School of Engineering

I enrolled at HSU starting on academic probation because I had not completed enough math. I was convinced that I was completely “un-mathematical,” but I excelled at beginning algebra and was encouraged by Dr. Bob Hunt to continue in math. I took his advice and found that math classes actually increased my grade point average. I found I did best combining work and school, minimizing my free time. I drifted to UC Santa Cruz and Chico State before finally landing back at HSU, changing my major from Creative Writing to Physics, to Mathematics, and finally to ERE. After weaving back and forth between school and side jobs as a carpenter/wood worker and a cattle wrangler, I finally graduated from HSU ERE in 1985 with an energy emphasis. I spent the next two years traveling, playing, and working at odd jobs. Living in Humboldt County in my remote, solar powered, spring-fed cabin, I had access to miles of wild rivers and mountains, and I developed a passion for rivers. I decided then to devote my career to rivers. For my first engineering job I was hired to construct a physical model of a 7-mile reach of the Arkansas River in Colorado to study sedimentation issues associated with a proposed lock. We built a football-field-sized model to match the scaled version of the river; we hauled coal to be used as the sediment; and we ran the model to simulate the 10-year hydrograph. My next job was with Hydrocomp, a hydrologic engineering consulting firm and leader in watershed modeling. My work primarily entailed gathering data, mapping hydrologic units in GIS, and assisting in model calibration and simulation. I also returned to school and earned my Master’s Degree in Civil Engineering from Colorado State University, with an emphasis in Water Resources and River Mechanics. I remained with Hydrocomp for more than seven years. Torn between my career and raising my kids, I ultimately returned to Humboldt County and the ranch, taking five years off from work. I was then hired by Humboldt County as an Assistant Roads Engineer, providing the transition from non-working mother back into the working world. The road has been windy, but taking the time to set a goal based on my real passion was key to finding a career focused on water resources in the place I love.