EWeek 2017: Part 2
As part of our Engineers Week series, we’re also featuring members of our Mining & Engineering Geology department. We asked them to share why they entered the profession – and what they love about it.
Erick Staley, CEG
Why did you decide to become an Engineering Geologist?
I love geology! I’m a natural scientist at heart. I love studying the earth, how it functions, how processes we witness today can explain the sediments and rocks upon which our transient surface world is built. Geology is a study of history through science, really an unusual combination and fun perspective for scientific enterprise. Every time we put a hole in the ground, we are looking back in time at events that could be very different from what we see today. The idea that at the same spot on the earth there may have been an ocean bottom, a mountain range, an enormous lava flow, a glacier over a mile thick, and a river bed – just at different times in earth’s history – is mind boggling.
What are your favorite things about your profession?
Engineering geology offers a great intersection of scientific discovery and useful application of what we learn. Understanding the geological character and history of a site – and how that may affect construction projects, infrastructure, or present hazards to human development – is an important contribution to our built world.
Harrison Ingham, GIT
Why did you decide to become a Geological Engineer?
I initially went into engineering because the Colorado School of Mines did not require an essay on their application, they had early admission (I knew where I was going to school at the start of my senior year in high school), and I wanted to do something challenging. Engineering has historically run in my family, but none of my immediate family pursued it as a profession. I was immediately drawn to geological engineering and mine engineering because I like rocks and underground mining was always a bit of a fascination for me.
What are your favorite things about your profession?
My love for mining and work in mining can best be described by the phrase “If it is not grown, it is mined.” Mining is one of those critical industries in all cultures and countries that pushes us forward and allows us to advance. From copper wire to road base, we need it all, and I love working with groups and people to bring the resources to meet that need. Mining has allowed me to work all across the USA and internationally, to go thousands of feet underground and into the far reaches of the frozen north. Wherever you go, mining is there, and it always has a challenge waiting for you.