Those coasts are no picnic either. “Some of the most challenging terrain I’ve worked in is areas with heavy forest cover in regions like Ketchikan,” says Casey Witt, survey manager for Kuna Engineering. “These areas often interfere with GPS consistency. You’ve got all these trees, and you’re usually walking around in the rain on ground that isn’t flat.”

Kuna Engineering has become a trusted provider of surveying and engineering services since it was formed in 1981 in Utqiaġvik. A subsidiary of NANA regional corporation since 2005, Kuna utilizes advanced technologies to deliver a comprehensive range of capabilities.

The work of Alaska’s surveyors is foundational to nearly every major project in the state. Community infrastructure, energy facilities, housing developments, roads, and pipelines all begin with accurately drawn lines.

Challenges routinely arise throughout Alaska’s landscapes, but an unexpected weather event can compound them. “The most challenging environment I’ve personally surveyed was the coastal village of Hooper Bay on September 17, 2022, as Typhoon Merbok made landfall,” recalls Gary Gervelis, survey manager for LCG Lantech. “I was standing on the airport runway, barely able to keep from being blown off my feet, when a plane from Fox Air landed in conditions that can only be described as incredibly skilled—perhaps miraculous. By the time we reached Bethel, roughly 150 miles to the southeast, videos were already circulating on Facebook showing homes being swept away. What stays with me most is not just the storm, but the people of Hooper Bay—their calm, resilience, and ability to come together as a community in the face of devastation. It remains a humbling experience.”

Founded in 1993 to support rural communities, LCG Lantech is an Anchorage-based firm offering architecture, engineering, and surveying services throughout Alaska. The team has completed more than 1,250 diverse projects, including housing, medical facilities, schools, infrastructure, and waterfront structures.

Even without storms, Alaska’s weather poses its own challenges; for example, cold weather interferes with battery-operated equipment.

Keeping survey equipment operational is key in those situations. “If our equipment’s not working, then we’re not working,” says Witt. “We do our best not to have equipment failures and always bring back-up.”

Technological advancements have significantly impacted surveying in Alaska. “The State of Alaska’s real-time GNSS [global navigation satellite system] network, ACORN, has dramatically reduced the time and cost of nearly all types of surveying across the state while also increasing accuracy. Its impact cannot be overstated,” says Gervelis.

Surveyors also benefit from advances in consumer communications. Gervelis says, “Starlink has also been transformative. It has connected remote locations to offices and data centers and is a critical enabler of ACORN in areas where traditional communications were previously impossible. Beyond technical benefits, this connectivity allows us to communicate directly with remote villages—often through village Facebook pages—to coordinate schedules, request local assistance, arrange lodging, and secure vehicle rentals such as ATVs and snowmachines.”

In addition to GNSS and Starlink, aerial and aquatic drones equipped with LiDAR, sonar, and photogrammetry have revolutionized data acquisition. These tools allow surveyors to collect data faster and more safely in environments that were once extremely difficult or dangerous to access.

Faster data collection lets surveyors get more done in a day, but those days are still long due to the demanding landscapes. “Most of the time when we go out to the field, we try to do 12-hour days to make the most of our time while we’re out there,” explains Witt. “If we’re having equipment issues, or if we’re doing construction-related surveying and the contractor needs us to get out ahead of them, we’ll put in 14-hour shifts.”

Preparations vary significantly by location. “In the northern and coldest regions, surveyors don’t dress to be comfortable; we dress to stay alive,” says Gervelis. “Surveyors working on North Slope oil projects often rely on extreme cold-weather gear, including parkas that can cost $1,500 or more. Those working in coastal and Yukon River villages frequently adopt Indigenous solutions, such as seal skin hats and gloves, and qiviut yarn hats, which are about eight times warmer than wool by weight and exceptionally soft.”

Across all regions, surveyors learn the importance of staying hydrated and well-fed to maintain core body temperature. “Staying connected to updated weather forecasts is critical, as getting stranded is not unusual,” explains Gervelis. “We carry reading material, water, food, alternate heating sources, and, just as importantly, patience.”

Due to the remote worksites, surveyors rely on village residents for lodging, meals, and local transportation. “Communication is our number one focus,” says Gabrielson. “Talking before we get there lets them know the scope of our work, what we’re going to need, and how they can help.”

Respect is also a top priority. “We communicate with village leaders before, during, and after every project,” says Gervelis. “We view our work as a partnership with the village, and our success is deeply dependent on the people and leadership of each community.”

Surveyors often share their worksites with moose wandering through brush, bears fishing nearby streams, and curious caribou crossing open ground without warning. These encounters are a constant reminder that nature sets the rules in Alaska. Working safely and accurately means staying alert.

When it comes to the dangers of interactions with Alaska wildlife, stories of bear encounters top the headlines. “Bears have severely mauled several of the surveyors I’ve known, and it seems that most surveyors have a bear story of some type,” shares Gervelis. “I’ve been afraid of bears since I was a kid. My uncle’s sporting magazine had illustrations of huge bears towering over small hunters with tiny guns that looked like my BB guns! Since Alaska is the bear capital of the world, I chose to take a bear defense class.”

Although Witt routinely sees bears while surveying, he’s been fortunate not to have a close encounter. “You always see bears out in the distance, but they haven’t ever bothered me. But I do carry bear spray,” he shares. “The animals that have messed with my survey work the most are the curious young moose. We were working on a power alignment through the woods when a couple of young moose followed us for most of the morning. They finally became curious enough to approach our instrument, which was mounted on the tripod. They sniffed it, licked it, and then walked away.”

Gabrielson had a very unusual wildlife encounter while surveying for a gold camp in the Brooks Range. “My coworker walked up the road to get the pickup truck, and when he was driving it back to pick me up, there was a bear in the middle of the road. He honked the horn, and the bear ran down the road and around the corner directly toward me,” he recalls. “I hid under a rock, but the bear was charging down the road so fast that it jumped over the rock. From my viewpoint, I could see the entire underside of the bear!”

Gervelis, Gabrielson, and Witt all traveled different roads to their careers as Alaska surveyors.

When Gervelis was a child growing up in Ohio, he was introduced to surveying by a neighbor who was both a farmer and a surveyor, and who was kind enough to let the neighbor kid check out his survey equipment. “In school, most of the kids hated math problems, but I loved solving those problems,” recalls Gervelis. “When I learned that surveyors get paid to walk around in the woods, solve math problems, and draw pictures, I knew that was a career invented just for me.”

Gervelis started his career in Ohio and later moved to Washington. “I met my current wife in Washington,” shares Gervelis. “She was born and raised in Alaska, and I knew if I continued dating her, I would end up moving to Alaska.” He was right. Gervelis has been in Alaska for eleven years.

Gabrielson also began his survey career early. “My father was the owner and president of a large surveying company on the East Coast,” shares Gabrielson. “I started working in the profession around 13 years old—I think my dad added me to his crews so he could avoid paying for a babysitter in the summer.” After several years of full-time surveying, Gabrielson earned an associate degree from Paul Smith’s College in upstate New York, followed by a bachelor’s degree in surveying from UAA.

Witt began his career as a civil engineer. “For my first job out of college, I went to work for a surveying firm that does civil engineering. The firm did 75 percent survey work and 25 percent civil engineering,” shares Witt. “I ended up getting enough survey experience that I qualified for a survey license in the state of Washington.”

About twelve years ago, when Witt moved to Alaska, his civil engineering license transferred, but his experience-based survey license didn’t. He says, “I went back to school to finish out a couple of quarters of specific classes.” Witt graduated from UAA with a degree in geomatics and is now one of only thirty-two individuals in Alaska to hold both a civil engineering and a survey license.

As Alaska continues to invest in energy development, transportation corridors, and resilient communities, surveyors remain the quiet professionals ensuring that progress is built on solid, precisely measured ground. But there aren’t as many as they used to be.

In 2000, Alaska had 389 licensed surveyors with an active license. “In 2025, we’re currently standing at 375 actively working in Alaska,” says Witt. “We’re always needing more people. But if someone does decide to be a surveyor in Alaska, I would tell them they need to really like the great outdoors.”

Gervelis suggests leaving expectations behind and approaching the work humbly. His advice: “Learn to watch and learn to listen. If you can do that, you may not only survive but truly prosper.”