About Me

I earned my BS in Geology from CSU Stanislaus then went to work in environmental geology working in food manufacturing. Over the next 6 years, I attended CSU Sacramento part time in the evenings and earned my MS in Geology. When I neared the end of the Masters program at CSU Sacramento, I joined Stanislaus as part time faculty. I had a growing family and things were pretty busy. Like many of us that end up in geology, the outdoors aspect of this profession is part of what drew me into the field in the first place and I love the outdoors - specifically, I love the high Sierra and fly fishing high altitude lakes for hungry trout.

I am a registered Professional Geologist in California and Idaho and believe in the mission of the Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists - that is why I joined them as a Subject Matter Expert (SME), because I wanted to advance our profession and help make the California Specific Geology Exam more relevant and less trivia based for incoming geologists. I have participated in every aspect of exam development - Standard Setting (the professionals that take the test and set the curve), Item Writing (making up new test questions), and Item Review (polishing existing questions). After you earn your Professional Geologist registration, I encourage you to join the Geology board and participate as a SME and give back to the profession and make it better for everyone.

Get in touch

There are two ways to get in touch:

Click through to the school below or click to send an email to: dennis@pgexamprep.com

Content Contributor

Dr. Horacio Ferriz, PG, CEG

Prof. Horacio Ferriz leads the Applied Geology concentration of the California State University Stanislaus Geology program. 

Dr. Ferriz obtained his Geological Engineering degree at the prestigious School of Engineering of Mexico’s National University (UNAM, 1976) and as a young geologist worked in petroleum exploration in the limestone terranes of northern Mexico, and in uranium exploration in sediments of the coastal plain of the Gulf of Mexico and in the volcanic rocks of the Sierra Madre Occidental. Afterward he completed MSc (1980) and PhD (1984) degrees at the Department of Applied Earth Sciences of Stanford University, with focus on engineering geology and geothermal exploration. He became a Professional Geologist and Certified Engineering Geologist in California in 1993, and since then has been a consultant in projects involving landfill engineering, hydrogeology, exploration geophysics, and environmental cleanup.

After more than 30 years of professional geologic, geotechnical, hydrogeologic, and environmental experience, during which he has worked as geologic problem-solver in projects throughout the world involving seismic hazards, civil works design, water supply, environmental engineering, solid waste management, geothermal exploration, and mineral exploration, Dr. Ferriz joined California State University Stanislaus in 1999, where he teaches courses on Applied Geology, Surface Hydrology, Hydrogeology, Environmental Geology, and Exploration Geophysics.