Expert: Dana Krempels, Ph.D. - 7/21/2009

Question
does biology help in learning how to clean water, air?  i cant decide between molecular biology, and environmental engineering.  what would be a good degree to learn to clean water, air, hazardous waste, as well as destroy diseases?

Answer
Dear JWilson,

Cleaning up the environment requires contributions from many fields of science, including biology (and its many subdisciplines, including ecology, genetics, physiology, etc.), environmental management (a combination of biology and social science), engineering, chemistry...you name it.

If you're interested in a career in helping to clean up our environment, a good place to start is with a Bachelor's degree in whichever of these areas most interests you.  A biology degree is a good jumping off point for many different areas in environmental conservation.  You could later specialize in molecular biology, endocrinology, or whatever area within biology you find is most interesting to you in the context of environmental science.

You also can get a degree in Environmental Science at many universities.  Check the institutions you're interested in attending to make sure they have the offerings you need.  (I'm at the University of Miami in Florida, and can tell you we have excellent programs in biology, environmental science, and marine science, any of which would help you get a career in conservation and environmental repair--but we're not the only ones.)

Hope this helps.

Dana