What to Expect

Like any engineering major, environmental engineering programs require a lot of work. And that means students need self-discipline to succeed.

So says Sherry Brett-Major. "This is not something you can learn one week before the final exam," she says. She formed study groups with her fellow classmates, which helped.

She took a master's degree at Johns Hopkins University. Her BS in biology led by happenstance to environmental engineering. "I was never much of an environmentalist before college. My analytical chemistry professor was working on a project concerning a toxin in paint which can be found in marine sediment and causes a lot of problems," she says.

"His goal was to find a suitable replacement. I began to think about ways to clean up environmental messes and also about prevention. One of the ways to prevent ecological disasters is to find a good alternative to the method currently in place." So she decided to study environmental engineering.

How to Prepare

Tejwant Gidda worked on a doctorate in environmental engineering. He says high school students need math, science and computer courses. "If a high school student has any knowledge whatsoever of how to use spreadsheets and word processors, they would be light years ahead of the game," he adds.

Kimberly Powers took the program at Virginia Tech University. She suggests high school students get involved in activities.

"All extracurricular activities are good," she says. "In high school, I played three sports and was active in dance, theater, math teams and clubs."