April 18, 2003
A: FROM MENTOR KRISTINE THOMPSON IN SD
Geoscientists are stewards or caretakers of Earth's resources and environment. They work to understand natural processes on Earth and other planets. Investigating the Earth, its soils, oceans, and atmosphere; forecasting the weather; developing land-use plans; exploring other planets and the solar system; determining environmental impacts; and finding new sources of useful Earth materials are just a few of the ways geoscientists contribute to our understanding of Earth processes and history. Geoscientists provide essential information for solving problems and establishing governmental policies for resource management; environmental protection; and public health, safety, and welfare. Engineering geologists apply geological data, techniques, and principles to the study of rock and soil surficial materials and ground water; they investigate geologic factors that affect structures such as bridges, buildings, airports, and dams. For more information, check out:
a.. American Geological Institute,4220 King Street, Alexandria, Virginia 22302-1502
Phone: 703/379-2480, FAX: 703/379-7563 - ehr@agiweb.org - http://www.agiweb.org/
a.. American Association of Petroleum Geologists,P.O. Box 979, Tulsa, Oklahoma 74101-0979
Phone: 918/584-2555, FAX: 918/560-2636 - postmaster@aapg.org - http://www.aapg.org/
a.. Geological Society of America, 3300 Penrose Place, P.O. Box 9140, Boulder, Colorado 80301
Phone: 303/447-2020 - FAX: 303/447-1133, educate@geosociety.org - http://www.geosociety.org

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A: FROM MENTOR ANDREA GUNTHER IN WA
Geotechnical Engineering measures and modifies soil conditions for
foundations, embankments and environmental uses. I worked as a soil
tester at a small geotechnical firm for a summer job after my senior
year of high school. Most of the work at this company involved
categorizing the soil through various tests. The engineers would
determine if the soil on the current building site was adequate or if it
needed to be compacted or have "better" soil or rock added. Sometimes
they used various fabrics and meshes that would be laid down under a
road bed or on an embankment to improve conditions. They also needed to
know the geology of the area they are working to determine if the
building supports can reach bedrock or if some other foundation is more
appropriate. One of the engineers had a geology degree while the others
had civil engineering degrees. Geotechnical engineering would be part
of the Civil Engineering department at a college. When getting a
Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering you pick a concentration. Some
common ones are Transportation, Structures, Geotechnical, and
Environmental.

Below is a list of names of similar jobs that I found on a web site:

1) Engineering Geology is the application of geology to obtain
information and understanding of geological structures, materials
and processes, as needed for engineering analysis and design.
2) Geological Engineering is the application of a combination of geology
and engineering science to design, involving rock, soil,
groundwater and mineral resources.
3) Geotechnical Engineering is the application of the science of soil
mechanics, rock mechanics, engineering geology and other
related disciplines to engineering and environmental projects.
4) Geo-environmental engineering is the application of a combination of
geology and engineering science to the solution of
environmental problems.
5) Environmental geology is the application of geology to obtain
information and understanding of geological structures,
materials and processes, as needed for the solution of environmental
problems.

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A: FROM MENTOR MOLLY WILLIAMS IN MI
A: The field is civil engineering with a specialization in
geotechnics, the study of soils and foundations. Both civil
engineers and geologists are interested in how rocks and minerals
behave. Civil engineers need to know how to design foundations for
large structures (buildings, dams, bridges) for safety and
stability; so they need to know how the load from a structure is
transferred to the ground and how the ground will react to the load.
Geologists have an additional interest in the science of minerals,
what their physical and optical properties are, and where and how
these materials occur. And both groups are interested in concrete —
the chemistry of how it sets and cures, why it's so strong, and how
to keep it from degrading when it's exposed to the environment.
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A: FROM MENTOR JOAN LUSK IN RI
You might consider "materials science", This area bridges
engineering and chemistry, being concerned with forming new materials
with useful properties. These materials aren't exactly rocks and
minerals - those natural materials are already known - but are solids
with useful strength or electrical or optical properties, for example.

Engineering and geology meet when surveyors find deposits of useful
minerals or oil and engineers figure out how to get these materials
out of the ground. Geology also depends on instrumentation - think
seismometers - and the design of new instruments requires engineering
and physics.
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A: FROM MENTOR DIANA DIONISIO IN CA
Civil engineers who build roads and buildings have to take into account the geology of the terrain because they have to see how stable the area is that they want to build something on.