I passed your question to a professor of AOE at Virginia Tech. This is what she had to say:
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Dear Grace from VA,

You are quite fortunate in that you live in a state with many wonderful Aerospace Engineering programs. For example, Old Dominion and the University of Virginia both have strong Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering programs. In my admittedly biased opinion, the best Aerospace Engineering program in the state is at Virginia Tech! As for what courses to take—I urge you to build a strong math and science background. Work hard at math and physics, and if you can take AP Calculus and AP Physics in high school that will certainly help prepare you for an Aerospace Engineering degree program. Seek out opportunities to learn more about planes and/or spacecraft. As just a couple ideas, you can get exposure to small airplanes by participating in an EAA Young Eagles Day (http://www.youngeagles.org/), and NASA’s website (http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/index.html) has all sorts of educational/motivational information. Lastly, Universities like to see strong students (high GPAs in rigorous courses) and well-rounded individuals (active in clubs, sports, music, student leadership, etc…) so being involved in your community is a good thing! I hope this helps answer your questions.

Go Hokies!

Dr. Leigh McCue

Assistant Professor

Aerospace and Ocean Engineering

Virginia Tech

This is a very good question! Certainly people with degrees in computer science, electrical and mechanical engineering, and even construction management work in environmental and (with the exception of construction management) biomedical engineering. If you are definitely going to attend a certain college, my suggestion would be to look at the web sites for the individual departments or make an appointment to talk to a faculty member or undergraduate advisor in each department and find out what kind of courses are offered and what kind of research the faculty members are doing. Both environmental and biomedical engineering are very broad fields, as you probably know from your research.Environmental engineering can range from designing and building treatment systems for solid, liquid, and gaseous waste to collecting and analyzing samples and running computer models of how pollutants travel through the air, water and soil. Biomedical engineering includes the development of medical devices that involve electrical and mechanical components such as artificial joints, stents and pacemakers, and drug delivery devices as well as protective equipment for soldiers, workers, and athletes. Today in many mechanical engineering departments you can find faculty members interested in biomechanics, applying principles of mechanical engineering to bones and joints. Some mechanical engineering departments also offer courses in green engineering that include topics such as life cycle analysis and energy management. So, mechanical engineering may be your best bet, but it would be worth talking to some people in the other departments as well just in case there is a faculty member in another department with interests similar to yours. Good luck!

There are many different areas of environmental engineering, some more focused on understanding the natural environment and others more focused on technology to modify or protect the environment. A strong background in math is important for most of these areas. Fortunately, math can be learned with good teaching and practice, so if you are willing to study and learn, you should be able to develop your math skills. Research is also a very broad area. Sometimes research is done by collecting samples in the field, sometimes by performing experiments in the laboratory, and sometimes by developing mathematical models using a computer. If you are interested in protecting the environment, Im sure that you can find some aspect of environmental engineering research that appeals to you and will be a challenging and rewarding career. Regards, Peggy

I agree with Kristin's answers to this question. Environmental engineers can work in a variety of industries and a variety of technical areas, from designing air pollution control equipment (which may require knowledge of electrical and mechanical engineering concepts, as well as principles from chemical engineering) to building water and wastewater treatment plants, to investigating properties for contamination.
Salaries vary depending on the industry, and of course experience, and are not as high as some other engineering disciplines but are definitely good professional salaries.
A professional engineering license is a good credential to have, because you never know where your career will lead you. It demonstrates both your technical knowledge and your commitment to the profession.