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Subject:environmental TW info From:Rebecca R Chamberlain <rebrc -at- JUNO -dot- COM> Date:Wed, 30 Jul 1997 19:50:40 -0600
A few weeks ago, I asked for some info on environmental writing. Thanks
to all who responded! Sorry it's taken me so long to get around to this,
I went out of town for a few days and am just now recovering! 14 people
replied to my question, 8 of them asked me to summarize what the other 6
had to say, so here goes.
Despite the recent 7+/- 2 thread, I'm simply going to list all the
answers I got for each question. (This is not something anyone needs to
attempt to commit to memory!)
What kind of writing do you do?
reports
site assessments
feasibility studies
investigations
environmental impact statements
technical editing
proposals
environmental software documentation
What kind of companies do you work for?
environmental consulting firms
Foster Wheeler
environmental groups
Dept. of Environmental Resources
Nature Conservancy
Environmental Defense Fund
Greenpeace
Sierra Club
National Soils Information System
Natural Resources Conservation Service
contractors
USDA branches
National Association of Conservation Districts
waste disposal firms
recycling firms
public interest groups
big corporations that affect the environment
What kind of salary range is there?
contractors tend to pay on the low end of the tech writing salary surveys
Where are the best jobs found?
the only person to mention a place was from Seattle
What other skills/knowledge would she need?
masters degree
more experience
What else do you suggest for getting started?
volunteer with local environmental groups
put together a portfolio of writing whether published or not
look in the phone book for environmental companies and write to them
be persistent
learn HTML and online help
for govt. jobs, go the the public library, find poory written docs from
the target agency and rewrite them
put together resume highlighting writing experience
write for a local newspaper about environmental issues
I'm sending her copies of all the responses I got. I hope it helps her.
Again, thanks for all the great ideas.
Rebecca
rebrc -at- juno -dot- com
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