WEBVTT

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My name is Nicole Niskanen.

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I majored in Earth and Environmental Science at Western Oregon University. 

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Today, my colleague and I, are working on a 

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stream erosion project for a homeowner in Portland. 

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This consists of PcP information which we use for soil strength data,

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taking a hand auger down, and these are pretty deep explorations. 

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So we're going 18, attempting to go 18', below ground surface. 

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I wanted to become a geologist because I had an experience in high school

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where I was the only female who got accepted into this internship, 

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college internship. Since then I decided I wanted to be the first female

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in my family to pursue a 4-year degree.

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My favorite part of the job is that 

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I have no idea what I'm getting into everyday. 

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For example, today, we were expecting it would be fine grained alluvial deposits.

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And there's new challenges and difficulties every time. 

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It's also so cool, the sceneries, the wildlife. 

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Everything that I see and encounter. It's just, it's sites like this are beautiful. 

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I definitely attribute my job success to the connections I made at Western.  

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Without Dr. Taylor, Keystone or Templeton,

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there's no way I would be where I'm at. 

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They got me through everything. 

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They set-up job connections. 

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The program at Western is designed to set you for success. 

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I just recently passed my GIT.

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And because of the connections with my current employer,

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there's 3 Western Oregon graduates from the same department

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because they work so hard to promote student success. 

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I think what makes Western special is the student-professor relationships.

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The professors really care about the students

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and want to see them be successful in life. 

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music