Justin Everts (BS Geology, 2008)

At the end of 2013, I put myself through a Ranger Academy at Santa Rosa Junior College. I had hoped to become a ranger at one of the National Parks, but once again I met stiff competition and never even got asked to interview. One great thing to come out of attending the academy was I met a park representative from Santa Clara County. After following up with him I soon became a Seasonal Park Ranger and quickly knew that I finally made a career change I could do for the rest of my life.

I've been working for Santa Clara County for over 2 years. I'm a generalist park ranger, therefore my job description has quite the variety including: law enforcement, emergency medical, fire-fighting, search and rescue, natural resource protection, interpretation, maintenance, and customer service.

I find the job very fulfilling and I can see myself being able to settle down and start a family now. Something I didn't see myself being able to do when I was in my nomadic geology career.

I'm thankful for my time at CWU and for all of my amazing instructors, their lessons have allowed me to lead geology-based hikes and kayak tours with relative ease.