Brent King graduated at the end of 2004 with a Bachelor of Applied Science(Honours) in Environmental Management. Now he's working as an Environmental Monitoring Officer for the Greater Wellington Regional Council.
Looks like a very simple career development path. Was it as straightforward as it seems?“
I found out about the Applied Sciences, environmental management degree at the end of my Seventh Form year. So I just got down here and found I really enjoyed it, and carried on right through.”
Brent had to complete the required papers in his first year, and then get good enough passes to gain entry to the Applied Sciences programme. The four year degree is awarded with Honours if completed satisfactorily within the four years, and it includes dissertation work, as well as work placements in some of the majors.
Brent says he especially enjoyed his time studying Geography, as he could relate the theory he was learning to the reality outside his window. He enjoyed seeing how things worked in the environment, doing field work to put his class work into practice, and into perspective.
Brent's present job involves checking ground water on a regular basis, for quality and also for water levels. His office also monitors freshwater quality, and air pollution. As well as going out and gathering samples himself, Brent's office has electronic links with remote stations that measure water tables and send the information automatically. He then sends samples to the Lab for analysis.
So are his studies directly applicable to what he's doing now?
“Some of it is. At the moment I'm quite a technical role, but once I have more experience I hope to step up a level, and I think I'll make more use of what I learned then, in a more strategic management role.”