Imagine you are crouching over a smelly pit of garbage, with seagulls circling the trash and bulldozers moving piles behind you. You are a landfill engineer and you are here talking to the city's sanitation department about a new project to deal with the problem of growing garbage production and too little space to put it. The city isn't interested in building another dump, which is just an open hole, but instead has asked you to design a landfill. It will be your job to design a landfill facility at this location that can be isolated from the surrounding air, soil, and groundwater, thereby protecting the environment while holding the city's trash for decades to come.
As a landfill engineer, you must factor a number of considerations into your design. You have already been involved in the project for more than a year, working with hydrogeologists, city planners, biologists, and other scientists and engineers, conducting an environmental assessment of the proposed site. Once the necessary studies have been completed and proper approvals granted, you and your team decide what kind of liner system to use to keep waste from coming into contact with the soil and to keep leachate, liquids that have come in contact with the waste, from seeping into the groundwater.
In this case, you will use a double liner system: one-liner layer will be compacted clay and the other will be a plastic-like geosynthetic liner. Above the liners, you will build a leachate collection system that will minimize the leachate levels within the waste by draining or pumping it out of the site for treatment. Next, you will design a storm water drainage system to keep rain and other moisture out of the landfill to reduce the amount of leachate generated. The storm water drainage system will consist of a system of ditches that will collect and drain water away from the site. You will also have to consider whether to collect landfill gases produced by the breakdown of garbage. The landfill will produce carbon dioxide and methane, both of which are greenhouse gases.
On top of that, methane is explosive, so safeguards must be put in place to minimize the potential for explosions or landfill fires. You might build a flare to burn off the methane or collect it for use in generating power for the city. Finally, you must also consider public health concerns and operational constraints in your design, including noise, dust, odour, litter, traffic, and visual impacts. It's a complicated process, but your design will produce a safe and effective way of storing the city's waste.
Duties vary significantly from job to job, but the following list includes typical job duties one might encounter as a landfill engineer:
If you are a high school student considering a career as an environmental geophysicist, you should have a keen interest in:
If you are a post-secondary student considering a career as an environmental geophysicist, the following programs are most applicable.
In most cases, the minimum education requirement to work as an environmental geophysicist is a graduate degree. Pursuing a master’s or doctoral degree in fields related to environmental geophysics can enhance your expertise, career prospects, and ability to contribute to the field. These advanced degrees offer specialized knowledge and skills highly valued in both the professional and academic worlds.
In many provinces, geophysicists must obtain registration and licensure with their provincial association as a Professional Geoscientist (P.Geo.). The certification process for geophysicists is similar to that of engineering professions and is typically overseen by the same regulatory body.
Our Environmental Professional (EP) designation can also help you progress in your chosen environmental career.
Technical Skills
Personal and Professional Skills
Environmental employers look for professionals who can combine technical knowledge with soft skills. Watch our free webinar “Essential Not Optional: Skills Needed to Succeed in Canada’s Environmental Industry” or take our Essential Skills courses.
As key executive leaders who shape their company’s sustainability policy, CSOs work in many different types of organizations. Common employers of CSOs include:
Search for jobs on the ECO Canada Job Board.
If you are a post-secondary student seeking a CSO role in the future, consider pursuing a university degree related to:
In addition to the educational fields mentioned above, you will also need extensive management experience to become a CSO, with well-developed human resources management and leadership skills. Consider educational seminars or post-graduate studies that will hone your analytical thinking, such as:
Our Environmental Professional (EP) designation can also help you progress in your chosen environmental career.
Technical Skills
Personal and Professional Skills
Environmental employers seek professionals who combine technical knowledge with personal and professional skills. Watch our free webinar “Essential Not Optional: Skills Needed to Succeed in Canada’s Environmental Industry” or take our Essential Skills courses.
James Hollingsworth was a young mechanical engineer looking for work when a friend told him about a job opening with a solid waste management company. "They were looking for someone who was proficient in AutoCAD, but who was also an engineer so they could progress that person into a design role.” At the time, James remembers, "I kind of liked the idea of going into solid waste because I figured people were always getting rid of their trash.” Today, James is a solid waste engineer working with an Ontario solid waste management consulting firm.
Almost 95 percent of his time is spent at his desk, sketching landfill designs, developing new business proposals, or advising other engineers. "This job is a good mixture of different tasks and waste management issues.” Another component of his job is consulting and working directly with clients. "I enjoy being able to talk and interact with other people involved in the waste industry, whether that’s local municipalities or professionals from other industry sectors.” Much of James’s work is proactive instead of reactive. This means he’s involved in the ongoing monitoring of rural and urban landfills. "We’ll see something that’s coming up in the monitoring, and we’ll say "If we keep going this way, there’s only X number of years until we have a problem.’”
James adds that it is his job to bring the problem to the attention of municipal officials. "I tell them "Here are some solutions…let’s spend the money now to keep you from spending a lot more money on clean-up later.’” Sometimes James has to be creative in the solutions he offers residents who are upset about a landfill in their area. With many landfills being constructed in rural areas, residents are often worried about their well water being polluted. "We try to show them the science behind the construction and operation of the landfill…Sometimes it’s even as simple as saying, we’re going to come and test your groundwater every year.” James points out that what people don’t realize is that today’s landfill projects have created a safer, more environmentally sound way to dispose of waste. "We are trying to minimize the impact by placing the waste into a properly designed landfill site, rather than just another dump.”
Marine geologists are classified into the following occupational grouping:
NOC Code: 21102 – Geoscientists and oceanographers
The National Occupational Classification (NOC) provides a standardized language for describing the work performed by Canadians in the labour market. It gives statisticians, labour market analysts, career counsellors, employers, and individual job seekers a consistent way to collect data and describe and understand the nature of work within different occupations.
See ECO’s Blue National Occupational Standard for a career competency profile for a marine geologist that outlines the specific skills, knowledge, and behaviours required for individuals to perform effectively in this particular role. This profile is a benchmark for training and development, ensuring consistency and quality across professions within the blue economy.
Dans un esprit de respect, de réciprocité et de vérité, nous honorons et reconnaissons Moh’kinsstis, le territoire traditionnel du Traité 7 et les pratiques orales de la confédération des Pieds-Noirs : Siksika, Kainai, Piikani, ainsi que les nations Îyâxe Nakoda et Tsuut’ina. Nous reconnaissons que ce territoire abrite la Nation métisse de l’Alberta, la région 3 au sein de la patrie historique des Métis du Nord-Ouest. Enfin, nous reconnaissons toutes les nations qui vivent, travaillent et se divertissent sur ce territoire, et qui l’honorent et le célèbrent.
In the spirit of respect, reciprocity, and truth, we acknowledge that we live, work, and gather on the traditional territories of the peoples of Treaty 7, including the Blackfoot Confederacy—comprising the Siksika, Kainai, and Piikani Nations—as well as the Îyâxe Nakoda and Tsuut’ina Nations.
This land, known as Moh’kinsstis in the Blackfoot language and encompassing what is now Districts 5 and 6, is also home to the Métis Nation of Alberta, Region 3, within the historical Northwest Métis homeland.
We recognize and honour the deep connection these Nations have to the land, and we are grateful for the opportunity to share in its stewardship.
As we continue our work, we commit to learning from Indigenous knowledge systems, uplifting Indigenous voices, and fostering relationships rooted in equity, understanding, and reconciliation.
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