Getting Outside to Get Beneath the Surface

Seattle and the Puget Sound lowlands have no shortage of stunning mountain and coastline vistas. But if you look closely, there is an equally impressive story being told right beneath your feet, one that makes the region unlike almost anywhere else—and that has tremendous implications for the practice of environmental consulting.

Matthew von der Ahe, Geologist, explains the history and appearance of the Blakely Formation in West Seattle.

“‘It’s more complicated than that’ - I’ll probably end up saying that a lot today.” It’s a brilliant sunny Friday in late May and Matthew von der Ahe, a geologist in Aspect’s Bellingham office and former college geology instructor, has just guided his latest “class” of colleagues to their first stop on a day-long geology field trip. Matthew has been offering these field trips for the last decade to educate colleagues across the firm about the fascinating and often quite complicated geological world we work and live in.

Observing layers of glaciation at Discovery Park.

The day begins with a hike out onto a West Seattle beach, a rare spot where the 35-million-year-old Blakely Formation is visible at the surface. Here, and at other stops around town, the group observes evidence of the fascinating forces that have shaped the Puget Sound lowlands, a unique combination of glaciation and fault activity. Along the way, they see firsthand evidence of the different layers of glacial sedimentation, and gain a better understanding of the context for much of their work, from construction to remediation. One stop in Magnolia, where landslide activity swept three homes into Puget Sound and left another sitting condemned, plainly illustrates how important it is to understand the forces at work at each site.

Seeing the map come to life.

The dynamic nature of this region offers exciting opportunities for geotechnical, environmental, and water resources work, and while there are numerous resources available through a consultant’s laptop, there’s nothing quite like getting out in the field to see how the different facets of this fascinating landscape are connected. “It’s so valuable to see these things you’ve been thinking about,” says Senior Principal Geologist Dave Cook. “You could never see it enough, whether you’re in your third year or your thirtieth.”  Maya Morales-McDevitt, a professional at Gradient, echoed that sentiment: “Experiencing this reminds me of all the possibilities in consulting.”

The day ends on the south slope of Queen Anne, taking in a view of Seattle’s rapidly growing built environment, with Mount Rainier sparkling in the distance. After a day spent in the field, the landscape makes sense in new ways. Everything feels connected. “I keep waiting for someone to say, ‘I can’t believe we’re paying you to do this,” Matthew says, “but instead, they keep saying, ‘I wish you’d do this more.’” You can tell from Matthew’s enthusiasm that he hopes this is the case.

Viewing the elusive Lawton Clay on the beach at Discovery Park.

James Packman Presents on Urban Environmental Planning to University of Washington Class

Aspect’s James Packman presenting on environmental planning as a profession to University of Washington students

Aspect Senior Hydrologist James Packman presented on environmental planning for the second year to a class in the College of the Built Environment at the University of Washington.

The students in the “Planning as a Profession” class learn about urban planning from a different guest lecturer each week who is a professional working in their field. James presented environmental planning from a holistic point of view—from the skills and interests that lead a person to the profession and the different disciplines working in the industry to the laws and regulations that drive project design, permitting, and building and examples of water-focused planning. His overarching message focused on interdisciplinary skills, and he gave examples of Aspect projects where collaboration between disciplines was vital to both win the work in a competitive consultant market and address the environmental elements.

One example of an urban planning project is Seattle’s SEA Streets Project, which changed several streetscapes in residential neighborhoods to decrease stormwater runoff.

For example, James discussed how planning and executing urban stormwater management projects – such as the City of Seattle’s innovative SEA Streets program in north Seattle – have many benefits: reducing stormwater runoff before it reaches the sewer and downstream water quality; improving habitat diversity; narrowing streets that make cars slower and increase safety, and increase street aesthetics and property values.

For the homework and in-class activity, James introduced the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA). In small groups and guided discussion, the students learned about the many environmental planning elements required to complete a SEPA checklist. Through this exercise, they developed a list of skills and areas of knowledge required for each SEPA topic, which will be a valuable reference as they transition into their careers and work in urban planning.

James Packman Talks Interdisciplinary Skills and Water’s Role in Urban Environmental Planning to UW Class

Senior Hydrologist James Packman recently presented to “Planning as a Profession,” a senior-level urban planning class in the College of the Built Environment at the University of Washington. The nearly 30 students come from different majors and career trajectories—among them are future architects, landscape architects, city planners, urban designers, real estate professionals, construction managers, engineers, environmental scientists, and more.

James Packman, Senior Hydrologist

James’ presentation, entitled “Environmental Skills, Water Resources, and Urban Planning,” gave a holistic view of environmental considerations in urban planning—from the skills and interests that lead a person to the profession and the different disciplines working in the industry to the laws and regulations that drive project design, permitting, and building and examples of water-focused planning. His overarching message focused on interdisciplinary skills, and he gave examples of Aspect projects where collaboration between disciplines was vital to address the environmental elements.

For example, the Waypoint Park project along Bellingham’s shoreline incorporated coastal geology, hydrogeology, stormwater management, civil and geotechnical engineering, landscape architecture, habitat restoration ecology, and more to reclaim a contaminated former industrial site to an urban waterfront park.

Waypoint Park Before and After Construction
City of Bellingham’s Waypoint Park incorporated many environmental planning steps to turn a former industrial site into an urban waterfront park.

James also introduced the practical side of business consulting, or how people and firms pursue and win public work, and walked students through the Request for Qualifications / Request for Proposals process. His key message for being on winning teams is that it requires networking in and outside of one’s discipline and forging relationships with public agency staff to learn their needs.

He ended by going over a homework assignment about the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) checklist process and its key role in urban planning projects. The homework reinforced the variety of environmental disciplines—geology, hydrology, archeology, botany, wildlife biology, engineering, and more—along with professional skills—technical reading comprehension, writing, project management, public speaking, quantitative analysis, and more—that are needed to complete the checklist.

James will present to a new set of students when he returns to the class in Spring Quarter 2019.