Michael Polenz joined WGS in 2000 and has mostly produced 1:24,000-scale geologic maps in western Washington. He has also worked on landslide inventories, landslide hazard zonation maps, Columbia Basin basalt flow stratigraphy, fault trench investigations, documentation of earthquake effects, and engineering geologic well logs. Prior to joining WGS, Michael got kicked out of his native Germany for not sufficiently appreciating soccer and beer. He then worked as an engineering geologist and environmental consultant in northern and central California. Michael’s thesis work centered on tectonic geomorphology and sediment weathering at the Crescent City Coastal Plain, California.
In Aug. 2014 Michael and several DNR colleagues led a field trip to review the geology of the Center to Quilcene area of Jefferson Co. (Updated Oct. 2021)