Should I get an advanced degree in green chemistry?
Hey y’all
I am a currently 22y (M) postgrad from Biology as of last May. During this time, I have decided I need to further my education and pivot into green chemistry. I feel that I need this advanced degree to provide a pivot into the chemistry field. I truly am not sure whether to shoot for the PhD or go into a masters. I would want a masters because I feel that I could have more flexibility after my completion, but also understand I could be wasting years of my life. Ideally, I would stay on the east coast, but would also love to move out west, just as long as I can go outdoors we are good :D
During undergrad, I fell in love with organic chemistry, it became the complete essence of how I understood the biological world. I worked partially in a chemical ecology lab, and my favorite component of it was running phenolic chromatograms of my samples. seeing how I could unlock the hidden molecules with my understanding chemical structure.
Additionally, I consider myself an environmentalist, and wish to create solutions to waste streams that allow for circular economies and less waste being transmitted into the environment. I happen to love studying fungi, both macro and micro, and thought I could get into mycomaterials or mycoremediation or pharmaceutical discovery, but the economic viability of the field is sadly dismal. Recently, I became enamored with the idea of algal HTL biofuel processing as a way to utilize free material to create versatile biofuels. The point of all of this is to say, there are many hats in green chemistry I would want to wear, but I would want to choose something that has good prospects for the future in terms of economics and job stability, and is of course interesting, to provide a life of discovery.
To you reader, why did you choose your masters or PhD in green chemistry? Should I feel narrowed into a specific topic I want to study or is this non-just considering the rotations that labs expect (most places)? Are there other fields I should be considering? How should I be researching my choices for programs in this field? So many questions, I hope I can get some answers..