“Geology is the foundation upon which we build everything,” OCSEA member Brittany Parrick jokes. She says she only teases about the importance of her profession with her colleagues in the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR), but this union geologist isn’t far off the mark.
Geology, the study of the history and processes of the Earth, can encompass entire civilizations in its scope, including urban development, local economic growth, energy policy and even public health.
This sounds heavy, we know. And for Parrick, her work is all of that too. But it’s also really cool and a lot of fun, she says.
Parrick has been with the ODNR Division of Geological Survey as a union geologist for eight years. Right out of college, she worked as a mud logger in Oklahoma (yes, she observed and logged mud and sediment during drilling). After six months, she returned to Ohio to become a geologist with ODNR and has been there ever since.
ODNR’s Division of Geological Survey researches and reports on the state’s geological history and resources, making the information available to government agencies, industry, educators and the public at large. It’s used in land planning, resource development, hazard mitigation and many other activities. The Survey is also Ohio’s permanent archive and public access point for geological data.
And it’s OCSEA members who make this work happen every day.
Parrick says she enjoys the work she does, and that each day is different. From sinkhole monitoring and investigation in the fall and winter to bedrock mapping and seismic and vibration measuring in the spring and summer, there’s always a lot going on and a lot to talk about.