Senior Professor of Geology Gretchen Miller pauses during a classroom lecture on coastal erosion to take a swig from a water bottle covered with images of rocks and minerals. To reinforce the lesson of sea and land interactions, her skirt bears a map of the ocean floor and continents.

"I wear my nerd proudly," she said with a laugh when asked about her attire.

Miller's enthusiasm for all things geological is obvious to her students, who call her classes fun.

"She's an awesome teacher – really brings the positivity," said Associate in Arts student Ben Sherman. "You can tell she cares about the subject matter and her students."

"Her enthusiasm is infectious," said Associate in Science student Sam Stanforth. "There are some people who are really good at teaching because they like to communicate concepts, and she's excellent at that."

Miller credits her "outdoorsy" parents for her interest in science, which started with collecting and studying driveway gravel at age 3.

"I've always been fascinated with nature," she says, adding that she gravitated toward geology at a much earlier age than most of her peers.

She initially wanted to study the geology of planets but backed off those plans in graduate school. Pursuing a doctorate would have forced her to narrow her focus too much for research, she says. Instead, she maintained a generalist approach and, after earning a master's degree from Washington University in St. Louis, found herself working as a hydrogeologist for an environmental consulting company in Raleigh.

"I liked the aspect of fixing things," she said of her job, which involved studying groundwater and coordinating the cleanup of spills at gas stations.

But gas spills sometimes occur in the middle of the night, and in 2003, as Miller looked for opportunities that didn't include 3 a.m. response calls, she spotted a newspaper ad for an adjunct teaching position at Wake Tech.

Her initial reaction: "I didn't know they taught geology at community colleges."

Although she disliked working as a teaching assistant as a graduate student, Miller says she applied for and took the job, figuring it would be just a temporary gig. But she quickly connected with the students in her evening classes.

"After two weeks, I was completely hooked," she said. "The students did it for me. They wanted to be there after a long day to learn about rocks with me.

"The students we get here at Wake Tech are not the same as those who go to a four-year school," she added. "I feel like our students care a little more."

Miller, who became a full-time faculty member a year later, says she often pulls students aside who show an aptitude for geology to encourage them to consider a career in the field. That's especially true of female students and those from underrepresented groups.

"Geology hasn't done a good job at trying to build diversity," she said, adding with pride that the majority of Wake Tech's Geology instructors are women.

Miller tries to mentor as many of these students as possible, noting there are plenty of career options, from lab work to data analysis, for people who aren't outdoorsy.

"I didn't take a straight path to teaching, and our students likewise come from different backgrounds," she said. "Some are older or have come back to education now that they've figured out what they want to do, and I want to help them on their path."