Alumnus Brandon Wood discovered his purpose at Concordia Nebraska while studying physics, geography and chemistry

Brandon Wood ’15 said when he was searching for a college, Concordia Nebraska was a natural choice. Although he wasn’t sure what he wanted to study, he said the university had the values he was looking for in a higher education experience, and that he recognized that the university treats its students as individuals, not just a number. 

Wood has a bachelor of science in physics and a bachelor of arts in geography and chemistry from the university. He said one of the best things about the university is its people. He said he still regularly connects with close friends from his time on campus and credits the university’s professors with helping him discover his purpose and ultimately decide on a focus and course of study. 

“My professors taught me to look at things from a different perspective, to focus on my overall goal, and to apply the skills I have learned to real world situations,” he said. “This allowed me to adapt different ways to solve problems, especially in terms of geography, technology and math.” 

Wood interned for the City of Seward, a position that eventually turned into a full-time job. 

“I was a permit technician for the building inspection department. I helped the electrical department and parks and recreation too,” he explained. “I did a lot of GIS utility mapping, locating and assisted in reviewing of subdivision plats, blueprints and helping assist the public with their questions.”  

In 2015, he joined JEO Consulting Group as a land survey tech doing GIS utility mapping, topographic surveys, boundary work, staking and drafting plats. He has worked with JEO Consulting Group more than eight years and now serves as a survey senior CADD technician.  

“When I started at my job, I honestly knew very little about land surveying. Since then, I have gone from working outside doing traditional survey work as an extra set of hands for crew chiefs,” he said. “Then I transitioned to be a CAD drafter to process lot surveys, easements, topographic data, ALTA surveys, and pulling staking data. I also help direct the field crews and I am handling more of the challenging and larger projects. I am also directly communicating with clients to help the project run smoothly along with bidding projects.” 

Wood also started the company’s drone program, and that led to having access to a mobile LIDAR scanner and LIDAR-equipped drone that company has utilized for multiple projects. 

“Being a land surveyor, there are a lot of complex problems that require a lot of reasoning and truly no one knows the correct answer, so you have to use the best evidence you have to determine the answer,” he said. “Concordia prepared me to look at a problem and find the information you need to get the best answer you have with the information you can obtain. Concordia helped me to be a better problem solver and critical thinker.” 

 Even more important than helping him find a career path and sharpen his skills, Wood said his time at Concordia Nebraska strengthened his faith in Christ.  

“Concordia helped me find more people that followed in a similar faith. That gave me a community of kinship, my peers helped challenge me and helped guide me to view different perspectives. That helped me grow my faith and trust in God,” he said. 

Wood said that although his work is intricate and complex and can sometimes be hard to explain to others, he finds great fulfillment in seeing his work help others. 

“A few different projects I have worked on are the solar farm just outside of Lincoln, the bypass south of Nebraska City, and many water line projects help bring clean water to people,” he said. “Many of the projects I have worked on will continue to help people long after I’m gone. I love the problems and challenges of my work. For example, I run into a lot of problems with projects on boundary work. No one knows the correct answer, but you have to weigh the evidence and make a fair judgment to the best of your ability.” 

Wood and his wife Kari met in Nebraska and were married at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. They have a two-year-old son named Matthew. He enjoys spending time with family, golfing and weightlifting. 

The geography program at Concordia University, Nebraska helps students explore why places are diverse economically, politically and culturally and how humans shape and are in turn shaped by environment. Are you interested in combining rigorous scientific study with deeply conceptual theoretical analyses to learn more about God’s world and our place in it? Discover Concordia Nebraska’s geography program and more when you visit cune.edu.