(As excerpted from Winds of Change ~ Spring 2012. Click here to view full article.)
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Across the country, Eunice Tso found the towering rock formations near her home in Page, Ariz., to be an endless source of fascination. Remnants of ancient life etched into the red rocks intrigued her. "I would look at those rock formations and wonder how they came to be," she says. "Just being outdoors and seeing fossils embedded in the rock, saying, "Wow, there were dinosaurs here at one time? How did that rock get like that? Why is it standing straight up?’ Just lots of questions I wanted answers to.”
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Finding a Path
Little did either woman know she was destined to open a business in a male-dominated arena where few other Native entrepreneurs had ventured. For both, their environment was a factor in their career choices. Tso, Navajo, didn’t imagine that her curiosity about her desert surroundings would spark a career. “I didn’t really think about what I was going to do when I grew up,” she says. “I didn’t know a lot of women with careers.” Then a year after she graduated from high school, she made a life-changing visit to her brother, who was going to Northern Arizona University. Once he took her to his classes and gave her a tour of the campus, she was able to picture herself as a college student. Tso enrolled the following year and promptly decided to major in business.
She took a few geology classes as part of her science requirements. Tso ended up hiking down the Grand Canyon one semester, and it changed her life. As she noticed the layers and fossils of ancient sea life embedded in the canyon walls, she remembered her youthful fascination. She switched to geology, then was stunned to learn she had to take advanced math courses. “I was pretty shocked.” But with the help of that brother who got her into college, she passed the courses.
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Building a Supportive Network
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Tso also credits other AISES members for helping her get through those intimidating math courses. “It was difficult but they really inspired me to keep going,” she says. And once she graduated, Tso found that her AISES connections helped her land her first job at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. “I’m still friends with a lot of AISES people who participated in our group. They’ve all gone off to become important people in their fields.” And those networks work both ways, she points out, getting help and giving help.
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Launching a Business
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After a year of working in Livermore, California, Tso missed her home in Arizona, so she found a job with her tribe as an entry level geologist in the area of abandoned mine reclamation. It was another turning point in her life. For three years she had a hand in helping restore the land to its natural state, and in the process she learned more about the complex laws governing tribal lands. The experience led her back to college to earn her graduate degree in Environmental Geology. Those credentials helped her open her own business, which she knew was needed by tribal governments. Today ETD Consulting provides environmental assessments, land use planning, strategic and organizational planning, public relations, business site leases, and right of way acquisitions.
There were other career options for Tso with her geology degree. “A basic degree just gives you the foundation, understanding the land, with that you can venture off into other areas,” she says, pointing out that you can study volcanoes, earthquakes, or mineral resources, it just depends on what catches your attention"
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Putting Skills to Work
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In Tso’s line of work she does a lot of technical writing. “You have to cite all your sources. You need to find the sources to back up your conclusions,” she says. She also calls on her background in earth sciences. “Because I have a geology and hydrology background, I am able to do environmental impact assessments and Level 1 floodplain assessments.” She’s proud of her company’s work on the environmental assessments for all the Navajo Nation gaming sites and serving as project manager for the Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park Improvement and 90 Room Hotel Project.
Besides honing the skills it takes to foster a thriving business, maintaining balance in life is also important to both busy business owners. “A healthy body and a healthy mind go together,” says Tso. “If you’re feeling sluggish you just don’t want to use your brain.” ... Tso puts on her hiking boots and explores the outdoors to relax or laces up her golf shoes and heads to the links.
Winds of Change Magazine is published by the American Indian Science and Engineering Society.