Get to know SEFS staff! This series provides an opportunity to find out more about SEFS staff members — what they do in their daily job and how they spend their time outside the office.
What is your role at SEFS?
I’ve worked for the Olympic Natural Resources Center as the Maintenance Mechanic II for the past 28 years. I was hired three weeks before the ribbon cutting ceremony in July of 1995. Taking on a new facility was challenging but at the same time, exciting! There is a personal sort of ownership that I feel toward this facility. So, when asked what I do for work, this is what I say. I take care of all maintenance related work including electrical, plumbing, HVAC, security and fire systems, and a very complex water system out here. We are on 40 acres, mostly forested with an extensive trail system. I also help facilitate field projects for various researchers. I’ve also had the privilege of working with the SEFS It team as well as Campus IT folks over the years in troubleshooting issues out here at this remote site.
Tell us about your road to SEFS
The first question I usually get is “The University of Washington has a facility in Forks?” The second question either by people I meet here, or longtime friends is, “how did you end up working for the University of Washington?” The short answer is my wife is responsible for me getting this job, and she reminds me of that fact all the time, and then we laugh, but it’s true! She was hired on toward the end of construction to do a final cleaning of the buildings here and she let me know that the University was soon going to be looking for a Maintenance Mechanic for the facility. I had no idea this place was even being built right here in my own hometown! So, I applied for the Maintenance Mechanic II position and the rest is history. It was the first time in my life that I left a job to go to another one, I had mixed feelings about that, but looking back after 28 years it was one of the best decisions, I would end up making.
The longer answer is I grew up in a time period where the trades were still taught in school, things like carpentry, welding and auto shop class. As Mike Rowe says all the time, and I couldn’t agree more, when these types of classes were dropped from the school curriculum, less and less young people ended up in these types of jobs. By the time I was 14, I could wire an entire house, thanks to my stepdad letting me shadow him. I was welding and using all kinds of shop tools all before I even had my driver’s license. Everything I came across I would take apart to see how it was made. I was and am still curious about how things work.
Over the years before coming to the UW, I had several jobs in maintenance, local mills, the hospital here in town that all led me to being offered and accepting this job. The local staff here as well as folks at the U have been an absolute pleasure to work for.
Where did you grow up?
That is also interesting. I grew up right here in Forks Washington and graduated in 1982. Fast forward to 1995, when I was hired at the U, and here I am still, although 4 years ago my wife and I moved a bit farther away to the area of Agnew Wa. Working for the University in my hometown of Forks is the best of both worlds. It has that small town atmosphere without all the traffic and other challenges that can sometimes come with living in a big city. For 25 years I had a less than two-mile commute, some mornings I might even see another car on the road. That alone was worth a lot!
What are your favorite ways to spend time outside of work?
I grew up riding motorcycles and have had several over the years. Getting out exploring either on long road trips on my big bike to places like the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Yosemite and Glacier National Parks or just spending time in my own areas on the forest roads riding my dual sport motorcycle in an area where I grew up is one of my all-time favorite things to do. Of course, nothing beats time spent with family and friends sitting around the fire pit whether at home or camping, telling stories.
What inspires you?
This question is harder to nail down, mainly because there are so many things that move me. It’s also a question that can be different for each one of us. For me, it’s the simple things like watching a child play with a puppy, to the grace of seeing someone reach out to a total stranger in a simple act of kindness. When I see a couple in their 80’s holding hands, I want to know their story, and sometimes if the opportunity presents itself, I’ll strike up a conversation. It’s those conversations that inspire me every day.