PROVIDENCE — Rochelle Rodriguez, a budding environmentalist, had a pointed question for Michael Sullivan, director of the state Department of Environmental Management: What will it take to clean up Mashapaug Pond?

Sullivan was honest: “We don’t know what’s in there. Some neighbors say there are barrels at the bottom of the pond. If we find a barrel, then what do we do with it? We can’t just haul it out. We have to be careful.”

Rodriguez, a senior at Alvarez High School near Reservoir Avenue, was delighted to have an opportunity to discuss her passion with one of the top environmental leaders in Rhode Island. And she was pleased to hear that there are jobs out there that combine her love of teaching with her concern for the environment.

“Just knowing I could combine conservation and education is awesome,” she said yesterday. “I’d love to be one those people who teach other people to love the environment.”

Yesterday morning, more than a dozen exhibitors set up shop in the Alvarez High School cafeteria to drive home the message that “green” jobs may be this generation’s version of the 1990s dot.com boom. In one respect, Alvarez High School is the perfect site for a green career exposition; the school was built three years ago on a hazardous waste site and state environmental officials are still investigating what lies beneath Mashapaug Pond, which is fenced off from the school property.

The green career day, the school’s first, was the brainchild of Gina Lopes, the school-based coordinator, who said that she wants to ensure “that our students understand the widespread implications of the word ‘green.’

“Job creation in their generation will be driven by these green industries,” she said, “and they have an opportunity now, as high-school students, to learn about their options and to explore senior project ideas, community service and internships.”

Lopes coined a phrase, “Leave No Child Inside” — a play on the federal law, “No Child Left Behind.” It is her hope that events such as this will nudge teenagers to explore the outdoors, even if it’s only a walk in Roger Williams Park or a hike in Lincoln Woods.

“These kids don’t go camping,” she said. “They’ve never climbed a mountain or ridden a horse.”

The career day was a goldmine for senior Kerry Oliveira, who received a job offer at Lincoln Woods and advice on a senior project on the threat to coral reefs.

“I want to major in marine biology,” she said, “and the DEM director was talking about all of these cool jobs like replanting quahog beds and scuba diving. I learned about all sorts of green jobs that are open to me.”

At another booth, Farm Fresh Rhode Island was promoting the benefits of buying locally grown produce. The teenagers, none of whom had been to a local farmers market or grown their own vegetables, were surprised to learn that there are farms –—and community gardens — right in Providence.

“Do you know the age of the average farmer?” asked Hannah Mellion, who works for Farm Fresh Rhode Island.

“Fifty-five years old.”

That’s one of the reasons why Farm Fresh Rhode Island has an apprentice program based in Cumberland whose goal is to “grow” the next generation of small-scale farmers. And she said that her group is always looking for volunteers to sort and bag vegetables at its six farmers markets in Providence and Pawtucket.

Not all green jobs are glamorous but they do pay. At the Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corporation, which owns the state landfill, students discovered that trash pays. Waste management covers a wide range of skilled jobs, from biotechnicians to bioengineers.

Students were drawn to exhibits, such as the Woonasquatucket River Project, which offer summer jobs and paid internships. Now that the state requires students to complete a senior project or portfolio in order to graduate, high-school juniors are looking for organizations where they can volunteer and conduct research.

Starting next year, Alvarez will require that all its students participate in some form of community service: ninth graders will work with the Rhode Island Food Bank, tenth graders will participate in a recycling project while the juniors and seniors will move into internships.

“First, we have to become good custodians of the earth,” said principal Robbie Torchon. “Secondly, this will help students make connections between what they are studying and what’s going on in the real world. And third, we’re looking to find partners for our internships.”

lborg@projo.com