Civil Engineer

Civil Engineers design, build, and help maintain public works (structures like bridges, dams, parks, and buildings provided by the government). They create and improve systems to make sure modern societies have drinking water, reliable transportation, a clean environment, and energy.

Many highways, skateboard parks, and bike lanes and also bridges and other structures in New York City have been made safer for everyone using them, thanks to the work of Civil Engineer Tamara Skeeter. Civil and Water Resource Engineer Cynthia Clark helps design and maintain systems to distribute water among the people of Idaho. Civil Engineer Tysheina Robertson is helping build Denver’s first commuter rail.

When Ornithologist Laura Gooch worked as a Civil Engineer, she helped provide Texans with the water they needed and helped clean up toxic waste in Ohio. Now she keeps track of which birds fly over her home.

Janet Hollingsworth loves to help artists and other designers bring their ideas to life in ways that express what they want to safely. Trained as an architect and civil engineer, she has helped create enormous models of dinosaurs, designed and build furniture and bike parts and now supports students designing and building out their own projects using digital fabrication tools found in makerspaces.

And Civil Engineer Rachel Davidson studies ways to improve systems that help protect people from natural disasters like hurricanes and earthquakes.