George 1. B. Pran Environmental Protection Agency Washington, D.C.
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Educational Needs of Chemists in Pollution Control and Abatement
There are several ways to approach the subject of "Environmental Education for the Professional Chemist." One or two of the approaches would presume that I knew all there is t o know about chemistry and the kind of academic program needed to develop a practicing chemist. Since this is not the case, my remarks will he confined to general approaches tbat seem to be necessary in bridging the gap between a strict academic approach to chemistry and the practical aspects of problem solving in pollution abatement and control. Also, in view of diminishing graduate training grants, I will discuss the approach of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to preparation of pollution abatement and control personnel a t the graduate level. Environmental Education-An Disciplines
Interface of Scientific
Since concern for the environment has attracted national attention, the academic community as well as individuals have tried to establish courses and/or curricula utilizing the word "environment" as the focus for new courses and degrees. Examples of some established a t the Bachelor's level are environmental managers, environmental analysts, environmental design, etc. s u c h an approach does not necessarily improve our ability to deal effectively with instead, it may hamper longenvironmental range solutions. Many academic problems may be raised by establishing degrees that carry the word "environment." Will students who ohtain these degrees be able to find jobs in environmental work that are commensurate with their education? Most employers (federal, state and local government, industry, and academia) have identified positions based on a specific scientific discipline. The only employers that we know about that hire sizable numbers of environmental generalists are the private organizations involved in environmental activism. And these groups are apt to be reducing staff because funding sources are drying up. (Ford and Rockefeller Foundations, long active in this field, have announced a major reduction in their support by 1975.) A principal point at issue is tbat this nation is faced with a major environmental problem that must be solved. We must dpproach the problem in the same manner as we have approached similar problems in the past, by turning to our basic scientific disciolines for technical knowledee and scientific methods for ;he answers. By this I mean ill of the scientific disciplines that can make a contribution to the solution must be included. We confine ourselves to basic science disciplines in this discussion; whom are we talking about? We are including the chemist, biologist, physicist, toxicologist, physician, engineer, mathematician, etc., each of whom has specific training which can be applied to the solution of the environmental problem. The goal of environmental education for these already highly trained specialists is to achieve, in addition to their specialty training, an understanding of the environment, how their disciplines can contribute to a Presented at [he session on "l
