UW News

October 11, 2001

Event will highlight careers in, study of the environment

An Environmental Opportunities Fair will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 17 and Thursday, Oct. 18 in the Mary Gates Commons. Designed for students – both those from UW and those from community colleges and high schools – the fair is intended to open up the world of study and work related to the environment.


According to Rachel Vaughn, one of the event’s planners, there are three goals for the fair: to inform students about UW degree programs relating to the environment; to educate people who are interested in the field about how they can prepare themselves to enter it; and to inform students about opportunities for graduate study in programs relating to the environment.


Representatives from the UW’s environmental related programs will be staffing information booths at the fair, as will UW graduates who now work in environment-related jobs. “People who work in the field will be answering student questions and explaining how they got their start,” Vaughn said.


The fair will also include workshops and panel discussions planned by UW Career Services and others on such topics as how to apply to graduate school, how to write a resume with a view to getting a job in the environmental field and how to get an internship in the field.


According to Vaughn, the fair idea originated in the Environmental Advisers Group, which is made up of academic advisers and faculty. They had first thought about a more traditional career fair to coordinate recruitment, but Vaughn said there were some special issues in Washington that led them to rethink that plan.


“When people are thinking of environmental careers, they don’t think of the UW; they think of Western Washington University or Evergreen State,” she said. We wanted to raise the profile of the environmental programs here and thought this fair would reach more students and serve a broader need.”


The fair is sponsored by the Program on the Environment, the College of Ocean and Fishery Sciences, the College of Forest Resources and the Department of Environmental Health. A number of other programs signed on as co-sponsors.


To help prospective students work through the maze of environmental programs available at the UW, a Web site has been constructed, http://www.environment.washington.edu. Those interested can also call 206-616-2461 or e-mail enviro@u.washington.edu.