Geologist

After receiving an M.S. degree in Geology in 1975, I began working as a full time geologist for United States Geological Survey through 1979.  I had no interest or plans in returning to graduate school for a PhD or becoming an academic.  Things changed, and I was able to attend graduate school when working full time.   My pre-academic real-life work experience grounded my subsequent academic teaching career and provides a model for students seeking non-academic jobs.  I continue to work as a professional geologist when consulting.

POSITIONS HELD

Field Assistant (GS 5)  1975  Summer – ALASKA –   USGS entry-level “grunt” or  “go-fer” as a summer field assistant working  for multiple Alaska Branch investigators, based from the  research vessel Donald J. Miller, anchored in Lituya Bay.  Midway through the summer I began to work for the Quaternary geologist Thomas D. Hamilton on two separate tasks: a reconnaissance of the geological hazards associated with the new Haul Road for the yet-to-be-built Alaska Pipeline; and a helicopter-based glacial mapping project of the Itkillik and Sagavinirktok Quadrangles, each the size of Connecticut and Rhode Island combined.

Geological Assistant (GS 5) 1975-1976 – MENLO PARK, CA –   USGS full-time geological assistant: field logistics, data analysis, aerial photo interpretation, geologic mapping, field data collection, and manuscript review.

Geologist (GS 9-13) 1976-1979 – SEATTLE, WA –  Full-time USGS geologist assigned to my own project involving glacioisostatic and tectonic setting of Puget Sound.   During the summer of 1978  I was loaned from the USGS to the U.S. National Park Service for Quaternary mapping in Denali National Park.

---

Photo:  Archaeological investigation at Swan Point, Alaska.