Digging deep with the DEP of PA

 The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has a noble charge of taking care of the public and protecting people from environmental hazards of all kind.  So you can imagine the honor I felt when I was able to help coach them from a regulatory perspective during TAKING THE MYSTERY OUT OF THE SUBSURFACE classroom training intensive.

I hold this team in the highest regard.   Each person was well prepared for my arrival and asked some of the most thoughtful questions, ever.  They take their job seriously and were on a mission to learn during my time, but I also appreciated their lighthearted nature during the course.  It made the day super fun for me, and I could easily tell they were having fun too.

I created a couple of new exercises for this specific training dedicated to regulators who USE soil borings instead of CREATING them.  The process of evaluating someone else's soil borings for reliability isn't new, but the 3-step metrics that we used during the course seem like a useful method because it takes away the subjectivity of it, and allows objectivity.

Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania is a great town with some great, great people on a noble mission.  Keep up the great work.

Subsurface Super Stars on the Missouri banks of the Mississippi

There's a bunch of subsurface super stars working around the Upper Midwest with an office located along the beautiful banks of the Mississippi River, the staff from Geotechnics, Inc.  

I recently had the privilege of training the bunch during the TAKING THE MYSTERY OUT OF THE SUBSURFACE classroom intensive.  They are indeed super stars because they are eager to master the nuances of both soil classification methods and the descriptive elements that help translate the sedimentary sequence to soil boring logs.   They have the right mindset to succeed.  Excellent!

Another noteworthy aspect of these subsurface super stars is the camaraderie among them.  The corporate culture I observed during the day was inspiring by the way they work together.  I hold this team in the highest regard and most leaders know that this doesn't happen by accident.  It happens largely because of sound leadership, and that person is Mr. Joseph Sick, PE, who initially reached out to me about this training.  Job well done, Joe.

Keep it rollin'.   -Dan Kelleher

Wimberley, Texas: AQUIFER TESTING AT IT'S FINEST

 The Texas Hill Country is a dreamy place.

The juniper scrub mantling that old landscape creates a uniquely picturesque location for both western movie films and aquifer testing training locations.  Don't just take my word for it, see these photos of the landmark training event on location at The 7A Ranch.

Adam Hobson and Marcus Gary get the credit for their vision to schedule this springtime training inside the Opera House at the cross roads in the western town of 7A Ranch.  And it was a tremendous memory making location, not to mention the field component at JACOB'S WELL located about 10 miles outside Wimberley.  Thank you to Adam and Marcus for making it happen.

Thank you to all participants.  It was a fun group who each have pride in their work and ambition in their hearts to become proficient with the inherent challenges of aquifer testing: slug testing and pumping tests.  I tip my hat to each of you.

Special thanks to Heather from In-Situ for the dedication and effort given to ensure a super successful training event.  Heather thought of everything, right down to driving passenger vans to the field site. Well done, Heather!

Plus, a big Texas Thank You goes out to everyone affiliated with In-Situ, Inc. who produced this unique training event.  

And last but not least, to Marcus Gary and the entire team from University Texas Austin for facilitating and organizing a truly meaningful field component consisting of both pumping tests and slug testing. 

On behalf of Jim Butler, Chris Neville, and myself,  thank you.

-Dan Kelleher

Ken Bradbury skiing toward the WORLDLOPPET MARATHON SERIES, Status Report "2026 Winter Olympics" Update

Ken Bradbury, former Director and Wisconsin State Geologist, is pictured below standing in front of the ski jumps in the ski stadium in Lahti, Finland prior to skiing the Finlandia-Hiihto cross-country ski marathon in 2025.  

The Hiihto is one of the international races making up the Worldloppet marathon series of ski races around the world.  Ken is not only a world-class GeoMan, but he makes the unofficial Winter Olympic GeoMan Model Ski Shirt look great!

Look how happy Ken is in the photo below when he had just completed the 2025 Finlandia-Hiihto in Lahti, Finland!!

Below is a huge milestone achievement among cross country skiers (in my opinion) but it almost seems fairly routine to Ken.   This is one of the moments where Ken is getting his WORLDLOPPET PASSPORT stamped.  

Complete 10 of these races and you are called a Worldloppet Master!  This was Ken's 5th, so he's half way there (but Ken and I are both optimists so we might say, he's more than half way there, LOL).

Ken races cross country skiing closer to home too.  He's completed the Birkebeiner Classic in Hayward, Wisconsin 32 TIMES.  Ken!  You're a gold medal champion in my book.  

Birkebeiner Classic
(Photo courtesy of www.birkie.com)

Ken is the past Director and State Geologist at Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey.  He ensured that the WGNHS served the practical needs of Wisconsin’s citizens, management/regulatory agencies, industry, and the environmental consulting community. 

Before Ken became the State Geologist, he taught CE courses and workshops with Midwest GeoSciences Group in his spare time outside conducting research characterizing and modeling fractured aquifers and to determine groundwater flow paths near water-supply wells. 

If you live or work around Madison, Wisconsin, you might spot Ken riding his Fuji bike in or around town.