Environmental Education

Teaching about the environment, how it works, and how to protect it is called “environmental education.” This is a small but growing field.

Environmental educators do their work in many different ways and in many different places. Most of these educators work in K-12 schools, schools teaching grades from kindergarten through 12. They help kids and their teachers understand why the environment is important. Others work in what are called “informal educational settings.” These can be zoos, aquariums, museums, national parks or botanical gardens. They can be afterschool programs or summer camps.

Some environmental educators work for not-for-profit organizations. Not-for-profits are organizations that have been set up to carry out a mission, instead of to make money. They help interested people learn about why it’s important to protect our environment. Some environmental educators even work in the business world. They teach business executives and other employees about how they can improve their effect on the environment.

As in many small fields, getting an internship or volunteering with an organization working in the field can often help you get a job. So can working as a student teacher. If you are interested in getting a job as an environmental educator, you should know that jobs in this field usually require at least a college degree. The exceptions are jobs for maintenance workers, clerical workers, gift shop employees and others at organizations that provide environmental education.

K-12 schools are the biggest employers in this field. These include public schools, like the schools run by the New York City Department of Education. Other K-12 schools include private schools, such as religious day schools and “independent” schools—what most people think of when they think of private schools.

They also include charter schools. Charter schools are schools paid for with taxpayer dollars; students attend for free. Charter schools are run independently by local school departments.

There is a growing need for teachers of science, technology, engineering and math in K-12 schools; this field is sometimes called STEM. These teachers often teach about the environment. There are also jobs in schools for teacher trainers—knowledgeable teachers who help other teachers learn particular subjects. If you want to work as an environmental educator in a K-12 school, having a degree in special education or in teaching non-native speakers of English can be especially helpful.

To find a job in a public school, start by checking out the New York City Department of Education’s Careers website. Manhattanville College’s Helpful Websites for Teachers webpage also lists many websites that can help environmental educators find jobs in public schools, charter schools, private schools and afterschool programs. Other job boards for school teachers are listed below. One of them—Idealist.org—lists many jobs in charter schools. One of the great things about Idealist.org is that it allows you to search using terms that make it easy to find jobs in the fields you’re interested in.)

Informal environmental education programs are probably the next-largest employer in environmental education. Informal education can happen in almost any place where people learn about the environment—in summer camps, museums and zoos, after-school programs, nature centers, parks, you name it.

Some government agencies hire workers in this field. They include federal agencies, like the National Park Service, the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Forest Service. At the state level, they include the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. In New York City, they include the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, and the New York City Department of Sanitation. Some of these jobs are civil service jobs. To learn more about how to become eligible for these jobs, click here [LG1] .

Zoos, museums, nature centers, aquariums, botanical gardens and other places where people learn about nature and wildlife are great places to teach, too. New York has many of these great places. One of them is the Queens Zoo. It is part of the larger Wildlife Conservation Society. The WCS also runs the world-famous Bronx Zoo, the Prospect Park Zoo, the Central Park Zoo, and the New York Aquarium. It is also known around the world for its work to protect endangered animals, like elephants, great apes, snow leopards, and loons. These organizations list jobs in their website’s job boards. One of them is the job board of the Association of Zoos & Aquariums. Other similar websites are listed below.

Not-for-profit organizations and businesses also need help from environmental educators. At not-for-profit organizations, educators can reach out to members and possible members, funders and others. Sometimes, environmental educators work on organization’s websites or run special programs for members and donors.

Companies that advise other businesses on how to improve their effects on the environment also sometimes hire people with college degrees or work experience in environmental education. These companies are often called sustainability consulting firms. Environmental educators at these firms teach other companies’ employees about how our natural world works and how to protect it. To find jobs with sustainability consulting firms, do an Internet search for “sustainability consulting firms.”

Green job websites like the Green Job Bank are sometimes good places to find jobs in environmental education. So are general job-search websites, including Indeed.com and LinkedIn.com.

To learn more about the field of environmental education and begin your job search, check out the websites below.

Job Boards

American Museum of Natural History

American Public Garden Association

Association for Experiential Education

Association of Zoos & Aquariums

Audubon

Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Conservation Job Board

Environmental Career Opportunities

Green Chimneys

GrowNYC