Sam, Geotechnical engineer (Marine)
“My mother is the one who piqued my interest in geology, as she collects minerals herself. Even though she was surprised I wanted to pursue a career in geotechnical engineering, she encourages me to be ambitious and follow my passion.”
Singapore
"People tend to be surprised that girls choose a career that entails 'getting your hands dirty', but that's actually precisely what I do."
As a Geotechnical engineer I am part of the entire process of investigating soil. The soil samples are recovered right in front of our eyes, where they come on board the vessel. On the vessel right here we have an on-board laboratory, so the laboratory technician and I will start performing tests on those samples right away. It is amazing how much we know about the soil and minerals, in just hours after we collected the sample.
We perform all sorts of tests by ourselves. While we are still on board I will prepare sample description sheets, which end up in the geotechnical borehole log. All this information is then transferred to my colleagues who work onshore, as they share our findings with clients and advise them on their projects.
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In my environment Geology wasn't an obvious choice for a specialism or a career. But it is a great choice and I encourage anyone to make their own choices and pursue their passion. I feel blessed to be encouraged in going after what I want, no matter what career I choose.
Diversity & inclusion