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Principal environmental scientist skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted experts

Dr. Becky A. Ball,

Logan Brenner Ph.D.

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical principal environmental scientist skills. We ranked the top skills for principal environmental scientists based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 54.9% of principal environmental scientist resumes contained environmental services as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a principal environmental scientist needs to be successful in the workplace.

8 principal environmental scientist skills for your resume and career

1. Environmental Services

Environmental services are qualitative functions of non-produced natural assets of land, air, water, and other related ecosystems. For example, environmental services include sewage services, wastewater management services, air pollution control services etc.

Here's how principal environmental scientists use environmental services:

Provided business unit leadership and technical direction to the Environmental Services Group of a top-ranked, consulting-engineering services firm.

2. Project Management

Here's how principal environmental scientists use project management:

Developed complex project management and execution plans in order to keep project on-time and under budget.
Serve as an ecologist/environmental scientist providing project management, direction, and technical expertise in an advisory capacity when appropriate.

3. Environmental Compliance

Environmental compliance means to fulfill official environmental requirements. It comprises environmental rules, laws, and regulations, and permits regarding which sites to operate. Environmental concerns have raised compliances across the globe. Environmental compliance includes managing and monitoring the required permits for correct parameters, performing and processing calculations, generate daily compliance reports, and record data with compliance to any risk alert

Here's how principal environmental scientists use environmental compliance:

Attended meetings and upheld communication daily with construction management to maintain environmental compliance throughout all construction phases of Transmission line assembly.
Supported the execution of nationwide environmental compliance and EMS auditing; prepared detailed technical reports based on audit information and results.

4. EPA

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is a US-based organization established to sustain and improve the environmental and human health standards across the United States. EPA was established by US President Richard Nixon by executive order in December 1970. The EPA formulates laws and releases guidelines to promote the health of individuals and the ecosystem.

Here's how principal environmental scientists use epa:

Assisted in development of work plans and provided assistance to EPA for subsequent remediation of contaminated sites and abandoned industrial facilities.
Retrieve and review EPA Quarterly Noncompliance Report and other EPA provided public reports to ensure accurate interpretation of regulatory compliance data.

5. Remote Sensing

Here's how principal environmental scientists use remote sensing:

Used remote sensing techniques to develop long-term monitoring and maintenance guidelines for large-scale freshwater and marine restoration and enhancement projects.

6. Data Analysis

Here's how principal environmental scientists use data analysis:

Perform data analysis and compile reports including biological, summary data, and landowner reports utilizing Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Word.
Performed data analysis including horizontal and vertical mass distribution calculations, hydraulic gradient calculations, and estimated time to cleanup calculations.

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7. Regulatory Agencies

A regulatory agency is a Public Benefit Corporation (PBC) that is responsible for supervising certain human activities and controlling them to some extent. They are set up in some areas such as hospitals, law firms, and governmental setup to regulate safety standards. They prevent undue and unjust abuse of power in these setups.

Here's how principal environmental scientists use regulatory agencies:

Prepared air permit applications and negotiated permit conditions with regulatory agencies.
Acted as technical liaison on remediation and mixed waste issues between the field sites and regulatory agencies.

8. Risk Assessments

The process of analyzing and identifying the acts or events that have the potential to negatively affect an individual, asset, or business is called risk assessment. Risk assessments are important because they form an integral part of an organization as well as occupational safety plans

Here's how principal environmental scientists use risk assessments:

Phase I and II Environmental Site Assessments Environmental audits Ecological and human health risk assessments Contaminant release investigations.
Conduct asbestos inspections and risk assessments for various companies and a wide array of facilities.

What skills help Principal Environmental Scientists find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on principal environmental scientist resumes?

Dr. Becky A. Ball

Associate Professor, School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences Senior Sustainability Scientist, Global Institute of Sustainability, Arizona State University

The environmental field is very broad, so the skills that stand out best depend on the career field, but in general, the skills I see most frequently listed on job ads are skills in geographic spatial analysis (GIS), statistical analyses and data handling, hands-on experience with field techniques for working with plants and wildlife, and experience with NEPA and other related environmental regulations. (That's why we have built all of these skills directly into our Environmental Science degree coursework!)

What soft skills should all principal environmental scientists possess?

Logan Brenner Ph.D.

Assistant Professor in Environmental Science, Barnard College

It is rare that someone will solve a problem, answer a research question, or make a discovery on their own. As is the case in many science fields, collaboration is key, so working in a team is critical. To do this effectively, you must collaborate with people who may have different work styles than you, be comfortable with delegation and self-assigning responsibilities, communicate and resolve conflict, know when to be a leader, and follow someone else's lead, and manage your time. From an environmental science perspective, our world is becoming ever more complex, and the best way to address complex problems is with a group of diverse minds. We need to have an open mind, start approaching problems creatively, and consider the value of having varied educational and professional training and multiple perspectives.

Your science will mean little and have minimal impact if you can't explain it to anyone who asks. As an environmental scientist, you will undoubtedly have to communicate your work to varied audiences ranging from professionals in your field to the general public. Therefore, you need to recognize your audiences and meet them at their level to get your ideas across. What is most impressive is not a lecture full of unnecessary jargon that obscures your point but instead a few succinct and eloquent sentences using universally understood language.

What hard/technical skills are most important for principal environmental scientists?

Logan Brenner Ph.D.

Assistant Professor in Environmental Science, Barnard College

Keep in mind the field of environmental science is quite broad, and so the hard or technical skills that are necessary for one specialty may be less important in another. Being able to code and work with big data are two skills that are becoming more important each day. Try to become semi-proficient in at least one coding language, but you will likely have to learn another in the not-so-distant future. While math was never my favorite subject, I admit that many of my classes became relevant in my work. It is hard to know when in your career applying what you learned about partial derivatives will become necessary, but it will, and you will wish you paid better attention in Calculus Class (speaking from experience). Being able to model, often a combination of coding and math, is a complex but valuable skill. When applied, this could mean using or understanding climate models, groundwater flow, population growth, viral spread, or predictions of any kind. Being able to model is a powerful tool.

What principal environmental scientist skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Dr. Mike Mooring Ph.D.

Professor, Point Loma Nazarene University

The attached paper is an excellent resource to answer that question, but I would recommend that they get experience in any of the following nonacademic skills: written and oral communication, project management, leadership, and field biology skills for those careers in which that is important.

What type of skills will young principal environmental scientists need?

Meghann Jarchow Ph.D.

Chair, Associate Professor, University of South Dakota

The field of sustainability is broad, and as such, there is a diversity of skillsets that can aid young graduates in finding that first job after graduation. There are many careers within sustainability where there is a growing demand for computer skills, such as programming and geospatial analysis. Environmental and social issues are incredibly complicated and require massive amounts of data to analyze, and computers are an essential tool to help understand these data. Strong interpersonal skills, including teamwork and written and oral communication, are incredibly crucial in other fields.

What technical skills for a principal environmental scientist stand out to employers?

Richard Tollo Ph.D.

Professor of Geology, George Washington University

For geology, scientific reasoning, problem solving, and the ability to communicate are highly desired by employers.

Do you want to know more?

List of principal environmental scientist skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for a principal environmental scientist resume and required skills for a principal environmental scientist to have include:

Environmental Services
Project Management
Environmental Compliance

EPA
Remote Sensing
Data Analysis

Regulatory Agencies
Risk Assessments

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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