| Member Spotlight: United States Geological Survey
The time, place, movement, and magnitude of an earthquake; the height and volume of a mountain stream; the movement of a desert tortoise or a sea otter; the change in elevation of the surface of the earth under Los Angeles; the occurrence of mercury in a bass, the gasoline additive MTBE in groundwater; and pesticides in urban streams—all these and hundreds more are monitored daily by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), our nation’s largest water, earth, and biological science and civilian mapping agency.
The USGS reliably and impartially records, tediously compiles, publishes, and disseminates this critical scientific information to resource managers, planners, and the general public across the nation.
Established over 120 years ago, the USGS is the non–regulatory research arm of the Department of the Interior. In 1994, the USGS absorbed the National Biological Survey and adopted the motto “Science for a Changing World.” At that point, the USGS began to change its own world by breaking down the compartmentalized and bureaucratic barriers in order to better integrate its science. USGS biologists, geologists, and hydrologists began to work together to understand the connections between land, water, and animals, and to look at biodiversity using a myriad of science techniques.
Chances are that if you are with an organization responsible for resources management, then you have used USGS information to help with your important decisions. As the world changes, so do water, biological, energy, and mineral resource needs, and with that, so does the need for a full spectrum of sound science.
Two representatives from the USGS sit on the Biodiversity Council. Michael V. Shulters is the USGS Water Resources Division District Chief and Director’s Representative in California and represents the USGS overall. The mission of the Water Resources Division is to provide unbiased scientific information of the highest quality to decision–makers and the public to aid in the responsible planning, use, and management of California’s indispensable water resources.
Michael V. Shulters can be reached at 6000 J Street, Placer Hall, Sacramento, CA 95819, or at 916.278.3020. Visit the USGS Water Resources for California website at http://ca.water.usgs.gov.
Deborah Maxwell can be reached at 7801 Folsom Boulevard, Suite 101, Sacramento, CA 95826, or at 916.379.3740. Visit the Western Ecological Research Center website at www.werc.usgs.gov.
California Biodiversity News: Volume 9, Number 1 |
USGS scientists are using advanced seafloor mapping techniques to map habitat on the bottom of Lake Tahoe, rediscovering the layer–cake like geologic structure under Los Angeles. USGS now better understands earthquakes and seawater intrusion, which helps to mitigate disasters like earthquakes and floods, as well as the spread of West Nile Virus, Brown Tree Snakes, and invasive species across the Southwest. Gathering important information in every state, the USGS works with over 2,000 organizations to minimize the loss of life and property and to contribute to sound conservation practices. 
Deborah Maxwell also serves on the Biodiversity Council and represents the Western Ecological Research Center (WERC). WERC is one of 18 centers of the USGS Biological Resources Division. Unlike most of BRD’s Centers whose personnel are geographically centralized, WERC’s scientists and staff are based in offices located throughout the Pacific Southwest. This diversity in location gives the scientists an in–depth understanding of the bioregions in which they reside that enables them to quickly meet high–priority client needs.