Heads in the Clouds but Skills Underground: The Toledo Team

 A team of Geoscientists, Engineers, and a Biologist all arrived early on the 20th Floor in the beautiful Seagate Building downtown Toledo for TAKING THE MYSTERY OUT OF THE SUBSURFACE training.    

Although the training took place in the clouds on the 20th Floor, our dialogue was kept on topic: the underground.

I tip my hat to this group of professionals from Civil & Environmental Consultants, Inc.  Your positive enthusiasm was contagious, but your backgrounds and past experiences made the course stand out.  It was fun to hear your stories too, especially about the spectrum of types of projects you  work on.

A special Thank You rings out to Sean Paulsen and the leadership at CEC, Inc.  Building a great team of professionals within a positive corporate culture doesn't happen by accident.  I tip my hat to the teams you've built.  Well done.

See it for yourself in the smiles, concentration, and positive energy that's apparent in these photos!

"The EGLE has landed"....in Michigan: and it's phenomenal. A Phenomenal Group of Professionals!

 All true.

This specialized training, TAKING THE MYSTERY OUT OF THE SUBSURFACE, is getting around to various state regulators....and when it arrived in Michigan to the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy, that EGLE landed squarely into two phenomenal groups of professionals.   I feel fantastic that any state has regulars as thoughtful, smart, and technically masterful as Michigan.

Again, it's all true.

Two days of training with a different group each day yielded different discussions about projects, but the the brilliant participants in each group have superb organizational culture along with processes for arriving at meaningful solutions.   I tip my hat to each person in the training.

It was a unique classroom setting too.  Tables and chairs faced the gigantic projection on the wall within the equipment storage facility that provided indoor protection for drilling rigs, boats, trucks, and a plethora of environmental and engineering field equipment.   I really enjoyed the setting because I could glance over at both truck-mounted drilling rigs and direct push equipment anytime.  I loved that.

Both groups nailed the soil classification exercise almost like they had a cheat sheet.   I suspect it was due to the deep field experience of the participants coupled with their desire to get it right.   Pride in their professionalism was obvious and that makes it rewarding for me to meet each person and help them achieve success.

One peripheral thing I might also recall from this two days of training is the snowfall.  I had just arrived in Lansing from a previous visit to Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo...and it snowed every mile of my drive and then both nights of the training in Lansing.  It reminded me of a past project in Wexford County, Michigan where the first task I performed each day was scoop snow off my soil cores, for the entire month I worked on that interesting project.   

As for a congratulations, I might congratulate the great people of Michigan who have thoughtful and capable regulators.   Thank you to all the staff I met from EGLE for not only your hospitality and training engagement, but for simply being truly great people.  Keep going.

PHOTOS FROM DAY ONE

PHOTOS FROM DAY TWO

 

End.

A visit to Western Michigan University

Western Michigan University Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences invited me to share some insights about approaching employment while students are still in school.

I believe that students have a unique position of power related to their future employment.  They can ask anyone questions about anything without much judgement or expectation.   Students can make requests of professional from a position that other professionals cannot (for a variety of reasons). And our school days give us that opportunity to open doors and create unassuming relationships in way that sometimes is squandered as professionals.

I appreciate the kind invitation to share some encouraging perspectives with students but I also am inspired by students who are engaging, thoughtful, and have those bright eyes (and minds) focused on the future.  

Your futures are limitless.   Go get 'em and change the world.