2005 Essay Contest Finalist

Entry by Alexa Pierce-Matlack

Engineering Geology

I am interested in Engineering Geology as a potential career. Engineering Geologists study the drainage, strength, and density of rocks, soil and ground water samples. They investigate geologist factors such as sturdiness, type of soil density and wetness. These factors affect building structures like bridges, airports, dams and levees.

I would be good at Engineering Geology because I am good a building things with Legos® and Knex®. It is fun to plan what you are going to make and then follow the directions. I am very good at math and solving problems that involve many steps. This is important when comparing data or solving a construction problem. I also enjoy collecting and studying rocks that have irregular shapes and shiny surfaces.

I would like to be an Engineering Geologist because I like being outdoors with nature and because I like the feeling of being free and away from civilization. I would like to research land and soil to find out if the area would hold a structure, because structures need to be built on solid ground. If you build a structure on a fault line it could be ruined when and earthquake happened.

I have a lot of experience building sandcastles and seawalls at the beach. Using that experience and the proper schooling, I think I could help solve the problems of levees breaking and cities flooding. How the ocean floods over your seawall is exactly the same thing that happened in New Orleans when it was hit by Hurricane Katrina. Unless they are strong enough, the levees holding back rivers and lakes break and water rushes into the city flooding everything.

In conclusion, I believe an Engineering Geologist would be a very interesting career. Because of the talents listed above I believe I could be good at it. It would be interesting and challenging and not every career had things I like to do in my spare time included in it.