← Back to Job Profiles

Rebecca Watts

Environmental Industrial Placement
What employment sector do you work in?

Public Sector

How long have you had a green job for nature?

4 months

Salary Range

£20,000 – £25,000

Please describe the work that you do.

I am currently undertaking an Industrial Placement with the Environment Agency in Operations Catchment Services – Water Quality, where I am working alongside the marine, freshwater, wastewater and innovative permitting teams.

What do you most like about your job? Any dislikes?

I enjoy engaging with and learning from the wide range of skills, experience and expertise that people within the organisation have. Working together with motivated and passionate people makes it easy to find purpose and inspiration to work towards protecting and improving our natural environment.

What inspired you into this career? 

After my A-Levels, I went to art school for a couple of years. Here, I learnt about what is important for me in a career. Direction, stability and feeling like your work contributes to something bigger than yourself became key elements for me. So instead of trying to combine my interest in environmental science with my art practice, I decided to change path to study Earth Science at university. During my time studying, I soon realised I wanted to be on the side of history that encourages conscious environmental and sustainable change. Working on projects that considered UN Sustainable Development Goals, net zero targets and negative emission technologies inspired me into this career.

Have you faced any challenges in progressing your career so far? 

I have struggled a little bit with imposter syndrome. Being kind to myself when I make mistakes and reminding myself that I am young and here to learn and experience as much as possible has helped me to overcome this and gain as much from my internship as I can.

What education/training did you have?

BSc Earth Science at Newcastle University.

What advice would you give to someone coming into the profession? 

Having a green job means you are often thinking about negative impacts and environmental consequences, such as pollution, climate change and ecological destruction. It can sometimes be overwhelming and depressing. My advice would be to have awareness of this but also focus on the positive environmental stories, such as human led interventions and mitigations to keep spirits and motivations high!

Related Job Profiles