Earth studies in focus

Updated on: Monday, June 29, 2009

In India, the tremendous development and growth experienced in recent years has also led to the development of an acute risk of environmental pollution and erosion. In the years to come, as industries and cities grow in size, millions now living in villages will be exposed to and contaminated by the excesses of city life.

Consequently, environmental efforts would have to be stepped up, whether it be in research or education, just to maintain the status quo.

Traditionally, those who are involved in areas such as ecological conservation and ‘green’ research do so almost entirely because of their passion for the cause. Money is secondary and it has to be because there really isn’t much going around when you are working in these fields.

Yet, since the ripples of the recession struck India late last year, university students have been increasingly looking at alternative areas of study, at the potential of ‘emergent’ industries. Many colleges and institutions have also begun offering courses related to the environment in recent years to cater to the increasing interest in such fields.

“In the past, we were one of the only universities offering a course in environmental engineering, now so many universities across the country offer it; it just says much demand for such courses has grown,” said A. Gopalakrishnan, head of the Centre for Environmental Studies at Anna University.

Anna University currently offers three environment-related courses at the master’s level — Environmental Science, Environmental Engineering and Environmental Management. They have also set up research bodies like the Centre for Climate Change where Ph.D students participate in collecting local climate data and conducting regional-scale environmental research.

Subject areas that would be covered in such courses include environmental microbiology, water treatment and waste management. The latter two have been of increasing public interest of late with the tightening of government policies on environmental control and the heightened awareness amongst the general public about such issues.

“Everyone is feeling the effects of climate change today. For instance, the heat you experience at night, it wasn’t like that 50 years ago,” noted Dr. Gopalakrishnan.

Others, like the University of Madras, have partnered with institutions like the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board and the Centre for Research on New International Economic Order (CRENIEO) to offer more specialised courses and degree programmes for those who require it for their field of work or those who are particularly interested in these areas.

Job opportunities in the field have also increased in recent times, with graduates being able to choose from jobs in a variety of government agencies like the Pollution Control Board, as well as being environmental consultants in the growing private sector. These are besides the traditional fields of research and development, and teaching, that graduates in environmental studies tend to gravitate towards.

“Everyone today is interested in carbon trading and carbon footprints, and where I’m at is the best place to learn about all these things; It gives me a great foundation for the future”, said Gincy Susan Jose, who graduated from the CRENIEO programme and now works with environmental organisation Exnora International.

An increasing number of graduates are also venturing abroad to either further their education or participate in research projects but given the current pace of developments in India, it wouldn’t be long before the industry here would catch up with the rest of the world. For instance, K.M. Brindha, who is doing her master’s in environmental engineering at Anna University, intends to be a freelance consultant on environmental projects after graduation. “This sector has a lot of potential with the increased interest shown by both the public and private sector on environmental issues. The government has been imposing more regulations and multinational companies coming in would have to understand and adhere to them,” she explained.

And like many of her coursemates, she admits that while employment opportunities were a big part of her consideration when choosing her field of study, it was ultimately the passion she had for the subject that made her choose this. The average starting salary for a graduate in environmental studies is between Rs. 15,000 and 20,000, slightly lower than what you would receive in the IT sector, but as Dr. Gopalakrishnan explains, it is fast catching up.

Hindu

Earth studies in focus

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