Water harvesters and Imagineers— jobs for the 21st century

Predictions for what we’ll be working on in the coming years

Jan 07, 2024

building covered in plants — Photo by Victor on Unsplash

Happy New Year! I appreciate all the Mother E readers. You’re a group that cares about what happens with Mother Earth, and many of you are taking actions to protect it. Thank you for that! 🙏

If you missed the last post, it’s here: An inner and outer tour of a forest

I just returned from a long drive trip that took me from our quiet, forested home in Northern California through the massive city center of Los Angeles and on to the Southern California desert, which is a busy tourist area in the winter months. The trip is always a bit of a culture shock for me.

Along the two-day journey, we stopped for gas for our Prius at gas stations with mini-marts. Inside these stores, walls of coolers displayed neon-colored drinks made from chemicals and additives. Searching for a simple orange juice among the hundreds of drinks became a chore. Across the aisle, shelves of colorfully packaged engineered snacks vied for attention. While tasty, most food sold in these stores is not natural or good for us. Is this a reflection of where our culture is now?

The fast I-5 freeway we traveled that connects the northern part of the state to the southern end was busy with tall diesel semi trucks, including many from Amazon Prime. Our consumer ordering habits were on full display out on the freeways.

On the plus side, connecting with seldom-seen family made the trip worthwhile. I always enjoy the nighttime conversations around my brother's bonfire circle, with background lights twinkling over the Coachella Valley. During the day, I took walks in sandy desert ravines where I enjoyed the winter sun on my skin while the grandkids looked for coyote tracks. We cooked food to share, swapped stories about our 2023 year, and capped the evening with rousing singing to banjo and guitar. It reminded me of why connections and community-building matter.

I wish you a 2024 that connects you to others in a meaningful way!

Robin Applegarth

WE OFTEN WELCOME IN THE NEW YEAR with predictions and promises. I thought it would be interesting to predict what jobs and careers are needed in the coming years to help life on Earth during the challenging age of the Anthropocene.

Some of the jobs listed below are future-leaning versions of current careers. Others may sound like science fiction or are curiously specialized. It’s tempting to think life will stay much the same, but a look back in time shows the rapid transitions. If you're old enough to remember back 45 years, there were no Uber drivers, cell phone businesses, medics who operated robotic arms in surgeries, computer software designers, cryptography/AI, etc.

Trying to guess what the world will be like in the coming decades is challenging, so instead, I focused on what the world needs. There are many collective needs, so funding for these careers might originate from regional and federal governments.

We know some of the challenges our society will be facing with human-induced climate changes. Heat and extreme weather will bring disruptions to food production, drinking water, health, and housing. People— and all life forms—will need extra support.

At the same time, we must bring down the high CO2 and other greenhouse gas levels, which climate experts say is best done by leaving the remaining fossil fuels in the ground and accelerating the move to green energy sources like solar and wind. We can also partner with earth systems to bring carbon back into the soil with regenerative farming, forest protection, and restoration of landscapes and animal populations.

Below are twenty-five careers that would make the world a little better place— more livable for humans and wildlife, more caring, more climate-repairing.

These reflect what I see, but you may see other possibilities. I'm not a particularly "techie" person, so there are many other ideas to develop in that category. I'd love to hear yours!

And if you’re transitioning to a new job or want a business idea that’s future-focused, take a sneak peek at some of the most effective current climate solutions at the Drawdown.org library of ideas.

brown and white bird on brown wooden fence — The job of an Aves songsmith is to record and interpret the calls of birds before they go extinct. Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on Unsplash

1. Moisture ecologist— Advises communities on macro-managing local regions to bring back more water to the soils, plants, and the air. They help push back against expanding desertification around the world.

2. Water harvester— Makes and/or deploys a variety of screens and tools to pull moisture out of the air for drinking water use. Locates the best areas to find humid air for water collection.

3. Climate counselor— Therapists specially trained to work with people who are experiencing grief, anger, or trauma from the climate crisis and our failure to address it adequately. These counselors help people acknowledge and face current perils and develop coping strategies through community building and guided climate action.

4. Pyro-weather forecaster— Fire experts trained in the physics of high-temperature forest fires exceeding 1,500 degrees F. Advises firefighters on the weather (such as fire whirls and tornadoes) generated when a scorching fire interacts with the elements.

5. Cooling center director— Staffs and runs an indoor facility that seasonally admits people who need to escape the high heat of outdoor temperatures. It provides medical facilities to treat heat stroke as well as counseling to advise people on avoiding heat island locations and activities in a city.

6. Eco-village matching service— As people seek ways of life that are more nurturing for themselves and the Earth, this service links people with places and groups forming like-minded settlements.

7. HopAboard driver— Operates an insulated electric bus that offers free rides to people caught out in the elements when temperatures or weather become extreme. This service links up with city warming/cooling centers.

8. Earth-elements recycler— Mining of earth-elements like lithium and cobalt may get restricted due to its toxic impact, so recycling will rise. Recyclers collect older lithium batteries and products to refurbish and reclaim. The battery industry is ramping up fast, with new designs and engineering.

9. Ecosystem restoration coordinator— Manages a local region to restore native plants and animals, remove detrimental species, plant more trees if needed, and help the overall functioning of the location, emphasizing a balanced ecology. Works with, trains, and facilitates teams of people to do hands-on work.

10. Green morticians— Morticians with the specialized equipment and knowledge to compost human bodies through natural organic reduction over a few weeks. These services reduce traditional casket burial or cremation's high carbon and toxic pollution.

11. Agricultural transition advisors, aka "Dirt Farmers”— This job helps farmers convert crop land from chemical-fertilizer methods which deplete the soil to microbe-rich permaculture practices that enrich the soil. Healthy soil pulls carbon from the air and brings it back underground, lowering our greenhouse gasses.

12. Forest school educator— Teaches children about nature's ways through outdoor education. Develops creative practices to teach science, math, and language arts curriculum in small groups outdoors, emphasizing understanding of how nature operates and the relationships of species to each other and humans.

woman in black and white striped long sleeve shirt standing on brown grass field during daytime — Photo by Caroline Hernandez on Unsplash

13. Technology addiction counselor— The rise of gaming and communication devices people wear creates more uneasy relationships between tech and humans. These counselors assess personal addiction levels to technology devices and provide support and counseling to help people live a more balanced life.

14. Dry farming advisors— With the reduction of rainfall, this position researches and promotes plants and trees that can survive and produce food with less water, making the most of a precious resource.

15. Repair café collectives— Specialized shops that repair anything smaller and movable: clothing, electronics, shoes, toys, kitchen appliances, and books. Repairing over trashing will be the new norm as raw materials become limited, and we have no place to dispose of broken things.

16. Boarding home administrators— These people run short-term community housing, which provides gender and age-specific group homes. They offer a transient population an affordable and more personal place to sleep and get meals for several weeks or months.

17. ReSeeder— Increasing fires and floods leave degraded areas. ReSeeders replant and restore damaged areas with seeds for grass and understory bushes and plants. Knowledgeable about erosion control. ReSeeders may also be involved in the growing of seeds.

18. Aves songsmith— A person with musical training who records, archives, or interprets the songs of birds for posterity before they go extinct. With overall declines of three billion birds in North America alone, extinction threatens many species. An Aves songsmith also educates about the birds' historical lives as well as their role in the soundscape of life.

19. Imagineers— These are creative directors with practical skills who develop new tools and methods to solve existing challenges. Background in inventions, engineering, creative advertising, etc. "No limits" is their motto.

20. Tree communicator— Listens to and observes climate-stressed trees to hear what the trees need to fix and reconnect poorly functioning systems and promote better individual tree health as well as the integrity of forests.

younger redwood forest, with slender trunks and a canopy of light green — Second growth redwood forest recovering from logging, Photo by Robin Applegarth

21. Food Re-engineers— Crop failures and a growing human population require maximizing edible foodstuffs. New edibles are created from food scraps, plant parts, ocean kelp, fungi, insects, and other biological materials. Kelp-cricket crackers, anyone?

22. Garment up-cycler — The billions of clothes garments made each year often end up in landfill or being burned. The upcycler takes worn clothing and cuts up, weaves, dyes, or reconstructs into new clothing, wearable products, or household items such as rugs and insulated window coverings.

23. Wildlife corridor designer— Studies specific areas where animals and humans live in close proximity. Designs pathways, corridors, green-belts, or bridges for wildlife to safely pass through congested population or transportation-dense areas. These wildlife corridors reduce vehicle/animal collisions or conflict, saving the lives of both animals and humans.

24. “Look back" inventor— Studies human history to find low-tech and sustainable practices, packaging, and ways of living we can bring back into use.

25. Biomimicry engineer— Looks for innovative solutions to human problems by studying how nature works to solve similar problems. Bioengineering is a cross-discipline field that combines biology, ecology, systems thinking, and deep observation of intelligent non-human species.

The imagination of nature is far, far greater than the imagination of man.
Richard Feynman, physicist, professor, and author

The coming years will test our ability to be innovative and resourceful—to live with the dual awareness of personal needs as well as collective needs.

We’ll also require mindfulness across the spectrum of time—balancing our needs today with the needs of the generations that follow.

These years could transform who we are as a human species if we can truly pay attention to the messages Earth is sending. We have a once-in-a species opportunity to heal our relationships with our home (planet) and its fellow inhabitants. 💚 💙 🌎

Robin

I like to hear from readers!

‼️Are there job-ideas you want to add to the list? Could you see yourself in any of these positions or lines of work?

You can make a public comment at the button above, or respond to your subscriber email to reach me privately. You can follow me on Mastodon social media: @RobinApple@mastodon.social

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