I am participating in ASFE The Geoprofessional Business Association’s Fundamentals of Professional Practice course.  A component of the course is a research project and report, and my topic is the assessment of Golder Associate's technical training and professional development programs.  A component of the report is to compare programs at Golder with those at other firms.

I have prepared a short survey (< 5 minutes) for members of Geoprofessional firms (other than Golder of course).  I am interested in getting responses from all experience levels, from staff engineers to Principals and V.P.s.  All responses will be kept confidential.  An analysis of aggregated responses will also be discussed in a post here on GeoPrac.net.   Fill out this form by 11:59pm on Sunday, December 18, 2011 and you will be entered into a drawing for a $30 Amazon.com gift card.  Thank you so much for your help! And thanks to all who participate!

As the authors of the above-titled report note, the ecosystem and the built environment are inextricably linked, and understanding the interdependence of the two is the key to sustainability in geotechnical engineering, and all civil engineering. Although I am curious how they came to this conclusion, they state that geotechnical engineering is "the most resource intensive of all the civil engineering disciplines." Assuming they are correct, this is a sobering thought for all of us as designers. [Editor] Click through for more on sustainability in geotechnical engineering. [/Editor]

Geotechnical engineer Andy Simpson and his girlfriend, Laura Sims, a structural engineer, will be participating in a bizarre 1,300 mile race across India on a 500cc rickshaw. The money they raise will be split between the race charity Frank Water Projects, which funds safe drinking water schemes, and their own chosen charity, Cancer Research UK. They need company sponsors and individual donations to reach their goal. Find out more info and support them if you can at their website. Good luck Andy and Laura! [Source: This is Bath. Image: This is Bath, credit: Lloyd Ellington]

 Novo Tech Software, Ltd. is a geotechnical software company based in Vancouver, BC, Canada.  They have an impressive and always expanding collection of geotechnical software products that include:

• NovoSPT - With over 265 SPT Correlations
• NovoLiq  - A liquefaction analysis software package
• And many more!

Thank you to my friends at Novo Tech for your support, and I look forward to a long and successful partnership!

An article in the Winter 2011 AGI GeoSpectrum magazine caught my attention. It was a summary of a discussion on the AIPG LinkedIn group about the importance of a geology fieldcamp in your education. I can't say I was surprised, but one comment caused me a little dissappointment:

Field camp separates us from the engineers.

I think I understand where the comment is coming from, I would probably agree that most civil geotechnical engineers don't have any kind of field geology course, or any kind of field investigation course. But there are many geological engineers out there like me that do have some field background, and it is a tremendous advantage in engineering analysis and design to be trained to look at a site with a more critical eye and try to puzzle out the history and deposition...But I digress. Check out the article for more info. It was nice to see some very passionate comments from my old structural geology professor at the U of A (and one of my favorite all-time professors), George Davis (yep, the George Davis from the Davis and Reynolds Structural Geology textbook). If the direct link below doesn't take you there, scroll down to page 22. [Source: AGI GeoSpectrum January 2011 Issue, Page 22 via Arizona Geology Blog. Image: Randy Post]

So what’s the difference between Engineering Geologists, Geological Engineers and Geotechnical Engineers?  That’s not the beginning of a geeky joke.  But in most professional circles in this industry, it’s a question where the nuances of the answer seem to be lost on people.  My degrees were in Geological Engineering, but I’ve been practicing as a Geotechnical Engineer for most of my professional career.  But I get called a geologist, geotech, Civil Engineer, dirty guy…and probably some other things behind my back.  I try to explain to people what the differences are, but I’ve struggled over the years to find the right words.

I’m so happy to report that I’m a Daddy for the third time…and it’s a girl…for the third time as well! Gabby was born on 2/16/2011 and she is just as gorgeous as can be!  I’m taking a little time off from work and from blogging to be at home with the family, but I have stockpiled some nice little Gabby-sized blog entries that I can publish in between diaper changes.  I’ll be back in action (albeit slightly less well rested) soon, and gearing up for the Geo-Frontiers conference in Dallas in mid-March.

Happy Holidays from GeoPrac.net!  I hope they are relaxing and peaceful and that the New Year is a prosperous one for you.  GeoPrac posts will be sporadic over the next 10 days or so, but things should get going again in the new year.  

So last year at this time, I gave Santa my geoengineer’s Christmas list, but apparently I wasn’t good enough to get everything.  I did get two things off my list, the new FHWA Drilled Shaft Manual, and the New FHWA MSE Wall Manual, but that’s about it.  That’s like getting pink bunny PJ’s as a kid! So over the last year, I tried to be REALLY good, and this year I’ll just let last year’s list roll over with two additions:

I am not a geocacher, but I've always thought it sounded like a fun thing to do when my kids get a little older. But this author has some unique insights into the hobby that I never thought about before. Thing like impacts to trails and the environment when you go off the trail, density of caches, potential hazardous terrain for people who may not be experienced in the outdoors and even bomb scares! [Source: GPS Review. Image: nicolemariella]