Training that goes beyond improving soil descriptions, this is training that provides an understanding of how to translate the sedimentary sequence to your boring logs.
| Date: |
Your Choice. |
| Location: |
Your Choice. |
| Schedule the training event at your office when it's convenient for you and your team. |
"Dan Kelleher (was very) knowledgeable, able to answer all of our questions, and (created) course material accommodating the varying levels of experience within our team. His hands on exercises were particularly helpful, and each participate received materials to help them develop their skills in identifying soils moving forward. Thank you for your time and patience with us for this course."
- Chrystine Shelton, Project Director at Specialty Consulting, Inc. Chicago, Illinois
"This training is comprehensive and the content is highly relevant. My team enjoyed every minute of it, and they also reaped the reward of technical improvement. The strategies introduced in this training are very valuable because they are pragmatic and repeatable. Dan is an engaging instructor and helped each individual to build on his or her base knowledge. I appreciate the variety of examples and experiences presented, which allowed everyone to relate to the teaching concepts. Dan's enthusiasm for the subject material is infectious!"
- Sean Paulsen, Principal, Civil & Environmental Consultants
"The course was very informative and educational. It brought an inside and different aspect of subsurface (hydro)geology from interpreting sediment stratigraphy and depositional environments to collecting useful data. Also, the materials provided were very professional."
- Francisco Castrillon-Munoz, Principal Hydrogeologist-Water Resources Manager, Summit Earth Ltd., Calgary
"This training helped provide a great new mindset on how to characterize the subsurface conditions and think about the overall project scope as part of a larger picture. Our field staff greatly improved in their understanding of soil classification by first learning the process and then practicing with soil samples. This was definitely worth the day of training as it will provide an overall better work product from our field staff!"
- Kimberly Tully, P.E., Associate Principal/Vice President, GZA GeoEnvironmental, Inc.
"Listed below is some feedback (from my staff) regarding the TAKING THE MYSTERY OUT OF THE SUBSURFACE training class.
- The class is very engaging and provides a great deal of information regarding soil classification and (stratigraphic) analysis.
- The Taking the Mystery Out of the Subsurface training is engaging, very informative and helpful. I have found that the knowledge and techniques I learned in the training are very applicable and (beneficial) in the field.
- I appreciate the hands-on nature of the class. It made it easier to understand and much more interesting to learn (and do)!
Thank you, Dan!"
- Marc Califano, P.G., Operations Director, Laurel Environmental Geosciences, D.P.C. and Advanced Site Restoration Environmental Geosciences (a division of Laurel Environmental Geosciences, D.P.C.)
"I want to thank you again for putting together a great course for our staff and look forward to having you present more in the future - there is a lot of positive feedback."
- Frank Getchell, Senior Technical Leader, Weston & Sampson
"This training 'Taking Mystery out of the Subsurface' is outstanding. Both seasoned professionals and young technical talent benefited from building on basics to conceptualize the vast variety of depositional environments in everyday field work. Intentional observation, notation, and interpretation starts with one sample at a time, and Midwest GeoScience reminds us that the geologic framework when fully considered moves remediation design projects forward with great cost-savings and improved record of success.
I recommend Dan Kelleher and his team to engage and train environmental professionals. Our newly on-boarded technicians were fully engaged for 8 hours and appreciated connecting with Dan as a resource going forward; our PEs are still thanking me for the CEUs!"
- Molly Newell, President and Hydrogeologist, EnviroNET, Inc.
"This training connects the geology to the sampling like no other instruction I have ever had. The message is that Geology Matters. Ignoring that means to me that you are not doing a thorough job. Every geologist and engineer should take this course."
- Susan Grover, LPG, Professional Geologist
"I highly recommend the Taking the Mystery Out of the Subsurface training from Midwest Geosciences. The course provided directly applicable training for our group of hydrogeologists and engineers here at the Maine DEP. Dan is an excellent instructor. He makes the material easy to understand and keeps things moving at a comfortable pace. I especially appreciate that prior to coming to Maine Dan asked for our input and was able to customize the course for our group. Several staff have said that this was one of the best trainings that they have received. Thanks again Dan."
- Sean Dougherty, Environmental Hydrogeology Unit Manager,
Maine Department of Environmental Protection.
"The full-day course 'Taking the Mystery Out of the Subsurface' taught by Dan Kelleher -delivers what the title promises with practical 12 Strategies that we don't learn in school or on the job.
Midwest GeoSciences course 'Taking the Mystery Out of the Subsurface' taught by Dan Kelleher -provides just that by providing 12 Strategies for deciphering continuous soil cores of sedimentary sequences into a road map for proper geotechnical, hydrogeologic, and environmental design. The 12 Strategies provide failsafe application of accredited and field applied soil classification (Unified Soil Classification System) and then defining depositional sequences and soil characteristics with geologic changes for properly scaling and siting in the commercial industries.
The 12 Strategies masterfully taught in the training take the guess work out of site investigations by applying the Principles of Geology and basic Project Management in new ways to hydrogeologic and environmental projects.
The training gives validity and necessity to proper recovery of samples and the soils report by properly describing geologic sequential depositional patterns. This inherently draws the relationship of these zones both relic and recent into a road map identifying vulnerabilities of potential hydrogeologic and engineering considerations. Such as siting in advance of highly weathered oxidized formations prone to subsidence and voids, to loess/till interfaces interconnecting glacial till layers or flowing colloidal movement and weathered aquitards increasing vulnerability to contaminants.
"
- Deb 'Doby' Williams, CEO, P.G., GEO 360 WATER, LLC.,
Ret. Field Geologist, Iowa IDNR
"This training is excellent. Dan Kelleher taught our staff how to make accurate and consistent soil descriptions on our soil boring logs, but also see the subsurface in terms of depositional environments and stratigraphy.
The training exercises taught concepts beyond just describing soil. We learned strategies for applying geology and implementing efficiencies. The concepts taught in the course fulfill what MidwestGeo promotes: Taking the Mystery Out of the Subsurface.
I strongly recommend this training for both new and senior-level geologists. I don't believe there is any other training like this."
- Jennifer Gillen, PG, LaBella Associates | VP, Environmental Operations Manager
"Taking The Mystery Out Of The Subsurface Training was an invaluable workshop for our company and I wish we would've had you to our office a long time ago!
Our staff have a wide range of educational backgrounds (environmental science vs more technical engineering and geology- specific degrees), and the course catered to everyone; from entry level to 25+ year project managers. The methods for learning the fundamentals of the USCS were clear and concise and the hands-on portion of the class really helped spur discussion with the subsurface material our field staff encounter daily, including secondary soil structures.
After becoming comfortable with the (soil) identification methods, the portion of the course covering Environmental Sequence Stratigraphy really "opened a lot of eyes" and helped our field staff to understand the importance of developing the conceptual site model in the field. The course really helps to get everyone on the same page and make sure the reports we produce are consistent and high quality."
- Jerry Mullin, Vice President and Hydrogeologist, LANDMARK ENVIRONMENTAL, LLC.
"Dan was highly engaging and passionate about everything he spoke about. He provided high quality technical information and delivered higher level insights. (The training) is useful for anyone because it's tailored for the audience. Thank you for a really high-quality learning experience - I left feeling fully equipped with resources and empowered mindset to bring back to my work/office /life."
- Cynthia Chu, Environmental Engineer, New York City
"Thank you very much, Dan. It is excellent training."
- Diane M Lamb, MS, LPG
Training Premise
Soil boring logs are only useful when they are accurate and complete. We geoscientists appreciate it when soil boring logs provide meaningful geologic information while helping to achieve our project objectives. But the fundamentals for translating the story the sediments are telling onto soil boring logs remain a challenge.
This training begins with the steps to (1) classify soil according to the USCS and (2) make sediment descriptions that are accurate and complete. The training experience also includes field strategies for (3) building the stratigraphic framework, (4) creating soil borings that reveal the sedimentary sequence, and (5) unraveling hydrogeologic complexities.
We foster a holistic hydrogeologic approach that not only considers the nature of depositional processes, but also post-depositional alterations such as weathering. This paradigm enables a powerful perspective which helps professionals create soil boring logs that relate to any sedimentary sequence and apply to any type of subsurface project.
Designed Specifically for You
We design each training event specifically for the audience using a pre-course questionnaire. Each participant gets the chance to provide input and goals. Plus, management also gets a pre-course survey to help us ensure company objectives are met and that the training maximizes effectiveness.
You benefit from our established exercises and teaching experience.
Our unmatched course modules, exercises, and tutorials are
tailored to different staff experience levels, ranging from
entry level to seasoned professionals.
What Do You Learn?
The strength of this training experience is the process we teach for changing how we think about the subsurface, how we approach and conduct it in the field executing procedures and how we synthesize the subsurface.
Soil classifications and sediment descriptions are procedural, and they are the easy part. Lithology alone is not geology. And while "hydrostratigraphy" has merit for regional investigations using some large data sets of well drillers logs, differentiating aquifers (coarse-grained deposits) from aquitards (fine-grained deposits) on a site-specific basis is erroneous because it does not reveal lateral and vertical subsurface geologic relationships, leaving critical uncertainties (chances are, you know this already). The challenge is synthesizing the subsurface geology by deciphering depositional environments, and then translating the sedimentary sequence and relationships onto our soil boring logs.
Recognizing depositional processes can be daunting, but add in erosional contacts and secondary weathering impacts and it's no wonder our industry has struggled to create reliable soil boring logs that reveal the geology and subsurface relationships. Although the regional geology provides a basis for the general stratigraphic framework, there's no universal model that we can apply to unravel site-specific subsurface complexities and whether we are willing to admit it or not, there's no short cut merely using mapping tools or mapping methods.
The 12 field strategies taught in this training give us a path to understand sedimentary sequences and subsurface relationships at different sites. Participants are empowered with a spectrum of strategies that fit their particular site and project.
There's too much at stake to risk substandard remediation results when our sites deserve more than just procedural soil descriptions. Learn to read the story the sediments are telling so you can begin Taking the Mystery Out of the Subsurface ®.
What is the difference between the online version and the in-person version of
Taking the Mystery Out of the Subsurface? find out here
Training Logistics and Pricing
The training experience is one day from 9:00AM to 5:00PM. We ask for a 5-week lead time. Some Saturdays work for training.
Instruction is provided solely by Dan Kelleher, co-founder of Midwest GeoSciences Group. An option for your staff to lead a discussion is available too.
Your responsibility is to provide a classroom, food, and projection set up. A mic is generally not necessary for training <15 people. We provide a course notebook, soil samples, exercises, tutorials, and supporting supplies. A certificate is generated for each participant by Midwest GeoSciences Group.
Price: $7,700.00 USD.
Discounted Price: $4,800.00, first come, first served.
When you schedule the training on the dates and locations below, you're eligible to get discounted pricing. Or if two sessions can be scheduled in the same week and same proximity (<100 miles apart); call for status. Phone: 763.607.0092.
Maximum Attendance: 15 staff
Terms and Conditions Here
March 2025
|
March 24 (Mon) |
March 25 (Tues) |
March 26 (Wed) |
| Ontario |
BOOKED |
BOOKED |
BOOKED |
May 2025
|
May 12 (Mon) |
May 14 (Wed) |
May 15 (Thurs) |
Iowa
Illinois |
BOOKED |
BOOKED |
BOOKED |
July 2025
|
July 14 (Mon) |
July 16 (Wed) |
July 17 (Thurs) |
July 18 (Fri) |
North Carolina
Virginia
Delaware |
BOOKED |
BOOKED |
BOOKED |
BOOKED |
September 2025
|
Sept 17 (Wed) |
Sept 18 (Thurs) |
Sept 19 (Fri) |
Northern Illinois
Southern Wisconsin |
Available at Discounted Price |
Available at Discounted Price |
Available at Discounted Price |
October 2025
|
Oct 13 (Mon) |
Oct 14 (Tues) |
Oct 15 (Wed) |
Colorado
Kansas
Missouri |
Available at Discounted Price |
Available at Discounted Price |
BOOKED |
November 2025
|
Nov 17 (Mon) |
Nov 18 (Tues) |
Nov 19 (Wed) |
| New England States |
Available at Discounted Price |
Available at Discounted Price |
Available at Discounted Price |
Other Dates and Locations 2025
| Your Office |
Any Date (Mon-Fri) |
Request a Quote
What You Get
We bring established and effective training in the form of lectures, exercises, and tutorials to you. Also included:
- Course Notebook for each participant, printed black and white.
- 50+ pages summarizing procedures and strategies
- 100+ pages of selected PPT course module slides
- Appendices of examples, resources, and tutorial activities
- USCS Calibrated Baseline Soil Kit with Tutorial (one per course)
- Exercise Handouts
- Hand-On Exercise Sheets for Soil Classification Practice
- Written Exercise Materials for Soil Classification vs. Stratigraphy Session
- Exercise Sheets: The Merits and Mis-Use of Hydrostratigraphy
- Tutorial Materials for Soil Boring Log Practice
- Tutorial Materials for Sedimentary Structure Recognition Practice
- Field Guide for Soil and Stratigraphic Analysis ©
- Lists of Resources (based on pre-course survey)
- Subsurface Investigation Field Evaluation Sheet
- Final Exam
- Course Completion Certificate
- Follow Up Coaching
Your projects benefit from staff who perform efficiently and consistently
with skills to decipher the subsurface
for environmental and engineering projects.
Optional Add Ons
(1)
Second Day Field Component.
There are many variables that impact the ability to add a second day of training staff in the field.
Call for pricing: 763.607.0092
(2)
Color Notebook.
Notebooks are printed in black and white with high-resolution. B/W notebook printing is standard in order to keep the training price as low as possible. However color notebooks allow participants to appreciate the effects of soil color and secondary alterations from weathering zones that are depicted throughout the notebook.
Color Notebook Printing: $89.00 each.
We help people's career blossom and watch how projects and businesses grow from our training experiences. It's our privilege to serve you. Thank you for this privilege to contribute to your company and staff success.
INQUIRE HERE
(please fill-out the form below to submit your inquiry)
