2012 Winners

Jacob Buck Wiley attends Texas State University in San Marcos, TX where he is working towards his Geography degree, specializing in Water Science. He currently works for a local well drilling company, and plans to continue pursuing a career in the groundwater field after completing his degree and joining the Coast Guard Reserves.

Jacob believes the biggest challenge facing the groundwater industry is water rights and quality. Another issue is the importance of our ground water. "No one knows the worth of water until the well runs dry."- Benjamin Franklin. One other issue we face in the groundwater industry is depletion of our aquifers and the contaminations of the water from all different sources.

Teagan Zoldoske is a sophomore at Fresno State pursuing a bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering with minors in Math and Chemistry. She plans to work with contaminated groundwater to find ways to make it healthier for drinking and useful in agriculture. She is also a biological research aid at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Water Management Research Division.

Previous Winners

William Pearson is a 3rd year student at Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Michigan, where he is majoring in Geological Engineering. He has worked for the past five years as a rig hand in his family's well drilling company, and has seen a close-up view of many of the problems facing the groundwater industry. He is already taking classes which focus on remediating contaminated groundwater and modeling an aquifer to predict future performance.

William believes the biggest challenge facing the groundwater industry is water contamination in wells, caused by everything from dairy farm nitrates to raw sewage. He would like to design systems that will remediate contaminated groundwater, and perhaps one day share his knowledge in developing countries, where clean drinking water is becoming more important every day.

Louis Vaught intends to major in Civil Engineering at the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Indiana, where he hopes to contribute to a greener tomorrow. The field of civil engineering has not been at the forefront of the green movement, a situation which Louis helps to change. Louis expects to continue on in the family business (rehabilitating water wells) and perhaps get his driller’s certification, but once he graduates he would like to help update and manage large-scale transportation and utility networks.

Brian attends California State University, Sacramento, where he is majoring in Government and Environmental Science. After completing his degree he plans to go to law school and specialize in water law, perhaps becoming an attorney for the state of California for water-related issues.
His greatest concern regarding the future of the groundwater industry today: water conservation.

 

Travis attends Northwest College in Powell, Wyoming. His major field of study is Range Management and Ag Business, and he is considering two possible career paths:

• Land Reclaimnation and water conservation in the energy industry OR
• Working for the National Conservation Service and helping with the management and usage of Agricultural Land and Water.

Travis believes the most important issues facing the groundwater industry today is that we maintain the natural drainages that have been feeding the groundwater sources as well as educating the public with the most efficient use of the groundwater.

Jacob attends the University of Arizona in Tucson, where he is starting his Junior year majoring in Engineering Management with a focus in Agricultural Engineering. After graduation he plans to continue working for the family business, the ALSCO-GEYER Irrigation company in Northern California. His greatest concern regarding the future of the ground water industry is the supply of water in California’s Central Valley, and whether farmers can count on state-directed canal water for irrigation or whether many more wells will need to be drilled.

Lynn attends Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, where she is starting her Junior year, majoring in BioResource and Agricultural Engineering. She expects to continue her education and earn a Master’s Degree in Engineering, and then on to a career as a consulting/civil engineer in a water-related industry. Her greatest concern regarding the future of the ground water industry is that there be more efficient use of water, in both management of the water supply as well as structural improvements to water systems.

Alexander Valov attends Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo in California. He expects to graduate with a degree in BioResource/Agricultural Engineering and then on to a career in irrigation system design. His greatest concern regarding the future of the ground water industry is the depletion of the water aquifer, and the growing importance of efficient water use for irrigation.

Trey Dale Hillger attends Texas A & M University. He expects to graduate with a degree in Agricultural Systems Management, and then on to a career as an irrigation system designer. His greatest concern regarding the future of the ground water industry is water rights, and how water use efficiency must be maximized so that water rights for agriculture can be maintained.