About RL WESTLY, PLLC
RL WESTLY (a.k.a., Bob) is me. I "retired" at the end of 2012 after 42 years of environmental evaluation and consulting.
I began my professional career in 1971 as a hydrologic technician with the U.S. Geological Survey, Water Resouces Division. After five years I moved on to environmental consulting as a hydrogeologist (the evaluation and management of groundwater resources). Over the years I held many positions in the field of environmental consulting and hydrogeology, including technician, hydrogeologist, senior hydrogeologist, and principal hydrogeologist. I held several administrative positions as well, including Chief Scientist and Vice President. Along the way I co-founded a hydrometrics (data collection) firm and ran my own independent water resources consulting company. In the latter part of my career, I studied environmental management systems and became the national leader in that discipline for my last "alma mater."
I earned a degree in Geology near the beginning of my career (studies undertaken at The Florida State University and The University of South Florida - USF) and completed master's degree graduate studies in hydrogeology at USF. As the President of the Florida Chapter of the American Institute of Professional Geologists (AIPG), I participated in the successful effort to establish a professional geologist (P.G.) licensing program in Florida, and subsequently obtained my Florida P.G. and P.G. licenses in four other states. I also was a Certified Professional Geologist with the AIPG for most of my professional career.
As I considered retirement, my need to keep "doing stuff" (much to my wife's chagrin), and my need to keep food on the table after retirement, rquired that I look around for a post-retirement career. The old adage, "Do what you know" led me to found a PLLC (Professional Limited Liability Corporation) to continue offering environmental consulting services (at a much reduced level) and provide writing services as well. Besides being essentially a scientist for 42 years, I also wrote for nearly that same period of time. I co-authored my first technical report in 1973 while working with the U.S. Geological Survey and co-authored and authored an untold number of technical reports, proposals, presentations, letters, draft regulations, technical manuals, protocols, management plans, and etcetera, etcetera.
Early on, I was such a poor technical writer that my first consulting company's two founders (both engineers) came to me following their reading of my "Chapter 5 - Geology" of the company's first major technical report. They graciously suggested that I fly up to the University of South Carolina (USC) and take the three-day technical writers' course offered by USC. The cherry on top of that three-day writing course was flying back to Atlanta and sitting next to the course instructor for nearly two hours! He shared a career of technical writing and experience that didn't make it into the course instruction; and it was all mine to soak up. My bosses' investment in that USC training served me well for the rest of my career!
I eventually realized that all those years in the environmental business had made me a writer. Ergo, my "retirement" career of continuting my environmental consulting (albiet at a reduced scale) AND writing was birthed!
My start at professional writing outside of the enviromental consulting world came before "retirement" when in 2006 I discovered www.shvoong.com. This is an Israeli site that seeks to summarize all of human knowledge by drawing upon the writing interests of anyone with a mind to contribute. I did some writing into that site over several years . Then, about two years before retiring, I paid a handsome sum to take two major corresponence courses from the American Writers and Artists Institute (AWAI) on the profession of copywriting.
Three years into my writing career I now find myself doing technical writing in the field of environmental evaluation. I provide environmental consulting services and my writing services under RL WESTLY, PLLC.
Well, that's about the end of the story. I created www.rlwestly.wix.com/clearthink to cover the services I offer, including OOTA. What the heck is OOTA? Check out and enjoy the OOTA menu item on this site and at www.facebook.com/OOTAcreations.
