Alumni Spotlight

Within two years of graduation, I landed a full-time, permanent position as Forest Geologist on the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. My “office” encompasses over 2.1 million acres and contains nearly every type of geology there is. It takes about five hours to drive from one side of the Forest (near Medicine Lake) to the other side (South Fork Ridge on Hwy 36). I also have the opportunity to work with experts from other scientific disciplines such as soil science, botany, silviculture, hydrology, entomology, aviation, wildlife biology, fire science and range management, just to name a few.
The education and training I earned in the Geological and Environmental Sciences Department has prepared me for just about everything I encounter on a daily basis.

After Chico, Ellie went to the University of Montana and received a M.S. in Geosciences. Ellie has spent her professional career working for various state geological surveys. She has worked in the Olympic Peninsula of Washington, Arctic Alaska, and all over northern California providing support on a variety of engineering geology projects such as landslide studies, mapping, hazard assessments, and fault characterization studies. Ellie has a Professional Geologist licensure and works as an Engineering Geologist for the California Geological Survey, Seismic Hazards Program. She prepares seismic hazard zone maps and conducts various hazard studies. “Although she doesn’t get to do as much field work as she’d like, she loves working for the California Geological Survey and couldn't imagine working anywhere else.“
