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Megraptor t1_j9kh6xo wrote

Hey there, I do not live in Maine BUT I do have a degree in environmental science.

Unfortunately, a degree is NOT a degree in environmental science. There is so much variation inbetween schools, and some schools are more rigorous than others.

If you end up in state or federal government work, they will usually check your classes and GPA, even 5+ years into your career. There are some unfortunate cases of this, where people with PhDs are missing undergrad classes for the job they want and they have to go take an undergrad class to qualify. I have seen this with wildlife biology PhD holders who are applying for entry level wildlife biology positions at the federal level with botany classes, because you need 9 (or 6, I can't remember) credit hours of botany to qualify for a federal wildlife biology position, and many undergrad programs don't require botany classes.

Take a look at the schools in question, and look at their curriculum. Take note of a couple things- do they have a good stats class? Do they teach GIS (geographic information systems)? Do they have topics you are interested in?

Also, sit down and think about what you want to do with this degree, because it's a very broad topic of study! Do you want to do soil science? Then make sure the schools have soil science classes! Water quality? Then look for water quality and aquatic ecology classes. Ocean? Waste management and recycling? Energy? Climate? Wildlife?

A note about wildlife- if you want to work in ecology/wildlife biology/zoology, do that major instead. All of these fields are very competitive, so having the right major is key.

Also, networking is VERY important in this field. Unfortunately, you often don't know how a school is about that until you get there or if you're lucky, you run into someone from those schools. I didn't go to them, so I can't answer that, I'm sorry. But! You can PM me with other questions, and I encourage you to check out r/environmental_science as a start, and potentially other places that relate to your interests within the field. There's a subreddit for everything these days!

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813stemcell t1_j9q3gow wrote

Wow this was incredibly helpful, thanks for your input

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bubba1819 t1_j9rw321 wrote

Having GIS certification can give you a huge leg up. A couple friends from college got their first jobs because of their GIS certification. It was one of the things that really made them stand out compared to other applicants.

If you’re interested in wildlife biology I would recommend looking into Unity College here in Maine. They have an excellent Wildlife Conservation program. Another school you can look into is the University of Maine at Machias which is UMaines coastal campus. They have one of the best GIS programs in the state and they have an excellent Marine Biology program. It’s also on the cheaper side if money is an issue.

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