How to become Industrial Ecologist in 2024

Industrial Ecologist Apply principles and processes of natural ecosystems to develop models for efficient industrial systems. Use knowledge from the physical and social sciences to maximize effective use of natural resources in the production and use of goods and services. Examine societal issues and their relationship with both technical systems and the environment.

Industrial Ecologist is Also Know as

In different settings, Industrial Ecologist is titled as

  • Ecologist
  • Environmental Consultant
  • Environmental Protection Agency Counselor
  • Research Scientist
  • Researcher

Education and Training of Industrial Ecologist

Industrial Ecologist is categorized in Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed

Experience Required for Industrial Ecologist

Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.

Education Required for Industrial Ecologist

Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).

Degrees Related to Industrial Ecologist

Training Required for Industrial Ecologist

Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.

Related Ocuupations

Some Ocuupations related to Industrial Ecologist in different industries are

What Do Industrial Ecologist do?

  • Investigate accidents affecting the environment to assess ecological impact.
  • Investigate the adaptability of various animal and plant species to changed environmental conditions.
  • Review industrial practices, such as the methods and materials used in construction or production, to identify potential liabilities and environmental hazards.
  • Research sources of pollution to determine environmental impact or to develop methods of pollution abatement or control.
  • Provide industrial managers with technical materials on environmental issues, regulatory guidelines, or compliance actions.
  • Plan or conduct studies of the ecological implications of historic or projected changes in industrial processes or development.
  • Plan or conduct field research on topics such as industrial production, industrial ecology, population ecology, and environmental production or sustainability.
  • Monitor the environmental impact of development activities, pollution, or land degradation.
  • Identify or develop strategies or methods to minimize the environmental impact of industrial production processes.
  • Investigate the impact of changed land management or land use practices on ecosystems.
  • Develop or test protocols to monitor ecosystem components and ecological processes.
  • Create complex and dynamic mathematical models of population, community, or ecological systems.
  • Conduct scientific protection, mitigation, or restoration projects to prevent resource damage, maintain the integrity of critical habitats, and minimize the impact of human activities.
  • Carry out environmental assessments in accordance with applicable standards, regulations, or laws.
  • Build and maintain databases of information about energy alternatives, pollutants, natural environments, industrial processes, and other information related to ecological change.
  • Forecast future status or condition of ecosystems, based on changing industrial practices or environmental conditions.
  • Conduct applied research on the effects of industrial processes on the protection, restoration, inventory, monitoring, or reintroduction of species to the natural environment.
  • Recommend methods to protect the environment or minimize environmental damage from industrial production practices.
  • Develop alternative energy investment scenarios to compare economic and environmental costs and benefits.
  • Analyze changes designed to improve the environmental performance of complex systems and avoid unintended negative consequences.
  • Apply new or existing research about natural ecosystems to understand economic and industrial systems in the context of the environment.
  • Conduct analyses to determine the maximum amount of work that can be accomplished for a given amount of energy in a system, such as industrial production systems and waste treatment systems.
  • Conduct environmental sustainability assessments, using material flow analysis (MFA) or substance flow analysis (SFA) techniques.
  • Evaluate the effectiveness of industrial ecology programs, using statistical analysis and applications.
  • Examine local, regional, or global use and flow of materials or energy in industrial production processes.
  • Examine societal issues and their relationship with both technical systems and the environment.
  • Identify environmental impacts caused by products, systems, or projects.
  • Identify or compare the component parts or relationships between the parts of industrial, social, and natural systems.
  • Identify sustainable alternatives to industrial or waste-management practices.
  • Perform analyses to determine how human behavior can affect, and be affected by, changes in the environment.
  • Perform environmentally extended input-output (EE I-O) analyses.
  • Prepare plans to manage renewable resources.
  • Prepare technical and research reports, such as environmental impact reports, and communicate the results to individuals in industry, government, or the general public.
  • Promote use of environmental management systems (EMS) to reduce waste or to improve environmentally sound use of natural resources.
  • Redesign linear, or open-loop, systems into cyclical, or closed-loop, systems so that waste products become inputs for new processes, modeling natural ecosystems.
  • Research environmental effects of land and water use to determine methods of improving environmental conditions or increasing outputs, such as crop yields.
  • Review research literature to maintain knowledge on topics related to industrial ecology, such as physical science, technology, economy, and public policy.
  • Translate the theories of industrial ecology into eco-industrial practices.

Qualities of Good Industrial Ecologist

  • Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
  • Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
  • Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
  • Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
  • Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
  • Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
  • Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
  • Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
  • Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
  • Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
  • Mathematical Reasoning: The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
  • Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
  • Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
  • Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
  • Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
  • Flexibility of Closure: The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
  • Number Facility: The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
  • Far Vision: The ability to see details at a distance.
  • Perceptual Speed: The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
  • Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
  • Speed of Closure: The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.
  • Visualization: The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
  • Memorization: The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
  • Time Sharing: The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
  • Trunk Strength: The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without "giving out" or fatiguing.
  • Auditory Attention: The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
  • Hearing Sensitivity: The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.
  • Depth Perception: The ability to judge which of several objects is closer or farther away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object.
  • Visual Color Discrimination: The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
  • Wrist-Finger Speed: The ability to make fast, simple, repeated movements of the fingers, hands, and wrists.
  • Spatial Orientation: The ability to know your location in relation to the environment or to know where other objects are in relation to you.
  • Peripheral Vision: The ability to see objects or movement of objects to one's side when the eyes are looking ahead.
  • Night Vision: The ability to see under low-light conditions.
  • Extent Flexibility: The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
  • Glare Sensitivity: The ability to see objects in the presence of a glare or bright lighting.
  • Sound Localization: The ability to tell the direction from which a sound originated.
  • Gross Body Equilibrium: The ability to keep or regain your body balance or stay upright when in an unstable position.
  • Gross Body Coordination: The ability to coordinate the movement of your arms, legs, and torso together when the whole body is in motion.
  • Dynamic Flexibility: The ability to quickly and repeatedly bend, stretch, twist, or reach out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
  • Arm-Hand Steadiness: The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
  • Stamina: The ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath.
  • Dynamic Strength: The ability to exert muscle force repeatedly or continuously over time. This involves muscular endurance and resistance to muscle fatigue.
  • Explosive Strength: The ability to use short bursts of muscle force to propel oneself (as in jumping or sprinting), or to throw an object.
  • Static Strength: The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
  • Speed of Limb Movement: The ability to quickly move the arms and legs.
  • Reaction Time: The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.
  • Rate Control: The ability to time your movements or the movement of a piece of equipment in anticipation of changes in the speed and/or direction of a moving object or scene.
  • Response Orientation: The ability to choose quickly between two or more movements in response to two or more different signals (lights, sounds, pictures). It includes the speed with which the correct response is started with the hand, foot, or other body part.
  • Multilimb Coordination: The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
  • Control Precision: The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
  • Finger Dexterity: The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
  • Manual Dexterity: The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.

Tools Used by Industrial Ecologist

  • Computer data input scanners
  • Desktop computers
  • Laptop computers
  • Laser facsimile machines
  • Multi-line telephone systems
  • Personal computers

Technology Skills required for Industrial Ecologist

  • Adobe Acrobat
  • Adobe Illustrator
  • Adobe Photoshop
  • Apache Hadoop
  • Atlassian JIRA
  • Autodesk AutoCAD
  • C#
  • Dassault Systemes CATIA
  • Debugging software
  • Economic Input-Output Life Cycle Assessment EIO-LCA
  • Email software
  • Enterprise resource planning ERP software
  • ESRI ArcGIS software
  • Git
  • Linux
  • Microsoft Access
  • Microsoft Dynamics
  • Microsoft Dynamics AX
  • Microsoft Excel
  • Microsoft Office software
  • Microsoft PowerPoint
  • Microsoft SharePoint
  • Microsoft SQL Server
  • Microsoft Visio
  • Microsoft Visual Studio
  • Microsoft Windows
  • NoSQL
  • Online databases
  • Oracle Database
  • Oracle Java
  • PRe Consultants SimaPro
  • Production Flow Analysis and Simplification Toolkit PFAST
  • Python
  • Sales Automation Software
  • Salesforce software
  • SAP software
  • SAS
  • Splunk Enterprise
  • StataCorp Stata
  • STATISTICA
  • Structure query language SQL
  • Substance Flow Analysis STAN
  • The MathWorks MATLAB
  • Web browser software
  • Wolfram Research Mathematica