New Dr. August Greth and his advisor Dr. Emily Sarver during Greth’s awardment of a Doctorate of Mining from Virginia Tech.
Douglas High School 2011 graduate August Greth has been awarded his doctorate in mining engineering from Virginia Tech this fall.
He plans to pursue a role as a consultant for a mining firm in Fresno, Calif.
“The most valuable thing that comes of a mine is a miner, and I hope my work can help protect their health and keep them safe,” Greth said.
Greth will be designing underground ventilation systems for new mines in development and providing solutions to active mines facing problems related to underground, diesel fumes, blasting gases, methane, heat, and more.
His desire to pursue engineering stems from an honors physics as a junior at Douglas High School.
“I saw engineering as an opportunity to apply my math and science skills in a way that could directly benefit society,” Greth said.
He went onto earn his bachelor of science from the University of Nevada in 2015 and a master’s of science in engineering in 2018.
Greth’s dissertation, titled “Toward Rapid Silica Analysis of CPDM Samples using Portable Fourier Infrared Spectrometry,” covered a method to advance the monitoring of silica of silica dust in coal mines to help reduce the occurrence of respiratory disease among coal miners.
