Senior Staff Water Resources Technician Will Guyton and Project Water Resources Engineer Erik Pruneda are the two other members of Aspect’s new stormwater engineering team in our Yakima office (meet John Knutson and Bill Rice here). Here are five questions we asked to get to know them better…
Will Guyton
1. Where are you from? If you’re not from the Pacific Northwest, what brought you here? Although my family’s roots are here in the PNW, I moved around quite a bit as a kid. I spent most my childhood in northern Virginia, but I finished high school in Hood River, Oregon. After high school, I enlisted in the U.S. Navy, where I was stationed at NAS Whidbey Island. After my discharge in 1998, I moved to the Seattle area and got into the consultant engineering industry. In 2007, I moved to Naches, Washington (population 850) to enjoy small town life and raise a family.
2. What inspired you to pursue water resources? What made you curious about it? I would say that it wasn’t so much “what” inspired me to pursue water resources as “who.” I have had the opportunity to work with some amazing engineers and scientists who have inspired and mentored me throughout my career. They introduced me to this industry and challenged me to pursue the things that interested me most. Over the years, I have developed a passion for solving problems that affect people, property, and the environment; I feel like I am doing something that makes a difference.
3. What do you like best about your area of expertise? What excites you and keeps you motivated? I think what motivates me most is the variety of our projects and the continuing opportunity I get to learn new things. Whether we are helping a municipality establish a stormwater utility, solving localized flooding issues, or improving a stream’s habitat, no problem is ever the same, and every client has different needs and challenges.
4. What do you like to do when you aren’t working? I enjoy spending time and doing things with my family. During the warmer months, I spend a lot of time hiking, camping, geocaching, and generally exploring our beautiful region with my wife, my two boys (10 and 8), and our tent trailer. I also enjoy golfing, coaching my kids’ sports teams, playing cards, and watching football.
5. Where in the world would you like to travel next? I'd love to take an extended RV road trip with my family through some of our country’s National Parks. We have been planning a tour that would take us through the Grand Canyon, Zion, and Arches.
Erik Pruneda
(the seventh Erik now on staff and the second to spell his name ending with a “k”)
1. Where are you from? If you’re not from the Pacific Northwest, what brought you here? I’m from Yakima, “The Palm Springs of Washington.”
2. What inspired you to pursue water resources (define this as you’d like)? What made you curious about it? During my time at Washington State University pursuing a BS degree in Civil Engineering, I found the water resources courses to be the most exciting and that led me to meeting my graduate professor who convinced me to stick around another year and get my MS in Civil Engineering. During my graduate degree program, I studied groundwater and surface water interaction and had the opportunity to learn how to conduct flow measurements, install groundwater elevation monitoring equipment, use ArcGIS, and many other stimulating things.
3. That do you like best about your area of expertise? What excites you and keeps you motivated? I enjoy the variety, rarely are two projects the same, and there is always something new to learn and apply.
4. What do you like to do when you aren’t working? Study the fine art of popular culture.
5. What five people would be your dream dinner party guests? The cast of Wedding Crashers: Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Isla Fisher, and Will Ferrell.