Manager, Environmental Chemistry (retired)
I began my career at The Geysers in June 1978 just days after graduating from the University of Wyoming in Chemical Engineering. Initially working on constructing environmental control systems (H2S Abatement) for PG&E at the existing power plants at The Geysers, I worked in plant construction and was the lead startup engineer for Socrates-Unit 18 in 1983. In the intervening years, I joined Calpine and became the Environmental Chemistry Manager in Chemistry Department working on design, development, and operation of new novel environmental control systems. I hold two patents (underwritten by Calpine) for removing pollutants from the geothermal steam, helping to maintain the “green” value of geothermal energy. While Chemical Engineering was always my focus at work, Geology is my avocation. Since 1999, I have immersed myself in geology at The Geysers, taking all of the available geology courses at local colleges, Calpine’s Geoscience team took me under their wing to show me what’s “under the hood” deep inside The Geysers steam reservoir, closing the geothermal loop from the reservoir’s 150-million-year-old natural history to today’s clean, green, renewable energy source that it has become. After 43 years of working at The Geysers, I am retired, enjoying golf, gardening, and gold prospecting, while maintaining my connection to The Geysers through leading community tours of The Geysers and working with the team at the Calpine Geothermal Visitor Center.