Aufderhaar is a special kind of geologist. His area of focus is hydrogeology, a sub-discipline of geology. Hydrogeologists study groundwater -- water resources that are located beneath the ground. As a hydrogeologist specializing in environmental geology, Aufderhaar is primarily interested in how pollution affects groundwater and how that can ultimately affect our drinking water. Man-made sources such as petroleum underground storage tanks and solvents used for cleaning and manufacturing can have a huge impact on groundwater.

According to Aufderhaar, people in his field also want to understand how groundwater is moving beneath the ground. Is it moving horizontally, vertically? And just how fast is it going? Hydrogeologists also want to know how groundwater responds to recharge from precipitation and withdrawals (like from wells). The focus of Aufderhaar's work (and others in his field) is the protection of drinking water supplies that come from groundwater.

Image courtesy Eric Aufderhaar Eric Aufderhaar

Read on to learn how Aufderhaar found his way to studying groundwater.

Express: What schooling is required to be a geologist?
Eric Aufderhaar: A good background in the geological sciences is important to understand hydrogeological concepts. Knowledge of chemistry is also important since environmental hydrogeology work pertains to the assessment of chemical compounds in groundwater. And mathematics is helpful to evaluate and understand how groundwater moves, and to predict how contaminants will degrade over time. We cannot “see” groundwater, therefore mathematics and basic concepts from physics are used to predict its movement.

Express: What's a typical day like for you?
Eric Aufderhaar: I go to work and assist my co-workers and our clients by setting up fieldwork, analyzing data obtained from the fieldwork and writing reports. Sometimes fieldwork takes me out of the office, which is nice. When I'm not working on field projects, I also do administrative tasks like checking invoices from subcontractor firms that do work for us.

Express: What technologies help you most in your job?
Eric Aufderhaar: Laboratory analyses of samples and remediating [ways to clean up] pollution help the most in my job. Technology that is used for drilling like boring tools and monitoring wells are essential, too – so we can get good samples. We also use many kinds of software to help analyze the data obtained from our projects.

Express: What's your favorite thing about your job?
Eric Aufderhaar: I enjoy the variety and getting out of the office now and then. Over my career, my work has taken me to gasoline service stations, farms, industrial plants, the woods and military bases. Each site is different, and often requires learning new things. New methods are constantly being developed for the assessment and cleanup of contaminated groundwater – so it's exciting to learn about these methods. But, this can be difficult too – sometimes it's hard to find time to stay on top of the new stuff.

Express: What do you like least about your job?
Eric Aufderhaar: I work in the environmental consulting field and our firm makes money by charging clients for my services. It's a lot like a law firm; I have to keep track of what I work on each day in 15-minute increments. Before we start a project, we estimate how many hours will be required to complete certain work tasks and we provide the client with an estimated or lump sum cost. If our estimates are wrong, we sometimes have to absorb the cost and learn from the mistake. We cannot usually stop jobs mid-stream because the work must be done by a deadline.

Express: What would surprise us most to know about your job?
Eric Aufderhaar: In environmental geology, you have to get dirty and work outdoors, which is the fun part of the job. At times, you have to be flexible to do simple things and work in inclement weather. One time, I had to work 12 days at a smelly pig farm installing groundwater-monitoring wells around pig waste lagoons. The most disgusting thing I ever did was evaluate the contents of dumpsters at a major employer in the Raleigh, North Carolina area. They wanted us to find out if employees were throwing out things that were supposed to be recycled. Unfortunately, they were. The first year our evaluation involved the cafeteria dumpster -- it was disgusting!

Express: Is water obtained from groundwater polluted and unsafe to drink?
Eric Aufderhaar: No -- groundwater obtained from deep wells -- wells that are more than 100 feet deep -- is often of better quality than water obtained from reservoirs. Well construction, depth and location are critical to obtaining high quality water. Depth is probably the most important. Private wells that become contaminated are usually shallow -- less than 50 feet deep -- and obtain water from the uppermost water table aquifer, the aquifer zone most susceptible to contamination.

Express: Gas stations and dry cleaners aren't typically green businesses. Which one is the bigger environmental threat?
Eric Aufderhaar: In terms of the number of pollution occurrences, gasoline stations and dry-cleaners both pose a threat. Gasoline contains hazardous constituents and as long as it is used as a motor fuel, it will pose a threat. Good business operating practices and state-of-the-art fuel storage and distribution systems prevent large, sudden releases of fuel. For example, pump hoses have devices that shut off the pump if a customer drives off with the dispenser still in his gas tank. However, small spills happen every time hose nozzles are taken out of a car and returned to the pump. Over time, these small spills can affect the soil and groundwater below a gas station.

Many dry cleaners use the cleaning solvent tetrachloroethylene (also known as perchloroethylene or PCE). In the past, PCE leaked out of equipment and was mishandled. Businesses dumped PCE in sewer systems or on the ground outside their back doors. Now, PCE is tightly regulated. Dry-cleaners must conform to certain handling and disposal practices. And, many dry-cleaners are now using methods that do not use PCE at all. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean PCE is no longer a threat. It's a pretty tricky chemical, so it's difficult to find and even more difficult to clean up. Chemical compounds in petroleum are much easier to assess and clean up. Many different methods are now available and are very successful at cleaning up sites contaminated with petroleum chemical compounds.

Express: What about landfills and dumps?
Eric Aufderhaar: Before the 1980s, municipal landfills were not built with liners. Liners can help reduce what leaks into the surrounding soil. Older landfills received a wide variety of waste that included partially full chemical containers, paint, waste fertilizer, plastics and more. The waste was buried and covered with soil. Rainwater migrating through the soil leaches out compounds from the degrading material and produces a mixture of chemical compounds – some of which are toxic to humans and the environment. Over time, natural bacteria present in the underlying soils and groundwater may cleanup some of the pollution (by eating them as an energy source). But other pollutants reach groundwater and migrate away from the landfill.

Express: Has your job made you more environmentally conscious? If so, how?
Eric Aufderhaar: Yes. I no longer throw paint cans into the trash and I collect oil from servicing my car. I also recycle most of my trash and become annoyed when I see others not doing it.

Getting Started Want to read more about studying and working in geology? Check out these books at your local library or bookstore: Great Jobs for Geology Majors by Blythe Camenson Careers in the Environment by Mike Fasulo and Paul Walker The ECO Guide to Careers that Make a Difference: Environmental Work for a Sustainable World by the Environmental Careers Organization The Field Guide to Geology by David Lambert Geology: A Self-Teaching Guide by Barbara W. Murck