Her Story
About Jennifer
I'm a program coordinator hydrogeologist at San Antonio Water Systems, where I've been for 2 years after over 13 years as a practicing hydrogeologist. I look at project feasibility for brackish groundwater development, aquifer storage and recovery, and help facilitate project development for our water resources team to meet San Antonio's long-term water supply needs. I coordinate between programs across our diversified portfolio of 13 water supply projects from 7 different sources. My passion has always been karst hydrogeology, specifically the Edwards Aquifer. I got my start through a dual internship with Southwest Research Institute and the Edwards Aquifer Authority while completing my master's thesis research on the Edwards Aquifer at the University of Arkansas. After finishing my degree, I worked at the Edwards Aquifer Authority for many years, starting in the aquifer protection program on the regulatory side, then transitioning to aquifer science as a hydrogeologist, and eventually moving into the aquifer science research supervisor position for about 2 years. I came over to SAWS after visiting the H2Oaks facility and being blown away by the amazing projects and the amount of work we do here. The Edwards Aquifer is unique in the world - the way it's regulated, how it protects endangered species - there's nothing else like it, and I always knew I wanted to work on it.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Jennifer
01What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Find your passion. You know, is this something that you're really interested in doing? Because it's not always an easy path. Make sure you take the right steps with your education - what are you looking to do with your career? There's so many different things you can do with a geology degree, so just finding your passion, you know, mine was karst. It's kind of a small niche thing, and now I work more in hydrology, so just finding what you're passionate about, and feeding into that, and making sure that you take the right steps to do that, whether it's internships, or master's degrees, or whatever you need to accomplish that. I think it's important for women, especially young girls, to see women doing the things that they want to do. I've had the opportunity to help guide people in their careers, and watching people grow and develop has just been an amazing experience.
02What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I just like to help people when I can in building their careers. I think it's important for women, especially young girls, to see women doing the things that they want to do. I've had the opportunity to help guide people in their careers, and watching people grow and develop has just been an amazing experience. You know, whether it's even if they don't stay with the company, just helping people build the skills that they need, and being and seeing that inspiration. I do think geology, women in geology is an underrepresented field, and anything I can do to help support that and support especially women and girls as they try to move up that career path, I'm happy to do.
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