Graduating Bigfork High School senior Shane Park wants to study the ground beneath his feet.

The 18-year-old son of Kenny Parks and Susan O’Leary plans to attend Flathead Valley Community College for two years before transferring to the University of Montana and earning a degree in geology with an emphasis in either hydrology or petroleum geology.

“I know that the job outlook for any of the geosciences is in really high demand,” Parks said.

Parks considers himself an analytical thinker and excels in math and science.

“I like the facts,” Parks said. “I like to know the truth.”

Parks also likes the outdoors.

Growing up hunting, fishing, camping, snowboarding and playing tennis, it is no surprise he would choose a profession requiring significant time spent outdoors.

Whether looking for petroleum deposits deep beneath the earth’s surface or monitoring water supplies, Parks would be able to do what he does best going outdoors to collect data samples and using a computer to analyze it.

“I’ve always had a passion for science and for the outdoors,” Parks said.

He already has experience doing fieldwork and using professional computer software to map out the data in a Geographic Information Systems class offered at Bigfork High School.

In April, he presented a GIS project at the Montana Association of Geographic Information Professionals conference in Kalispell.

At the conference, Parks explained how he created a 3-D geological map of the Bob Marshall Wilderness Continental Divide syncline where he isolated each rock layer using a computer program called ArcGlobe.

“Using ArcGlobe is exactly like Google Earth. I edited and mapped out the rock formation, every rock layer,” Parks said.

Wherever his geology degree takes him, Parks hopes it will take him back to the mountains and rivers of Flathead Valley.

“A lot of times, you do a lot of overseas traveling for both” careers, Parks said. “My family likes to travel and I haven’t found any place that’s come close to the Flathead Valley.”  

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or by email at hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.