Green Careers & Workforce Development

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Green Careers & Workforce Development

A person in a white hard hat stands between two solar panels, working on the one to the right

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Audience

Topic

Green (and blue) careers include jobs that support communities as they adapt to environmental and economic changes. How does environmental education impact workforce development for these careers? Our experts share resources related to exploring green jobs, career pathways, and green skills that are increasingly in demand as industry shifts towards a greener economy.

Ashley Hoffman

There is a great job quiz associated with this guide that students can take that will help them explore various career pathways. Educators can then use the activities in the guide to help students learn more about these different pathways. While this guide emphasizes forestry jobs in particular, it would be a great starting point for educators.

Guidelines: Action orientation, Emphasis on skills building, Usability

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A person in a yellow visibility vest touches a tree to the right of them with their left hand; they hold a clipboard in their right hand

Green Jobs: Exploring Forest Careers

Sustainable Forestry Initiative / Project Learning Tree

Project Learning Tree’s Green Jobs: Exploring Forest Careers unit includes four hands-on, NGSS aligned, instructional activities to help youth research forestry jobs, and practice managing and monitoring forest resources. It is designed for educators, career and guidance counselors, Scouts, 4-H, and FFA leaders, foresters, and job training advisors to use with learners aged 12–25 in settings ranging from community youth programs and school classrooms, to college and career prep.

Resource

Posted: 02/04/25

Type: Classroom , Lesson Plan

Ashley Hoffman

This website has so many great resources for students exploring green jobs—from videos highlighting a “day in the life of…” to a map of available internship opportunities or degree options. It's a great resource for Colorado students that I wish every state had.

Guidelines: Action orientation, Emphasis on skills building, Usability

Rocco Saracina

I recommend this resource for educators, career guidance professionals, and others looking to connect students with real-world green career opportunities. The website includes additional resources, including free downloadable career cards from USFS’s Natural Inquirer program and links for those interested in exploring internship, job skills programs (such as Job Corp Civilian Conservation Centers), and employment. Face It can also be complemented with PLT’s Green Jobs: Exploring Forest Careers guide, helping students see how their skills and interests align with meaningful careers in the environmental sector.

Guidelines: Action orientation, Emphasis on skills building, Usability

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Observing the sunlight filtering through the trees in a forest, surrounded by a natural landscape of terrestrial plants, trunks, twigs, grass, and various shades of wood

Explore Green Careers with the U.S. Forest Service: Working for Forests Website (And Printable Resources)

U.S. Forest Servcie

PLT and the U.S. Forest Service have partnered to provide a Green Jobs Career Pathways resource, designed to help students explore careers in forestry and conservation. With over 193 million acres of national forests and grasslands to manage, the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) employs around 30,000 people in a wide range of roles—from fieldwork to forestry research, technical support, and land management. There’s a career for everyone at the Forest Service.

Resource

Posted: 03/21/25

Type: Website

Preethi Mony

I love that you can explore career profiles by employment sector (industry, academia, nonprofit, etc.), and explore pathways to these careers. The lesson plans for educators, resources such as “jargon buster,” three-minute video profiles, and career quiz make this an engaging resource to use in the classroom.


 

Guidelines: Action orientation, Emphasis on skills building, Usability

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A telescope stands to the left of a person in a camo hood holding a clipboard; behind them is a field of grass with trees further in the distance

Green Jobs for Nature

CIEEM

Developed by a professional membership organization supporting ecologists and environmental managers, this website is built solely to provide insight into green jobs. With over 150 job profiles featuring individuals from the field, this allows students to explore jobs they might not have associated with green careers. The Resource section and the News & Blogs also address various aspects of career pathways, realities of working in these fields, and activities for the classroom.

Resource

Posted: 03/12/25

Type: Website

Preethi Mony

Designed primarily for the 9–12 grade classroom, these materials can be adapted to fit a variety of subjects. The site also includes links to other sustainability related curricula for the high school and college level classrooms.

Guidelines: Emphasis on skills building, Instructional soundness, Usability