will reach seniority as similar as climbing every step of a ladder.
What is the Salary of the Environmental Technician Profile?
The salary of the environmental technicians varies widely depending on several factors like geographical region, work experience, work, whether working under privately or government-owned authority and many more. However, the average salary for an ET Job position is around 50k per month in India. Additionally, the average salary for Environmental technicians in the USA is something $46k per year.
Questions Mostly Asked About Environmental Technician
Ans- Yes! Environmental technology is an excellent career option for investigative & inquisitive individuals. More so, career opportunity is growing at a reasonable rate compared to other occupations.
Ans- The individual aspiring to become an environmental technician should have knowledge of the basics of science and a minimum Bachelor’s degree or Associate’s degree in Environmental Science.
Ans- The job roles for any position would be the same either in Canada or other countries. Usually, environmental technologists/technicians can be responsible for collecting and analyzing air, water, and soil samples. They also operate and monitor pollution control or treatment equipment, perform field inspections and investigations of contamination, and keep an eye on whether provincial and federal standards are being followed.
Ans- In Canada, an environmental technician makes $51,597 per year or $26.46 per hour. Most experienced professionals earn up to $69,864 annually, while entry-level roles will get around $40,000.
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