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The Cascade Columbia Chapter hosted a survey outreach event during the Water Follies hydroplane races at Columbia Park. The event provided an opportunity to engage with the public, promote the land surveying profession, and connect with fellow surveyors in a fun, family-friendly setting. Attendees participated in hands-on activities, including a hub-setting contest and an interactive virtual reality experience showcasing modern surveying technology. The outreach tent, combined with food, games, and live music, created a welcoming environment to introduce people of all ages to careers and opportunities in land surveying while strengthening relationships within the local surveying community

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Members of PLSO, LSAW and Clark College Geomatics Students, taught over 50 scouts, Land Surveying and the opportunities surveying has today. At the end of it all they also learned Surveyor's work in, and through the Rain of the Pacific NW😃 A great time was had by all! Special thanks to Matt Bandon for organizing this event and other Merit Badge events this year and to all the volunteers.

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The Cascade Columbia Chapter participated in the City of Tieton’s Highland Community Days celebration. Chapter members and our families joined the community parade and hosted an outreach booth where we spent the day visiting with families, students, and community members about the land surveying profession. Attendees had the opportunity to see modern surveying equipment and UAV technology firsthand while learning about the critical role surveyors play in defining property boundaries, supporting infrastructure projects, and preserving the public land survey system. It was a hoot!

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LSAW SPS chapter hosted a booth at Pierce County Construction Career Day. Over 2000 students representing 13 school districts attend this annual event.

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Participated in Sumner-Bonney Lake School District CTE Advisory board student feedback roundtable

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Inside the Sunriver Homeowners Aquatic and Recreation Center (SHARC)

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Engaged 20+ Middle School Students from La Pine and Three Rivers MS during and after lunch.

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Hunt Middle School in Tacoma CTE class learned about land surveying through NW Surveyor videos and a pacing exercise.

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The Inland Empire led an interactive field trip for area high schoolers in NE Washington. Thanks Travis Mitchell & team for putting together such a hands on, real world introduction to surveying.

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Spent last Friday and Saturday representing the Idaho Society of Professional Surveyors at the America250 Boise–Meridian Initial Point Celebration: Surveying the Past, Mapping the Future.

On Friday, we were out southeast of Kuna at the Initial Point, where we witnessed a proclamation from the Governor recognizing the significance of this historic location.

On Saturday, we continued the celebration at the Old Idaho State Penitentiary, engaging with the public and helping raise awareness about the land surveying profession and its role in shaping our communities.

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On January 23, 2026, I gave a presentation on surveying as a career to high school students attending DELTA High School (a STEM school) in Pasco, WA.

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On Wednesday, April 21, the PLSO Pioneer Chapter President, Jesse White, spoke at Sunset High School for one of their annual Tech Talk. This was an opportunity to speak to over 70 students in the advanced STEM programs about surveying and the technologies that we use on a daily basis.

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On February 26, 2026 I represented my company, PLSO and Get Kids into Survey at the Youth Infrastructure Fair for NSBE at McDaniel High School in Portland. Many kids learned what surveyors do for the first time and got it integrates with engineering and design.

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LSAW Members met with Bates Technical College Chief Strategic Initiatives director to make plans for a one quarter, introductory survey technician education program at their Tacoma Campus. Working toward a Winter quarter 2027 pilot class!

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Yakima Valley College partnered with the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry to host a public STEM Day on Saturday, February 21, 2026.

The free event was designed for elementary and middle school youth and featured hands-on activities, presentations, and workshops focused on math, technology, science, engineering and LAND SURVEYING. In addition to highlighting YVC programs, OMSI provided live demonstrations and 12 to 15 interactive tables with science equipment and challenges for attendees of all ages.

The LSAW CC Chapter and WSDOT representatives also participated, sharing information about the land surveying profession and helping showcase the opportunities within the field.

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Bates Technial College Career fair. Bonnie Mayo knocked it out of the park! Way to go Bonnie, and excellent representation of LSAW and the South Puget Sound chapter. Making strides at Bates and keeping our fingers crossed for introducing survey cirriculum there.

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LaPine HS 2026 Career Fair, PLSO Central Chapter

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Thursday March 19th LaPine High School annual Career Fair. All 4 grades were rotated in .

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PLSO pioneer chapter has supported the Portland Workforce Alliance Northwest youth career expo for about 20 years. This event brings nearly 4000 to 6,000 students from the area to the Oregon convention center to give them exposure to local professions, trades and local educational opportunities and programs they will soon be navigating. Rebecca Dunphy and myself spent much of the day explaining the profession of Land Surveying to eager students, career guidance counselors, teachers and parents.

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The PLSO Midwest Chapter recently hosted a workshop at Oregon State University, where Dan Nelson, Jayce Clevenger, and I introduced students to Civil 3D survey data processing, basemap creation, and DTM surface development.

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PLSO Pioneer Chapter sat down with two individuals who found their way to surveying through the NWSurveyor website, and talked to them about the profession of land surveying and how to get into the industry.

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PLSO Pioneer Chapter became more involved with the Beaverton School District CTE program as its Chapter President worked with the school district on an advisory board to help develop in-school curriculum and special projects and support.

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We had several booths representing Land Surveying and Engineering. There were 20 students along with their parents. A dinner was provided with speakers addressing surveying and engineering.

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Sumner Bonney Lake school district CTE General Advisory Council meeting for cirriculum development. Adding a land surveying mini lab this spring to the Sumner High School core plus class!

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Career presentation at BIAW workforce development program at Goodwill Tacoma

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Branch Engineering wrapped up hosting Scotty, a high school senior, as part of the A3 Internship program during the January 7–23 term. The surveyors at Branch Engineering worked directly with Scotty on field and office survey tasks, introduced drone applications, and guided the completion of a full survey project using Pix4d, Trimble Business Center, and AutoCAD Civil 3D software. The internship provided meaningful hands-on learning, career exploration, and real-world exposure to the surveying profession.

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Northwest Surveyor Outreach Challenge November Results Are In!

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LSAW, PLSO, and ISPLS are going head-to-head in the Northwest Surveyor Outreach Challenge, and November was a strong showing all around.

Oregon (PLSO) takes the win for November with 47 outreach hours, with Washington (LSAW) close behind at 30 outreach hours.

Congratulations to all three associations and our wonderful volunteers for a great month of outreach! Let’s keep the momentum going, please be sure to get your December outreach events posted.

Post your outreach activities here:

https://padlet.com/landsurveyorsofwa/nw-surveyor-outreach-a07q7w13ls9a2ybg

Individual Outreach Winner for November: Scott Freshwaters

Scott is winning a $500 Carhartt gift card, generously donated by MacKay Sposito. Thank you to MacKay Sposito for supporting outreach and the next generation of surveyors.

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No photos, 12/12/25 1 hour presentation with Q&A at the Caldera HS (Bend)Future Center 12/30/25 4 hours with an OSU Campus of the Cascades student on a GPS boundary and mapping survey.

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Sumner High School career day presentations

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Connecting ANEW apprenticeship training program participants and others looking for career change with potential matches for entry level positions.

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Responding to multiple NW Surveyor "Get Connected" requests. Directing respondents to to volunteers that can assist with job shadow, internships, or providing general information about a career in Survey. Approximately 30 emails sent in November with about 25% of those responding back and needed additional support.

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Our Cascade Columbia Chapter spent the day at West Valley High School introducing students to real-world land surveying through three interactive stations: UAV operations, survey control, and construction staking. Each group rotated through the stations for 45 minutes, gaining hands-on experience with modern field equipment and workflows.

We wrapped up the event in the classroom with a fun Mentimeter quiz to reinforce what they learned. The top three students took home prizes including a NW Surveyor sweatshirt, beanie, and sticker.

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Sharing about the profession with some students at Discovery High School.

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Maven Mapping Solutions can out today to provide UAS Photogrammetry and LiDAR training to 1LS Surveying. There were PLSO chapter presidents and LSAW YSN members involved promoting surveying in the PNW.

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Here are some field work shots of scenery we see regularly. Not a bad office, eh?

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Vic Banks & Desi Schilling at Lake Washington Technical Institute Career Fair

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PLSO was involved in the 3rd annual Girl Scouts STEM Day! They saw roughly 1700 young scouts throughout the day and discussed what Land Surveying is and how they can become a surveyor one day.

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The PLSO Central Chapter was well represented at the Central Oregon Skilled Trades Fair by Matt Banton, Kevin Blakely, Scott Freshwaters, and Chris Munson.

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LSAW SPS Chapter inspired over 2000 young adults today at trades career fair in Tacoma!

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Day 2 and 3 of the PLSO Midwest chapter hosting a booth at the Connected Lane County Middle School Career Expo.

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PLSO Midwest chapter is hosting a booth at a middle school career fair to promote the land surveying profession. The event is a 3 day event. Here is day 1 of 3

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Future Cities Preparation Presentation

The presentation was on October 24th. I spoke to 3 different classes of about 25-30 kids each (middle school). Each presentation lasted about 40 minutes. We covered a lot of topics on the layout and design of a City and how engineering and surveying plays into that.

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I had the pleasure of a hosting a job shadow day for an 18 year old young man considering a career in engineering.

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Pleasant Hill High School Career Fair (PLSO, Midwest Chapter)

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Washington Career Technical Education (CTE) Conference

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SPS Pierce County Construction Career Day