Our Graduates are in Demand

Our graduates have an outstanding record in finding work related to their studies and our graduates are making a difference in a wide range of positions in Australia and around the world. Over the past decade, graduates found relevant work within three months of completing their degree. Recent graduates have obtained jobs with many different industry groups; international aid and development organisations; local, state and federal Australian governments; community based organisations such as Landcare; and a variety of areas in support of Indigenous Australian management of their land.

Many of our alumni have kept in touch to tell us about their diverse, challenging and rewarding careers.

• Careers of some of our former 3rd Year graduates

• Career Opportunities for Foresters
• Career Opportunities for Geographers
• Career Opportunities for Human Ecologists
• Career Opportunities for Resource & Environmental Managers
• Career Opportunities for Global & Ocean Scientists

 

Career Opportunities for Foresters

The four-year BSc (Forestry) program, and associated five-year combined degrees, are designed to educate forest scientists and forest management professionals to meet these challenges and opportunities; graduates are also attractive to a wide range of employers in environmental science and resource management.

More information about careers in Forestry

Career Opportunities for Geographers

Geographers are in many professions. Obviously, the higher the level of a graduate’s qualifications, the stronger the career prospects. The broad field of planning and environmental management, involving the assessment, development and conservation of natural resources both within Australia and overseas provides significant career opportunities. Many employers now seek graduates with skills in Geographic Information Systems as an aid to planning and management. Geography graduates are also employed in the fields of industry, housing, transport facilities, welfare services, national parks and recreation areas, and protection of Australia’s environmental heritage.

The success of Geography graduates stems from:

• their broad outlook and wide range of technical skills
• their ability to recognise and integrate the many factors which contribute to environmental and social problems
• their concern with the interaction of human and environmental factors.

Career Opportunities for Human Ecologists

In addition to a general educational role, Human Ecology helps to prepare undergraduates for a wide range of occupations. This results from the broad integrative character of its curriculum, from the integrative skills taught, and from the encouragement given to students to relate their other specialist studies to complex contemporary problems.

For the future teacher, coverage of a broad range of human situations and problems, especially in the environmental area, relates directly to the content and approach of an appreciable proportion of the courses now taught at secondary level. Many secondary schools and colleges in Australia have reorganised courses over recent years along problem-centred, rather than disciplinary, lines.

For those hoping to enter the Commonwealth or a State Public Service, Human Ecology provides a basis for handling complex issues which many former students, now in government employment, have found invaluable. Most of the more challenging work in the Public Service today involves the evaluation and integration of information from a wide spectrum of specialist sources. Work of this kind requires the understanding and techniques which Human Ecology teaches.

A broad program of undergraduate studies with Human Ecology as an integrating core also serves as a particularly appropriate preparation for further education or employment in areas such as: environmental science, resource management, urban or regional planning, environmental or science policy, agriculture and land use policy

These areas have assumed greatly increased importance during recent years. As a result, postgraduate programs in these fields are now available in many Australian tertiary institutions. Human Ecology also serves as an excellent integrating core in degrees leading to careers in industry and commerce.

In essence, Human Ecology seeks to develop abilities related to holistic scholarship. This kind of scholarship has assumed an increased importance in research, particularly in recent years. For some, therefore, Human Ecology may lead directly towards a higher degree and later employment in universities and other tertiary institutions.

Career Opportunities for Resource & Environmental Managers

The Program emphasises experiential and field-based learning, and combines broadly based environmental education with focused professional development and opportunities for specialisation.

Courses in the Program are best organised into streams, examples include: biodiversity conservation; catchment management; environmental data collection and management; environmental politics, policy and planning; farm forestry; forest and landscape ecology; geographical information systems; human ecology and social change; international development; landcare and land management; natural resource economics; resource planning and management; soil ecology and management; urban wildlife and forests; and wildlife and habitat management.

Graduates find employment in a wide variety of roles (variety of streams mentioned above), reflecting their diverse interests and the way in which they have structured their degree.

Career Opportunities for Global and Ocean Scientists

This is the most comprehensive program in global environmental sciences offered in Australia. There are multiple career opportunities for graduates ranging from scientific research to the corporate sector, and to international and national public service and policy making. The Bachelor of Global and Ocean Sciences degree is also excellent preparation for a higher degree such as a PhD.