Cooper Brossy (MS Geology, 2007)

After turning in my thesis, I moved to Walnut Creek, California (the East San Francisco Bay area) to work for William Lettis & Associates, Inc.(WLA). I was tipped off to the job opportunity by Ashley Streig (MS '03) who has worked at WLA since leaving CWU. WLA specializes in seismic hazard studies for large and small infrastructure and is particularly well known for doing a ton of fault trenching in California. We also do a variety of other geohazard work in the fields of marine geohazards, landslide hazards, geotechnical and engineering geology, and fluvial geomorphology, among others. (I should leave something for Ashley to say about WLA -- maybe she can elaborate on WLA's strong paleoseismic background as that is her forte.) I was initially hired to, and have spent most of my time, creating geologic and geomorphic maps that provide engineers geologic data on the subsurface conditions beneath the hundreds of miles of levees in California's Central Valley. Our efforts are to aid engineers in their search for reaches of levees that are geologically prone to underseepage and possible failure. I have also helped out with several surface fault rupture hazard (paleoseismic) studies, most of which have been directed by Ashley.

Graduate studies at CWU prepared me for working at WLA by improving my technical skills in the production of reports and maps, improved my writing and critical analysis skills, and generally exposed me to a lot more geology. Importantly, CWU Geology exposed me to the field of paleoseismology, and even though it had nothing to do with my thesis, this exposure is increasingly relevant to my work at WLA.

Although I do miss the green Pacific NW and the much calmer pace of Ellensburg, I do enjoy the San Francisco Bay area -- there are far more activities to enjoy than I am able to make the time to do. I'd like to give a special thanks to all of the CWU Geology faculty, and especially the alumni, who helped me in my job search. I appreciated the time and effort you spent on my behalf to help me understand the possibilities of geology after school!

The photo was taken on a recent paleoseismic investigation (read: trenching job) on the Calaveras Fault south of the Bay Area.