Josh Ivaniszek

Josh Ivaniszek earned dual degrees in forestry and surveying in 2004. His wife Colleen ’04 earned a geological engineering degree. Following their years at Tech, Colleen took a job with the Alaska Department of Transportation and the couple moved north.

Though he now owns Chilkat Surveying & Mapping LLC, named for the Chilkat mountain range, Josh previously worked a variety of other natural resources-related jobs. He worked for a small surveying company, for the State of Alaska, at a small civil engineering firm, and then at the Greens Creek Mine managing resources. The mine position also featured a boat commute; a common form of transportation in the Alexander Archipelago around Juneau. He recently worked surveying for the new cruise ship docks in Juneau, which he said was quite the undertaking, featuring pile driving 280-foot piles in 100 feet of water into submerged mountainsides.

Josh, like Rich Jennings, notes that many people from Michigan have found their way to Alaska. He also said that the Michigan Tech work ethic has served him well over the years and made finding employment, and eventually going to work for himself, fairly easy.

Josh, known for his wry sense of humor, says that the working conditions in Alaska can be brutal, which might also account for the ease of finding employment.

“As a surveyor, the wildlife is trying to eat you, the plant life is trying to stick you with thorns, and the mountains are trying to fall on you. Probably why it’s so easy to find work here; nobody is trying to compete with you,” he jokes.

“The Michigan Tech forestry and surveying programs set you up to be a rural land surveyor. I felt pretty well prepared coming into a rural environment with heavy brush and unpleasant terrain. We spent a lot of time hiking the Keweenaw, and this is a bigger version of that.”

That said, he’s never regretted the move to Alaska. “The fun thing about Alaska is always traveling someplace different in the state. I spend a lot of time in helicopters and boats.”

Josh and Colleen have three children. This coming summer, one of his sons will attend a hockey camp at Michigan Tech, and during that time Josh will acquaint his younger son with the Keweenaw hikes he enjoyed during college.

“Going from Houghton to Juneau was an easy fit,” he adds, “I have an appreciation for sharp axes I learned at fall camp.”

From the Winter 2020 edition of the Forestry Newsletter.