Student Spotlight: Ruth Kirby

Surveying Success

Not every university can brag about having a national park in its backyard. Just a six-hour boat ride from Michigan Tech lies Isle Royale National Park—a rugged, isolated archipelago in Lake Superior. When a group of 10 Michigan Tech geospatial engineering students wanted to put their surveying expertise to the test at the park, all they had to do was ask.

"I just thought if I reached out to someone from Isle Royale National Park, they might have some work for us to do," said Ruth Kirby, junior geospatial engineering student. "Land surveying is one of those things that everyone needs done."

Michigan Tech's geospatial engineering bachelor's degree program, one of only two in the state, is the only one in the Upper Peninsula. Park officials quickly took the surveyors-in-training up on their offer. The park assigned the Huskies two projects: measure the water depth at as many of the docks as possible around the park's shoreline and locate buried electrical lines near Windigo Visitor Center and on Mott Island.

Learn more about Ruth and her team's hands-on experience on Isle Royale.

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