Green jobs are growing, industry leaders reaching out to youth

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Drones took center stage moving around the room at the Student Environmental Leadership Summit in Clovis.

It's amazing because we could have fun while learning programming," said Yomaris Pena.

Pena was one of the 400 students who attended the conference and learned about how technology is impacting the environment in a greenway.

"It's real important that students discover and get the science and the facts so that they can learn about what's going in our environment and also getting prepared for their careers," said Event Organizer Sam Geil.

Geil is with the international green industry hall of fame and helped organize the event. He says green jobs help the environment, reduce waste and are growing. Jobs in the solar industry have expanded at a fast rate and Geil says many industries are also seeing an impact.

"There's an environmental aspect to all professions whether it's legal, financial, whether it's science or manufacturing. There's an environmental piece to all of it," said Geil

Geil says green jobs are also looking at solutions to real-life problems. He tasked students with looking at ways to get rid of waste like plastic soda rings. Some of the students say they are looking at green collar careers

"I want to be an agriculture scientist," said Pena.

Pena says she wants to study plants when she goes to college and learned a lot from the summit.