Adam Minich will spend this summer in the wilderness of the Yosemite Valley for an internship with the Student Conservation Association.
He is one of many students taking environmental jobs and internships through various green organizations.
However, James Eflin, professor in the natural resource and environmental management department said the term "green job" is not very useful because it's hard to define what a "green job" is.
"The field is evolving so fast, it gets hard to determine what jobs are green," Eflin said. "Putting the word ‘environmental' or ‘green' doesn't make the job green. Companies have been green-washing themselves to seem more environmentally friendly to the consumer."
Eflin said government and non-profit environmental jobs and conservation jobs — like the one Minich, a senior sociology major, will be participating in this summer — are the more popular ones among students because of feasibility and accessibility.
"BSU has had an ongoing relationship with the East Central Indiana Solid Waste District and the Bureau of Water Quality to help employ students in environmental jobs," he said. "Students are always looking for these types of jobs, and we try to help them as much as we can."
Minich and 16 other students from across the country will be conducting research on the high traffic of the national park. With this data, they will be able to figure out how to deal with the problem.
"Ninety-five percent of the national forest is wilderness, so there isn't much room for transportation," Minich said. "We're going to be working with the National Park Services to find the connection between traffic and overcrowding."
The three-month internship will last the whole summer and Minich said he hopes to get a more permanent job out of it.
"Since I'll be graduating this spring, hopefully this internship will open the door for more job opportunities out there," Minich said.
John Vann, professor of marketing and green initiative director, said Ball State has been doing a lot in the past few years to turn green, but it could do a much better job at promoting and communicating this with students to get a bigger student response.
"The green initiative is a sort of patchwork quilt project," he said. "Things are happening all over campus to make it more environmentally friendly. The plants being placed around campus are more indigenous perennials so they don't need to be replanted every year."
He also said the geothermal project has given Ball State global recognition as an environmentally aware campus.
"Some of our new buildings like the Kinghorn dorms ... are LEED [Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design] certified," he said. "The renovation of the student center made it more environmentally friendly with high efficiency lighting and other things."
Even though the campus is doing a lot to be more environmentally friendly, Vann said the poor economy is causing students to focus more on getting jobs than their sustainability.
"In my classes of seniors, at least, they [are more] focused on getting jobs after graduation than lowering their carbon footprint," he said.
Minich, however, is staying optimistic in his move across the country and his small role in helping the environment.
"I'm totally excited, but this is a huge move," he said. "There's a lot that goes into moving across the country, but I'm looking forward to it."
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