All posts by Scott Martin
The Dog Whisperer — Not Me
Surveying in the field exposes all of us to various threats from flora and fauna, not to mention the two-legged threats. It just comes with the job. Depending on location, we learn to identify and respect the diverse threats to our beings while conducting the course of our mission. They are just part of the...
My Final Day in the Field?
We have all heard the phrase “You can take the surveyor our of the field, but you can’t take the field out of the surveyor.”
It’s All About the Journey
I was recently looking at the archive of past Field Notes and was amazed how far back I had to go to get to my first one – March 2016. What began as a lone article submission on subsidence in California has resulted in a five-plus-year journey of writing this monthly piece— a journey I...
Policing Our Profession
Although my professional practice has been limited to California where we have a governing board of registration, I believe that model exists in every state. The mission and vision statements of the California Board of Registration for professional engineers, land surveyors, and geologists are quite succinct: Mission Statement: We protect the public’s safety and property...
Wildfires: A Case for Coordinates
One of the ongoing campaigns within our profession focuses on the protection or perpetuation of survey monuments, from primary control to property corners. Many states have statutes in place addressing this problem, albeit the level of compliance and enforcement are certainly not all they could be. More leverage can be asserted on public works projects...
Remote Sensing – It’s About the Safety
If you follow trends in industry that serve our profession, it is impossible to not see articles and advertisements about the use of remote sensing technology. Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS/drones) tend to be the leaders of the pack for many reasons. However, there are several others, from stationary and mobile terrestrial lidar scanners and cameras,...
