Day in the life of an Environmental Engineer working in the US Air Force | Typical Work Week

[@kylea123]

Sounds like a super chill work environment dude! Im in school majoring in environmental resource engineering at Cal poly Humboldt. Can’t wait to get into the field. Take care

[@RandyLy]

It is chill, but I can't say that will be the same for all jobs.

[@KayYoumans]

This seems like such a nice, low-stress work environment! I'm an upcoming freshman at the University of Michigan hoping to major in Environmental Engineering and work a job like this!

[@RandyLy]

It definitely was low-stress and pretty easy. But it's hard to find these types of jobs though.

[@rippymcriprip]

In a nutshell: Chill af. Having worked in consulting for over 5 years now I would love the low stress, low demanding, short workdays government folk are accustomed to. The higher pay in private industry is almost negligible compared to the benefits. Thanks for showing a realistic example.

[@RandyLy]

This is just at my work. I have other government coworkers telling me their job is stressful on their floor.

[@EdvinNGU]

thank you for the valuble experience and knowledge it really helps to see the actually deal before i make decisions if i want to do it or not

[@RandyLy]

Thanks for watching. I'm glad you found it informative.

[@curbysworld1764]

I’m so excited to be a bioenvironmental engineer. I ship to BMT in 40 days ✨

[@ItzIsa]

Me too bro so I’ll see you there

[@curbysworld1764]

@@ItzIsa no shot! June 13th???

[@honesto8457]

How is it going so far?

[@curbysworld1764]

@@honesto8457 it’s been the best moments of my life so far

[@sleepysawada532]

yess please tell us how it is going for you. I got this as one of my jobs on the list of jobs i qualify for and i'm looking over this one or aviation resource management rn

[@francescos7361]

Thanks environmental and chemical engineer are great working in clean water and optical tech also .

[@junomaranan1101]

Dude I should've gotten into Environmental Engineering! I work for the federal govt also but in Software & it's countless meetings! I recognize where you work at. I used to work in that site but on the Nortrhop Grumman side. Now I'm in Pt Hueneme. Seriously though I think Environmental Engineering is a great career to pursue.

[@RandyLy]

I don't work there anymore 😆 I still work with the government now as a Water Quality Control Engineer and so far, it's like the same pace as the Env Engineer job.

[@kamrensaffold3813]

If I plan to join the Air force reserves. Would I need further schooling/certifications to get my foot in the door? I'd love to hear about how long it takes and the steps you made to go from young airman to Engineer.

[@RandyLy]

I did not join the Air Force.

[@rafaeltoranzo7072]

Hey Randy thanks for the videos you put up, they are a great insight on what I want to do. I do question, as an Environmental Engineer do you think you can build new environmental technology. Like build something that can help an Environmental aspect.’?

[@RandyLy]

That was the whole reason why I pursued Environmental Engineering. I wanted to create some new environmental technology. But you can only do that in academia like research with a professor and publishing a paper. They don't have many jobs that let you do that.

[@rafaeltoranzo7072]

@@RandyLy Interesting, thank you for the insight 👍

[@johng9200]

Where's the pare where you fudge an assessment on PFAS pollution from the bases?

[@RandyLy]

I don't understand your question.

[@ishitasaxena8451]

i need to so what you do not you need and what you do in general, We are looking for what a a work look like

[@BlankScreen2762]

Im thinking about doing this in the future and going to college for it, just wanted to know if you work with ecosystems and work to build them because that is what i'm looking to be in

[@RandyLy]

It depends on where you're working. This job does not. It's just maintaining compliance for this one facility. From what I've seen, state/federal jobs have more hands on jobs working with ecosystems, so I'd look into there.

[@cbddiaz7629]

What do you think about bioenvironmental engineering? Thats the entry level position for the airforce

[@RandyLy]

Ive worked with a couple of bioenvironmental engineers at the base. I didnt know their complete responsibilities since we were separate divisions, but their job looked more complicated than mine.

[@welmoepics]

Any reason why you don’t use an external keyboard when your laptop is on its stand? No more t-rex arms!

[@RandyLy]

I have a real set up that I didn't record

[@denzelcerezo14]

where did you get stationed at sir?

[@RandyLy]

This video is old, and I have a different job now. I was at the Los Angeles Air Force Base at that time.

[@antiquarian1773]

this doesn't really seem like an engineering role to me. I thought this type of role would be more technical and hands-on. Can you speak on what technical work you do? thanks!

[@RandyLy]

Environmental engineering is pretty broad. I thought I'd be under the Civil Engineering umbrella, designing, doing AutoCAD, or being out in the field collecting samples. But unfortunately, I got placed in Environmental Compliance. "Hands-on" for my position is being out in the field supervising other contractors. Technical work is administrative paperwork like writing business plans, writing inspection reports, etc..

[@gaigehyden6731]

So did you commission as an officer in the Airforce? or do they treat you as just a government employee? or are you a contractor?

[@RandyLy]

I did not commission as an officer in the Air Force; I was a contractor and worked with military personnel and other government employees. But the good thing about working on base was that they treated everyone fairly and practically gave us military perks (i.e using their gym, shopping at the commissary, etc..)

[@fatinashimann8296]

I like this relaxed wibe)00

[@sonalik1819]

This was a great video, I just had a question. Do environmental engineers work on designing things? (e.g designing sustainable technologies, working with CAD)

[@RandyLy]

It depends on your employer and your responsibilities. Some env engineers do and will work alongside Civil Engineers. My job is towards compliance, so I didn't have to use AutoCAD or any computer designs. We had architects and Civil Engineers do those.

[@jon_q1904]

Are you a GS pay scale? if so, what GS are you and what does your position go up to?

[@RandyLy]

I am not on the GS pay scale. I don't work here anymore actually and work at at the LA Water Board now. To be fully transparent, my pay is $9,132 per month before taxes and there are different, defined salary ranges depending on your qualifications and education level at my new job. You can look more into it yourself on their website.

[@ArteUltra1195]

@@RandyLythis is ridiculous pay from a european standpoint, or maybe I fu*ked up with my work choices

[@RandyLy]

@@ArteUltra1195 I live in a high cost of living state, California, so that might explain why.

[@sierrahunt36]

Hi, I am currently an Environmental Science major planning on going to Grad school for Environmental Engineering. If my goal is to create technology that will help the environment (specifically with green energy) do you think it would be a better path for me to pursue mechanical engineering for my master's?

[@RandyLy]

I don't know what mechanical engineers do for their research or graduate thesis. The research I did was a mixture of chemical engineering and biology. I worked with E Coli and did a lot of water sampling. Not sure how much hands-on technology you want to work with.

[@scottfx182]

I have a BS in Mechanical Engineering Technology and worked in the Environmental Field for ten years. I would not go to Grad School for Environmental Engineering, in today's world I would recommend an MS in Systems Engineering with a focus on Model-Based Systems Engineering. This way you get the best of everything in terms of some Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Engineering topics and also you can branch into things like AI and Systems Simulation and Modeling type work. This way you can find specialized work in Industry or Government although if you want to work on R&D and bring new products to market that are in the area of Green Engergy or Sustainability this would actually serve you much better. The demand is really there for those skills. In the past, I used to recommend Engineering Management with a focus on Project management. My sense is that environmental engineering jobs are limited and in my day they were too compared to other engineering disciplines. Read my story and see if this makes any sense to you and look at what Randy is saying. So after I graduated from College I did three years of military service and then as a veteran went to work on a Department of Energy Waste Cleanup site in 1989. I spent seven years there. It was a good starting career path and I used the company's tuition reimbursement benefits to start a Masters's Degree in Engineering Management I worked in Radiation Safety and Waste Disposal programs and later in a Department doing NEPA studies. Along the way, I was serving in the Air National Guard and found an opportunity to be commissioned as a Bio Environmental Engineering Officer in the USAF. I went to the USAF School of Aerospace Medicine where I learned about Health Physics and Environmental Management and Programs like Hazardous Waste Management and Environmental Sampling programs and much more. It's amazing to think about it but Air Force Bases are like small cities. There are many industrial facilities and labs, machine shops and repair shops, fuel tanks, fuel pipelines, hazardous waste storage facilities, water treatment plants, power plants, and much more. They are like small municipalities actually. Later I took a job as a GS-0819 which is an Environmental Engineer with the Federal Government working on an Air Force Base. If you are working in this field for a federal agency there are several paths you can follow you can work for the EPA, Department of Energy, Department of Defense, Army Corps of Engineers, or Dept of the Interior. There are some GS-819 positions in other Departments like VA. If you are employed on any installation Environmental Engineers do a lot of projects as part of a team for example paired up with Civil Engineers. You could find yourself managing environmental programs under some federal statutes like 40 CFR (Protection of the Environment) and your job in this case is going to be all about managing programs. With Programs It's all about records management and paperwork to make sure you are in compliance because EPA and or State EPA inspectors can show up at your facility and demand to inspect something. You could even be sent to prison and fined under federal law if you mishandle hazardous waste or falsify paperwork saying you disposed of dangerous materials and didn't. So managing things like Hazardous Waste Management, Air Quality, Water Quality, etc is very important. You might be managing procurement contracts for services because you will be using contractors for specialized services. For example, Hazardous Waste Disposal, Cleaning out Oil Water Separators, Removing old underground storage tanks, and taking water samples from wells at the boundary of the facilities. You could also work on compliance for things like Underground Storage Tanks, in federal facilities, there are a lot of them. You can manage programs that monitor tanks or you might even be asked to work on a Project to pull old tanks out and remediate the soil around them. On federal installations, there are many Brownfield projects. There might even be something like Asbestos abatement in old buildings. Of course, this is my experience other people could have other experiences. There are much more green and renewable energy projects as well as sustainability programs today. Things you might not even think about like Water Conservation programs at catchment projects on federal installations in dry climates like Texas, Nevada, California, Arizona, and New Mexico to name a few. However, in the federal space, compliance and 40 CFR-type work probably are going to be the major thing that you do on a daily basis. This happens in both municipalities and federal installations. Nothing has changed in that regard. The longer you work in this field the more intimate you are going to become with federal and state regulations. Sometimes you are going to wonder why you didn't go to Law School to study environmental law. I thought about getting a Masters's Degree in Environmental engineering but it turns out that you might be better served by getting an Engineering Management Degree and certification as a Project Manager. Why? Because Environmental Masters programs focus a lot of attention on Water and Biological Uptake and Transport. So if you want to study things like the chemistry of water go for it. In fact, Hydrogeology might actually be something worth studying if you want to do Environmental work. With pollution and the environment in my experience, it always comes back to something getting into the air, soil, or into water. Getting a Masters's Degree in GIS might be an interesting thing also because all of the disciplines involving land use and watershed use GIS tools. If you are a person who is interested in things like biological systems then Environmental Science is probably your path. Environmental Engineering is about three things mainly. Preventing Pollution (Elimination of Waste streams from products), Remediation of Pollution and Waste when mishaps occur, things like spills and underground plumes that result in Soil Reclamation work or Pump and Treat projects, and lastly Compliance related work(making sure all the paperwork and regulatory frameworks involving State and Federal statutes are followed. This is the 40 CFR work I spoke about. Of course, Green Energy and Alternative energy things are exciting and interesting I am just explaining what you could find yourself doing if you end up working for a Municipal Government or Federal Government. Eventually, I realized that I didn't want to spend a 40-year career dealing with 40 CFR. In the late 1990s the department I worked with upgraded its computer systems for environmental management and compliance database programs. They sent me to school to learn things like Linux Administration, MS SQL and Microsoft Server 4.0 Administration. I fell in love with IT and have worked as an IT Systems Engineer quite happily now for over 20 years. If you love environmental engineering projects there is plenty to do and it's a great career, but if you don't enjoy working in a very rigid and constrained environment where Federal and State Regulations govern all that you do then find some specialty niche in the career field that keeps you away from managing compliance programs which is going to be hard to do in my opinion. The longer you stay in the career and if you end up working as a Supervisor or Manager you are eventually going to become involved in compliance. So courses in Engineering Management, Environmental Law, and perhaps certifications in Project Management might be more useful to you than an MS in Environmental Engineering because it all depends on what you are doing. This is just my experience of over a decade of working in this field, your mileage may vary, and talking to others might give you a different opinion.

[@sierrahunt36]

@@scottfx182 Thank you so much for your insight and telling me about your experience!!! I will definitely look into the fields you mentioned :) I live near a lot of Military bases in NC and had no idea they hired so many engineers!

[@scottfx182]

@@sierrahunt36 Because you majored in Environmental Science you already have all the skills you need to understand the impact of pollution and biological uptake from water and soils. You don't need any more science. What you need is some engineering knowledge to apply the principles of the science you learned to solve practical problems. One of the possible things I would look into is perhaps getting a Masters in GIS because all the data gathered from Environmental Sampling and Impact Studies is going to be put into databases and models are going to be made from them. Everything from Watersheds, mineral use, climate data etc is going to end up in a GIS. Environmental Engineering in my opinion is limiting in that there are only so many jobs available and people don't really move around a lot. Also if you ger into the field like I pointed out and you work for the largest employers out there either the Federal Government or State you are going to be involved in 40 CFR and State Regulations ie Compliance work. If you want to build things like Green Energy systems then get a Master's In Systems Engineering and look to work for companies involved in those kinds of projects as I believe that you are more likely to find employment in those specialized disciplines in my opinion. You know you can always go out and take courses in Environmental topics a la carte like how to manage 40 CFR-related programs or Hydrogeology or things like that. that as an add-on or upskilling course. In Systems Engineering you have a built-in hedge against underemployment because Systems Engineering skills are in high demand and you can work on anything. You can choose to work for companies involved in Green Energy Projects or some other type of activities because of the versatility of the degree. Furthermore, AI and Machine Learning as a subset of Systems Engineering would greatly enhance employability because no matter what you do somewhere someone is going to want to build models of behaviors by hanging sensors on devices to model performance or simulate the customer journey if you are developing a product. Anyway, something to consider. Again this is just my opinion talk to other people in the career field and see what they think so you are well informed before you decide to spend your money on education.

[@wooxiangjun1752]

So chill i wanna work for the government too 😢

[@RandyLy]

This is just at my work. I doubt its the same for other jobs

[@aaa-bd6mu]

Hey, great video by the way. I was wondering how much interaction with others is necessary for your position. I'm currently an intern at an environmental engineering consulting firm and I find most of my time is spent in meetings or communicating with others and finding what work they've done or still needs to be done. I enjoy working in teams but I'd rather be able to do my work independently instead of having to rely on 10 other people to complete their part before I can start mine. I'm graduating next year and exploring potential career options.

[@RandyLy]

Really good question. Meetings are boring and sometimes unnecessary. Even though I get to manage some programs to way I want, there are others that rely off of others to get things done. Half of the time, I just do what I need to do by myself while the other half I also need to wait for other people to do their part before we move forward. It depends on the program and sometimes depends on if you're willing to just bypass a few unnecessary steps, legally. (Use common sense when doing this)

[@bibekpandey267]

Bro which civil specialisation has wide scope in future

[@RandyLy]

All specializations are equally important and there is no one correct answer. It is better to focus on what are the problems near your area and target that. It is easier to find a job that way because the engineering problems in my location are probably different than at yours.

[@njegaming4995]

I’m going into the Air Force with this job is this the schedule always or does it vary

[@RandyLy]

It will vary depending on your commander and overall unit. Some places can be way more strict.

[@oakborn7446]

What dose deployment look like?

[@RandyLy]

Im not in the military, so I don’t get deployed.

[@AreEnTee]

This is a great insight video! If you do get emails that's have important info (not the spam ones), what do they usually consist of?

[@RandyLy]

Some important ones are emails from an inspector asking if a repair/issue was addressed, an email from your boss, invoices from a company asking to get paid, or an issue from an employee at some shop (a gas station nozzle isn't working for example).

[@EllaForsyth]

What’s the salary for this type of job look like?

[@RandyLy]

My salary at the time of that video was $85,000 a year. Salaries vary depending on location, education, and experience, so take that into consideration.

[@alenalenbjoseph4855]

Hlo bro is it very hard to study for an average student i like to join diploma in environmental engineering in canada plz reply i dont know if this course suits me

[@RandyLy]

I don't know of any other country besides the US, so I cannot say how it will be like in Canada. Studying is very specific to the individual. I was pretty good in math and science ever since high school, so it wasn't too overwhelming during graduate school. It's also how you manage time, stress, and if you have other life events happening.

[@Dlowr7]

Dude that sounds horrible, worst than when I was in the military