Eric is an engineer who facilitates the building of unique imaging tools and equipment for the National Geographic Society. Some of the equipment includes the dropcam, a camera that can film in some of the deepest regions of the world’s oceans, and the Crittercam, a camera attached to wild animals that can record video and audio as well as collect other data.

EARLY WORK

In sixth grade, Eric’s uncle sent him a box of electronic supplies that included diodes, resistors, and batteries. This spurred Eric to visit his local library in Orange City, Iowa, to learn more about electronics.

In high school, Eric won first prize at a science fair for constructing a robot. “You could hook it up to a computer and tell it to go to a certain place on the floor and it would go over there,” he says.

Eric pursued his interest in electronics by getting an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering at South Dakota State University in Brookings, followed by a master's degree in the same subject at the University of Maine in Orono, Maine.

MOST EXCITING PART OF YOUR WORK

“I geek out about engineering stuff, but it’s also cool to get out in the field and come face to face with a great white shark or sail a sailboat to the deepest hole in the Atlantic Ocean and send a camera down there and see what comes back.”

MOST DEMANDING PART OF YOUR WORK

Time management: “We get more projects than we could ever possibly do, and a lot of them are really good ideas.”

HOW DO YOU DEFINE GEOGRAPHY?

“I define it as the study of physical places in the world and how they relate to each other and what they mean to you.”

GEO-CONNECTION

Eric says his work helps people understand what geographic regions of the world are really like.

“So in geography, you have a specific location on Earth, and you want to figure out what’s there, right?” he says. “I’m building the tools to be able to find out what’s in that volcano or what’s in that cave so that people can associate that point on a map with something real.”

The engineer outfits dropcams and Crittercams with beacons and radio transmitters so researchers can almost always find the equipment.

SO, YOU WANT TO BE AN . . . ENGINEER

“Doing a science fair project is probably the thing that would be the most applicable.”

GET INVOLVED

“If you are interested in using technology to study the behaviors of animals, especially marine animals, just volunteer at centers that handle those animals all the time.”