Alumni Profile: Josh Overturf '07, Kenai Peninsula College, A.A.S., Process Technology

"The best way to describe our jobs is, well, it's like what Homer Simpson does," is what Josh Overturf said laughing when asked to explain his job title at Tesoro Nikiski Refinery. "Of course that's dumbing it down a bit, but our operators are highly respected as some of the best in the state. And we don't spill coffee on the keyboards, and doughnuts are seriously over rated."

But he didn't always want to work in the oil industry.

 

 

Growing up with two parents in education, Josh thought he wanted to follow in their footsteps. Growing up on Kodiak Island, he began his life in Alaska but had to move when his parents decided to go to graduate school in Colorado. "You always think you want to do what your parents do for a living. After I got my B.A., I hit a dead end and took some time off. I had to mentally reevaluate what I wanted, and I decided to go back to school for something else."

"I wanted a little more freedom with my schedule," he said, explaining why after receiving his bachelor's degree in English Literature, he decided to go a different route.

Josh chose Kenai Peninsula College (KPC) as the place to pursue an Associate of Applied Science, Process Technology degree to help him transition into working in the oil industry. "KPC was pretty cheap in the payoff for what you put into and get out of your education. The quality of education was strong, featuring standout professors Allan Houtz and Russell Peterson in the program, and I [also] saw the oil industry invested in the school and hired many people out of the program, and because of that, KPC seemed like a good fit," he said.

Josh decided to work in the oil industry because he likes the schedule. "I have my private pilot license and my own plane, so working one week on and one off seemed like an ideal schedule. I love the outdoors and the freedom of it. I need that freedom to allow me to have no worries and enjoy my time off." Josh said he got more serious at KPC and had better direction toward his goals.

Josh says working on the Slope and working in a refinery is much different than people know. "At the refinery we heat up the incoming oil and it separates at different temperatures into diesel and other distillates. We mostly make jet fuel." He is a part of the operations group at the Tesoro Nikiski Refinery. Josh monitors pressures, levels, temperatures and flows of the refining process and makes sure that the system runs correctly to ensure the safety of the refinery and to ensure the products are within target specs for blending or sale. "There are two board operators who monitor the process via DCS computer systems and I act as their eyes and ears in the field, manually correcting what they can't do inside."

It's now Josh's third year in Nikiski, and he says having a degree helps him in the field. "Having a college education facilitates the ability to be able to use that knowledge not only in the field, and but it makes it possible to move up and advance also." Josh, 27, said that through it all, he's most inspired by his parents. "While they were educators, they supported my decision to transition into the oil industry. They wanted me to continue my education even after I had chosen a different career."