Environmental consultants are chosen by businesses and also state and federal governments to test and handle air, soil and water quality, do environmental audits, keep an eye on the environmental impacts of building, mining and so on, monitor compliance with environmental standards, draft environmental policies or take measures to alleviate or rectify issues in the environment.

Environmental consulting is a varied industry and the goal on specific jobs vary, however it will normally entail the employment of far better company practices to help a client economically, via improved environmental practices, or to guarantee compliance with environmental regulations.

Some of the areas covered by environmental practice are: Contaminated land consulting, Environmental Engineering & Ecological Consulting

Often times home builders, property developers or companies will require the help of environmental consultants to prove that their company, building site or property development is in compliance with appropriate environmental regulations or laws, and in these circumstances environmental or ecological consultants will provide reports for these customers that documents the appropriate scientific tests, for instance soil, water and air testing results needed by regulation. These reports will often be presented to an approved auditor or government department so that approvals can be obtained. This ensures developments are progressed in such a way as to look after both the health of humans and the broader environment.

The day to day tasks environmental consultants engage in are diverse and might consist of creating standard operating procedures, creating and managing environmental management systems, checking environmental standards, measuring and evaluating air, soil and water quality and more. Environmental consultants are frequently trained in a certain area and then apply this training to a particular industry, so the list of associated environmental occupations is countless. As a result of this, environmental careers tend to be in certain disciplines where the consultants themselves are educated, for instance environmental engineering, environmental science, and the many specializations within them, as an example contaminated land management, agriculture, mining or air quality management. For example an Environmental consulting company like Atma Environmental in Melbourne Australia specialises in contaminated land management, while the consultants working at Molino Stewart in Sydney supplies a much wider variety of environmental consulting services consisting of ecological consulting and natural hazards management.

Required Qualifications and Experience

The specific degree can vary from a Master’s Degree, a Law Degree, a Masters of Business Administration, or a Doctorate.  Specific areas of expertise vary, but some of the most common are biology, chemistry, environmental engineering/science, advanced degrees in economics and public policy. In addition to getting any kind of appropriate science degrees and credentials, of which there are a few pathways depending on the ultimate variety of consulting you would prefer to focus on, Environmental consultants need strong analytical skills and a capacity to think “outside the square.” Knowledge of and experience working with GIS (geographic info systems) and computer modelling are additionally highly desirable abilities. Also, as a good deal of environmental consulting is considered “compliance consulting” a knowledge of the prevailing environmental policies in any state or country is also important.