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Alumni and Friends

Notable Alumni | Eric Bikis Knows How Water Works—for the Future & in the Past

Notable Alumni Award

Editor’s Note: The College of Arts & Sciences Notable Alumni Awards honor alumni for broad career accomplishments, commitment to community service, and valuable contributions to Ƶ and the College of Arts & Sciences.

Eric Bikis ’76 Mathematics, ’78 M.S. Geology

Eric Bikis started in petroleum but then gravitated into the water resources industry, even traveling the world to study how ancient people handled water. He has learned that water is the most valuable and essential fluid on the planet.

Now after three decades of experience of water resource consulting in beautiful places around the world, he resides in Durango, Colo., where he is actively living the dream. His career path started with 13 years of oil and gas exploration (geology and geophysics) in North America.

Eric Bikis skiing on a mountain
Eric Bikis “Living the Dream” in Durango, CO.

“In 1978 after receiving a B.S. in Mathematics and an M.S. degree in Geology with an emphasis in Hydrogeology, I left my native state of Ohio and moved west to Colorado to work for Conoco Inc. As a geophysicist with Conoco, I successfully explored for oil and gas within geologic provinces in the lower 48 states. The industry and my job were exciting and fulfilling. I was exposed to many people, places, and technical methodologies that many other jobs would not have afforded,” Bikis said.

Headshot of Eric Bikis
Eric Bikis

“Despite the satisfaction that the petroleum industry provided, my heart was still in the water world. In 1989, I enrolled in a program in the Environmental Engineering Department at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, CO to become current on cutting edge technology and the regulatory environment.  Next, I went to work for a water resources engineering firm in Denver.

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“As a professional consultant, I conducted water resources work including water supply planning and development, well drilling and design, hydrology, water rights analyses (Yes, west of the 100th meridian, water has ‘rights’ that are critical to ensuring a supply can be developed!), water quality evaluations, water measurements, and other. Clients included many entities from both the public and private sec