Guest Contributor: Jennifer Garr

The field of environmental studies has developed significantly in Israel over the past fifteen years and, as a result, there is a wider range of employment opportunities for those with a background in the field.

As the field tends to be interdisciplinary, there are a number of different directions that a person with a background in environmental science or studies can pursue. The opportunities range from work with NGOs, research for a public or private institution, education, and policy to employment in private consulting firms and the rapidly growing field of clean tech. Finding employment in certain areas will require a background in environmental science. In order to break into the field, an internship with a relevant organization or company can be key.

Most of the information about environmental organizations and companies can be found online. Life and Environment serves as Israel’s umbrella organization of 130 environmental organizations and has a full list of their affiliates on their website.

If you are looking to work in the field of Clean Tech, you should start by networking via online resources such as LinkedIn. As this industry grows, there are an increasing number of Clean Tech conferences that take place throughout the country. The conferences are an excellent opportunity to learn more about the field as well as to network with other professionals.

Hebrew
A strong working knowledge of Hebrew will help to expand your options in this field. This is particularly true and essential for people who want to work at NGOs or in environmental education or policy.

Salary information
As the field is diverse, there can be broad salary ranges depending on whether you are working in the public or non- profit sector or for private industries.

Educational opportunities in Israel
There are a number of undergraduate and graduate degree options in the field in Israel. For more information regarding the programs that are taught in Hebrew it is best to contact each university. Links to the universities’ websites can be found in the article University Programs in Israel.

In addition, there are several degree programs taught in English:

• Tel Aviv University has an MA program in Environmental Studies.
• The Arava Institute in conjunction with Ben-Gurion University offers an MA program in Desert Studies.
• The Technion offers both BSc & ME/MSc programs in the field of Environmental Engineering.

Special thanks to Jennifer Garr for the information for this article. Jennifer was the program manager of the International MA Program in Environmental Studies at the Porter School of Environmental Studies, Tel Aviv University.