Farmer

Since sustainable agriculture requires small-scale, local, organic methods rather than petroleum-based machines and fertilizers, there is a huge need for more farmers. Modern farmers are small businesspeople who must be as skilled in heirloom genetics as marketing.

Schools: University of Vermont: Center for Sustainable Agriculture; Stone Barns Center For Food & Agriculture in New York State; University of Oklahoma: Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture;

Related careers: urban gardener; farmers market/CSA coordinator; artisanal cheesemakers.

Solar Power Installer

Making and installing solar power systems already accounts for some 770,000 jobs globally. Installing solar-thermal water heaters and rooftop photovoltaic cells is a relatively high-paying job - $15 to $35 an hour - for those with construction skills. And opportunities are available all over the United States, wherever the sun shines.

Companies: Akeena Solar; Sungevity; Sunpower; Full list at SEIA.org.

Energy Efficiency Builder

Buildings account for up to 48 percent of US energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. LEED, the major green building certification, has over 43,000 accredited professionals. But the cutting edge in efficient buildings goes far beyond LEED. Greening the U.S. building stock will take not only skilled architects and engineers, but a workforce of retrofitters who can use spray foam insulation and storm windows to massively improve the R-value (thermal resistance) of the draftiest old houses.

Schools: Arizona State University School of Architecture; University of Michigan: Alfred A. Taubman College of Architecture + Urban Planning; The Earth Institute at Columbia University.

Green MBA and Entrepreneur

The concept of the triple bottom line has migrated from the margins to the mainstream of the business world. A recent report by the U.S. Conference of Mayors found that business services like legal, research and consulting account for the majority of all green jobs - over 400,000. This includes everything from marketing to serving as a VP of sustainability within a large company to piloting a green startup like Method or Recyclebank.

Schools: Stanford School of Business; San Francisco's Presidio School of Management; Leeds School of Business; University of Colorado at Boulder; the Bainbridge Graduate Institute in Wash.

Sustainability Systems Developer

The green economy needs a cadre of specialized software developers and engineers who design, build and maintain the networks that underpin wind farms, smart energy grids, congestion pricing and other systems substituting intelligence for natural resources.

Companies: IBM, V2Green, WindLogics

- Anya Kamenetz

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