EEOP - Career Manual, Chapter 1, Section 1: For Students

Introduction to Educational Options
In order to get a college degree that certifies your expertise in an environmental field, you must first make wise choices in high school. Your teachers and counselors can help you plan your path through high school, and the web sites that follow contain valuable information for you and your advisors. There are many ways to enter the environmental protection field after you graduate from high school. You may choose to immediately begin working on a Bachelor’s degree at a four-year college: this degree will open many doors. Graduates with Bachelor’s degrees may quickly move into management and planning positions, though they are also expected to work in the field. Another option is to complete a two-year technical or Associate degree at a community college. Technical or Associate degrees are not designed to immediately prepare graduates for research or field management positions. Technical certification programs provide an academic science background while training students to perform specialized tasks, including the operation of water treatment plants; hazardous waste remediation; air, soil and water testing and monitoring; and other essential technical environmental operations.

Students wishing to build on a two-year Associate Degree from an Arizona community college and earn a Bachelor’s degree must go to a baccalaureate-granting four-year institution. You may transfer your community college credits into a four-year baccalaureate program at Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University, the University of Arizona or Prescott College. Prescott College is a that offers Environmental Studies Bachelor’s degrees in a number of focus areas. The Arizona Postsecondary Voucher Program can provide funding for your admission to Prescott and other private colleges in Arizona. Visit our Arizona Postsecondary Voucher Program for more information.

A New Kind of Warrior
The Navajo Nation Abandoned Mine and Land Reclamation division employs 22 workers. Most of these are field technicians who examine, sample and measure mining sites that have caused harmful disturbances to the land. Mining activities placed scars on the land and deposited dangerous concentrations of uranium, sulfates and nitrates on the surface of our homeland. These poisons leach into our groundwater and contaminate what we drink. Livestock drink the contaminated water in pits and ponds, incorporating the poisons into the animals’ flesh. Our children swim in these harmless looking puddles. Educated tribal environmental professionals are needed so that we may properly measure the threat and protect our people. In order to get the federal authorities or the private mining companies to fund cleanups of these sites, we must measure and describe them scientifically ourselves. In these disputes, knowledge is a weapon, and we must train our own science warriors who can help us win these battles.

NAU || EEOP || ITEP || AIS

Environmental Education Outreach Program (EEOP)
Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals (ITEP)
PO Box 5768 Flagstaff, AZ 86011-5768 Phone: (928) 523-1275 Fax: (928) 523-1280
E-mail: eeop@nau.edu