Blazing a Trail on the West Coast
By: Carrie Foulk, P.E., G.E. (BSK Associates)
I grew up crisscrossing the West Coast from the San Francisco Bay-area to Salem, Oregon, to Fresno, California to Seattle, Washington. As I watched my single, working mom navigate the world in the ‘70s and ‘80s, I knew I could be anything I wanted to because she emulated that for me. There was never a question of if I could be a professional one day.
As a child, I was interested in art, science, sports. I was good in school and really enjoyed my STEM classes. I played a lot of basketball in middle and high school, which I was never very good at.
Now, my daughter’s a college sophomore and my son is a high school senior. Despite both their parents being engineers, neither of them chose to pursue that career, so I’m not sure what that says! My partner and I live in Livermore, California – an interesting place with about 50 wineries and two nuclear weapons laboratories. We’ve got a large number of PhDs and a large number of cowboys.
At this time in my life, I do spend a lot of time working, but in my spare time, I read, exercise, walk my dog, watch local sports teams, listen to podcasts, and announce at my son’s lacrosse games.
Carrie’s Journey to Geotechnical Engineering
My sometimes-circuitous path to becoming the geotechnical engineer I am today started when I was a junior in high school. I took a chemistry class that got me jazzed about how the world worked and I thought I wanted to be an environmental engineer because I wanted to save the planet.
I attended a community college in the San Francisco Bay-area for two years, which was an amazing experience. I’d recommend it to anyone. Everything I did there transferred to an engineering degree at the University of Washington in Seattle. I rowed crew there (where I found I enjoy suffering) and I got my civil engineering bachelor’s degree. After taking a few classes in 
environmental engineering where we talked a lot about waste – in particular, human waste – I decided I wasn’t as interested in pursuing environmental engineering anymore and set my sights on becoming a structural engineer.
Straight out of school, I obtained a job in that field with Boeing, where I worked for a little over two years. Enter the waypoint of my journey into geotechnical engineering: New Mexico. With my then-boyfriend’s new job, I had to decide if I was going to move, too, and if I wanted to stay with structural engineering. I said yes to the move and no to the structural.
I sought input from a friend in the geotechnical engineering field and with her assurance that she enjoyed it, I discovered Kleinfelder, who happened to be hiring in the sparse geotechnical landscape of Albuquerque. My interview with Kleinfelder 
was fairly comical because they asked me two questions that I had zero answers for: 1) What’s an Atterberg limit? and 2) What’s an R-value? It had been close to five years since I had taken my geotechnical classes in college. So, I said, “I don’t remember, but I promise I’m a fast learner.” And they hired me! Our stint in New Mexico lasted only 10 months, after which we moved to the San Francisco Bay Area. I stayed with Kleinfelder and liked geotechnical engineering enough that I decided to pursue a master’s degree in the field, which I attained at Cal Berkeley.
After I had my second child, I stepped fully into the role of stay-at-home mom. I did some consulting in the meantime and kept my toe in the water by staying in touch with contacts. By the time my youngest was starting kindergarten, I got a timely call from Kleinfelder asking if I wanted to come back to work.
So I tiptoed a little further back into the field, working part-time while the kids were at school. I was able to jump back in and I felt like I didn’t really miss a beat. I eventually received an offer from my current firm, BSK Associates, that I couldn’t refuse, and I started part-time with them as well. As the kids grew older, I was able to return to full-time work. I’m currently a geotechnical group manager for a small but mighty group in Livermore and technical lead for a team of about 30 people company wide. One funny thing about my current role is that I actually mentored my current boss ages ago when we worked at Kleinfelder. 
I feel it’s important to share that I was a stay-at-home mom for six years and it was fine. Women always tell me they feel like they can’t stop, and they can’t have kids, and it would be looked down upon, etc. But I did it. And if you’re a good employee, they’ll want you back.
Advice to New Geoprofessionals
Some advice I’d give to geoprofessionals who are new to the industry is:
• Be open to new experiences. Don’t be afraid to get dirty.
• Don’t ever be intimidated by being the only woman in the room or being the youngest person in the room. Exude confidence.
• Never be afraid to ask questions. You’ll learn something new every single day if you’re open to it.
• Keep your mind open and look for the lesson learned in every task, even and maybe especially the ones that seem “menial.” You might not be able to see the lesson until it’s over.
Some of the best clients are born from difficult situations if handled correctly. I learned this from 
GBA Executive Director Joel Carson when he worked at Kleinfelder. He was the face to a lot of clients and he was the one who would get yelled at when things went wrong. So, he made some valuable clients through his handling of those difficult situations and that’s held true to this day:
If you handle it correctly, those things that keep you up at night can actually make you the hero.
Impact of GBA
What really encapsulates how GBA has impacted me is that it has broadened my perspective of what it means to be a geotechnical engineer. Being involved with GBA has helped reinforce that it’s not just about the technical work, it’s about being a consultant and a trusted advisor.
Also, the resources provided by the GBA are so useful to my entire company and especially the younger staff to help give them that broader sense of what it means to be a geoprofessional. Selfishly, it’s given me amazing contacts in the geoprofessional industry. I have met people I never would have met, and they’ve been key in forming me as a leader.
Getting involved with GBA and making presentations at their events helps set you up as an industry leader and it will get you recognized by others in the industry, which will open doors to incredible opportunities.
My last piece of advice to all those reading this is simple, but heartfelt: Get involved and stay involved with GBA.
You never know where it’s going to take you.
its members who live and demonstrate the vision of GBA to great accomplishment. Winners of this award will truly showcase their hard work and contributions to society in front of all their peers, clients, and other professionals from across North America.
2027 and beyond. Every three years, the Directors seek input from members to review important industry trends in risk management and business optimization, evaluate member value, and identify objectives that are critical to the health and success of geoprofessional consulting firms. Their efforts culminate in the formation of a strategic plan that guides initiatives, programs, and resources to benefit our members.
As I continue my GBA presidency, I reflect on the role GBA has played in 
outside Denver. There, I encountered a tremendous network of fellow geoprofessionals – classmates and practitioners giving back to their profession – from across the country. I left the seminar eager to delve further into GBA so I could continue to improve my business acumen and expand my professional network. It was exactly what I was looking for at that point in my career and served as a launchpad for the next 15 years. I had a taste of the GBA “special sauce” and I was hooked and craving more.
Our class members bonded quickly and with our collaborative spirit and zeal, we raised awareness on these exciting new social media tools to promote our individual businesses, and to promote the many benefits of GBA. Our Emerging Leaders Class completed its tenure after two years, after which many class members became engaged with serving on GBA’s Committees.
business-related subjects that directly impact our firms. I came away from each meeting with information to improve my own business practices, as well as ideas that could be implemented across S&ME.
to prepare a Best Practices document on the subject (funny how that works!). I was thrilled to be able to contribute to the organization that had given me so much and play a small role in creating safer practices for geoprofessionals.
I’ve shared my GBA journey with you in the hope that it inspires you to get involved in GBA. Volunteer for leadership opportunities. Speak up and share your opinions. Meet others that are passionate like you. And try to make an impact!
“Having worked with Matt for several years and now more regularly as he has been GBA’s President, I admire his sincerity and thoughtfulness as a leader. He makes sure everyone’s voices are heard and can build consensus on issues by bringing different perspectives together and focusing on the GBA’s strategic direction. He is also very creative as evidenced by his bringing GBA’s Special Sauce to reality, something none of us will forget. All that being said, Matt is simply someone everyone enjoys spending time with because he contributes positively in all situations.”
full workload, while also soaking up new information from speakers. You can keep one eye on your emails, one ear on the current conference speaker, and one foot out the door for your next on-site meeting.
and show them the agenda. Your supervisor can help you align your event goals to your career path. They may encourage other employees to register to attend with you.
along with a link to the event’s webpage for more information. Ask event organizers if they have a graphic they can send you or if you can use the event logo to go along with your post. Not only will this help support the organization and event, but it will also make it easier to connect with others in attendance and strengthen your professional network.
Here’s how to do this on an 
begins October 17 and it’s not too late to register! 
GBA has released an updated document designed to provide guidance to civil and structural engineers on how to communicate the value of qualified CoMET consultants to owners. When owners don’t do quality assurance right, a project’s civil and structural engineers may face just as much risk as the owner and project geoprofessionals. GBA encourages project design professionals to explore this message with information they can pass on to owners to help all parties lower their risks.
has reached a momentous milestone of 10,000 downloads. GBA podcasts present information and expertise from geoprofessionals around the globe to provide their peers with wisdom and insight to optimize their business and reduce risk.
“We created the GBA Podcast to make the educational opportunities and 
to clients for environmental services. This document explains how risk allocation is an important element of risk management, and that limitation of liability is a highly effective technique for risk allocation.
Limitation of liability is fair and reasonable, can result in lower project costs, and can encourage design excellence.
In the latest installment of the GBA Podcast – the Audio Education Series – hosts Tiffany Vorhies, NACE CIP2 (SME) and Ryan White, P.E., G.E., F.ASCE (PBS Engineering + Environmental) address some of the most challenging aspects of field representation. From navigating business relationships to forming prudent field reporting habits, this series contains helpful insights for the novice and seasoned pro.
scopes result in change orders, finding it difficult to submit legitimate payment requests for legitimate services to their clients. Effective communication with your client can make or break the client-consultant relationship and affect future profitability.
Collaboratively, the group ignited momentum for two key pillars of the strategic plan by focusing on:
• Increasing the frequency of the workshops,
Asheville, GBA Executive Director Joel Carson conducted a workshop and asked the Board to consider the future of GBA’s conferences, meetings, workshops, and summits. During this time, Directors identified the goals of our annual events, reviewed the current event calendar, and unearthed pathways for the future that will lead to greater engagement, enriched value, and 
In addition to the Board meetings, the Directors had opportunities to network and explore Asheville and the surrounding area.
“I was impressed by the level of preparation and participation of all the Directors,” said Mr. Carson. “This is a very focused and hardworking Board that continues to drive our Association forward. I left the meeting energized and full of new ideas that will help propel GBA into the future.”
years of most valuable services it provides to its members. For me it was most rewarding to be in the presence of the giants in our field… During my active participation in GBA, both Limitation of Liability and Peer Review were fully adopted by GBA.”