Best Careers 2009: Urban Regional Planner

Overview. Should a new stadium be built downtown? How can a county reduce sprawl while providing appealing, affordable housing? What should the city demand of a developer who wants to build a new project?

To address questions like these, planners analyze trends, population needs and desires, the area's assets and liabilities, and laws and policies. Planners conduct studies, lead meetings with experts, and hold public hearings.

Before making a recommendation, planners end up wearing many hats: civil engineer, architect, economist, budget analyst, sociologist, and politician. A diplomat's touch is necessary if you expect your plan to survive all of the stakeholders' competing interests.

Brookhaven Finds Its Star on the Rise

Given the frightening record of this place, it's startling to think that they received almost 1/6th of all the stimulus money for labs across the US! But it could be enormously important for regional ecological research.


GOOD news at the Brookhaven National Laboratory has been piling up fast in recent months. In the midst of a recession, the lab here is launching huge new projects and generating hundreds of jobs.

“The lab’s a really exciting place right now,” said Samuel Aronson, its director. “Things are popping.”

Even a former critic agrees. “B.N.L. is clearly on a roll,” said Richard Amper, executive director of the Long Island Pine Barrens Society, an environmental group, and a member of the lab’s Community Advisory Council, formed 10 years ago when the lab was being criticized by neighbors for incidents involving radioactive and chemical pollution.

College of Atlantic in Maine has only One Major: human Ecology!

COA - A Curriculum with a Conscience

Do you want to make a difference in the world?
That's our mission, too.

COA is a small school, but with a major difference - literally. All students major in Human Ecology, the study of our relationship with our environment. This major gives you the flexibility to design your own course of study. It's all about creativity, investigation, engagement, and community.

As a COA student, you work closely with faculty, take interdisciplinary classes, explore your own creative work, and immerse yourself in a diverse community of learners to discover and pursue your passions. You also complete independent study projects and internships, participate in campus life, and have unique opportunities to study abroad.

Before graduating, all seniors create an original project that represents the culmination of their work here. It might be a novel or a scientific research paper. An art show or a new non-profit. It's up to you, as you can see from these senior projects.

Ultimately, our mission is not only to understand our relationships with our environment, but also to do something to improve them. A degree in Human Ecology enables you to make a difference, in your own way, whether you love science or the arts, education, public policy, or any other field.

7 Out of 10 College Bound Students, Prefer Green Universities

A Recent Princeton Review survey shows that most college applicants today are becoming increasingly interested in how green their prospective universities are. Of these statistics, 68 percent of the students surveyed admitted that their final decision on a college might very well be influenced by the overall environmental score of the university.

These results were taken from a survey of 12,715 college bound high school students and 3,007 of their parents currently living in the United States. The 68 percent of students interested in green ratings were in comparison to last years 64 percent, which shows quite an upswing of green attentiveness in college bound students.

EDIBLE ECO HOUSE

This is just too cool!

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