The Complete Guide to Becoming An Environmental Economist
The real numbers, daily realities, and honest trade-offs of the job — so you can decide with open eyes before investing years of tuition
by Alumigogo Books
non-fiction
What environmental economists really do all day, what they earn, and whether you'd actually enjoy it — before you commit years of your life.
About this book
So you're curious about environmental economics. Maybe you saw the title in a course catalog. Maybe a professor mentioned it. Maybe you love both data and nature and don't want to choose. But before you invest four years and tens of thousands of dollars in a path, you deserve an honest answer to one question: What is this job really like? This guide gives you that answer — the kind a good mentor would give you over coffee, not a rousing career-day speech.
You'll see the actual work — building regression models, writing benefit-cost analyses, arguing with engineers about discount rates, sitting through public comment periods. You'll see the numbers — what entry-level economists actually earn, which cities hire the most, where the growth is. And you'll see yourself — a self-assessment checklist to figure out whether your brain and temperament fit the work. Then you'll get a practical roadmap: the cheapest path in, what interviewers actually ask, and where you'll hit the ceiling.
The field needs people who can think clearly about climate and markets. But it doesn't need everyone — and it doesn't need you if it's not a real fit. Read this guide, and you'll know which camp you're in.
Reader Reviews
Ashley Taylor
★★★★★The book covers the basics well, but I found it a bit slower than expected. Chapter 1 did a good job describing the actual work — I appreciated the detail about building regression models and doing benefit-cost analyses. But I wanted more concrete numbers on job placement rates after graduation. It's fine as a starting point, but it's not the definitive guide I hoped for. The salary table in chapter 4 felt realistic though, and the self-assessment in chapter 2 was genuinely helpful. I'd recommend it to a curious underclassman, but not to someone late in their degree.
Kimberly Torres
★★★★★I've been weighing environmental economics for two years and everything online was either too vague or too academic. This guide was the first thing that felt like it was written by someone who actually did the job. The hourly breakdown in chapter 6 of a typical day — including the 2 hours on tedious QA work that no one tells you about — was worth the entire cost. The salary numbers by experience level gave me a realistic expectation, and the chapter on breaking in made me realize my econometrics coursework was more relevant than my environmental science minor. I feel confident about my decision now. Genuinely grateful I found this.
Ronald Hall
★★★★★Solid information overall, though I wish it had pushed harder. I appreciated the honest tone — the chapter on career growth was direct about the ceiling at senior economist roles. The salary ranges were helpful and matched what I've seen on Glassdoor. But the book spent a lot of time on the self-assessment personality quiz stuff in chapter 2, which I skimmed. Chapter 1's explanation of the day-to-day work in consulting firms was useful, but I needed more about non-profit options. Decent resource, but I finished it feeling like I still need more information to make a final call.