Press Conference: USGS World Estimate for Conventional Oil and Gas Resources
The USGS recently released a new world estimate of undiscovered, conventional oil and gas resources. This podcast is a recording of a press conference held on April 18, 2012, to announce this report. Speakers were Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, USGS Director Marcia McNutt, USGS Energy Resour...

Briefing on New Science to Identify Sources of Excessive Nutrients in Rivers and Estuaries
The USGS held a Congressional briefing to demonstrate a new and innovative online decision support system used to identify sources of nutrients to downstream waters, such as the Gulf of Mexico, Long Island Sound and others. The decision support system provides access to six newly-developed regional ...

USGS Releases Resource Estimate for Afghanistan Rare Earth Prospect
The U.S. Geological Survey estimates at least 1 million metric tonnes of rare earth element resources within the Khanneshin carbonatite in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. This estimate comes from a 2009-2011 USGS study funded by the Department of Defense's Task Force for Business and Stability Operat...

New model gives insight to the potential future of the Pacific walrus
Walruses are important to human communities bordering the Chukchi and Bering seas in the United States and Russia, and the status of walrus provides information about the health of these highly productive marine ecosystems. Projecting the future population status of the Pacific walrus was investi...

Completion of Continent - Wide Soil Survey
The USGS recently completed sampling for the North American Soil Geochemical Landscapes Project on November 18, 2010. The last three samples of a total of 14,400 samples were collected at Bull Run Mountain in Virginia. During the multi-year project, about 20 students from a dozen different univers...

Making Waves: Hypoxia in U.S. Coastal Waters
Earlier this month, a new interagency report was delivered to Congress that warns of the growing threat of low oxygen ‘dead zones’ in coastal waters around the U.S. This condition is known as hypoxia — where oxygen levels drop so low that creatures in the water are stressed or kill...

Big Invaders and Tiny Fish: Endangered Species Day
Kids! Listen up—it's Endangered Species Day, and we have two podcasts for you: giant, invasive predators that eat endangered animals, and the tiny Devil's Hole pupfish, which lives on a watery shelf no bigger than a walk-in closet. Shaken, Not Stirred—Watch Devils Hole pupfish deal wi...

USGS Scientist New AGU President
We speak with Carol Finn about her new appointment to be the President of the American Geophysical Union as of July 2010....

Diving for Deep-Sea Coral Critters
Deep-sea coral ecosystems are thriving communities that are a vibrant and integral part of ocean ecosystems. Listen as Christina Kellogg, USGS microbiologist with the DISCOVRE program, explains why these ecosystems are important....

Help in Haiti - The Role of Science
In response to the 7.0-magnitude earthquake that tragically struck Haiti on January 12, 2010, the U.S. Geological Survey has coordinated a series of trips to the country to characterize the damage and install seismic instruments for earthquake monitoring. USGS seismologist Walter Mooney, who returne...

Debris Flow Danger Follows Storms in Southern California
The powerful storms that swept through Southern California dumped a lot of rain in that region, leaving behind the danger of debris flows.Sue Cannon, USGS research geologist, explains the hazardous situation facing residents in and near the San Gabriel Mountains, how people in the area can respond t...

Science Seeks to Stem Snake Surge
Right now in Florida, non-native, giant constrictor snakes—pythons, anacondas, and the boa constrictor—are being found in the wild, and two species have established several breeding populations. The snakes pose a considerable resource management challenge for agencies charged with preser...

Loma Prieta: 20 Years Later, Bay Area Safer
Host Leslie Gordon interviews three USGS earthquake scientists, David Oppenheimer, Carol Prentice, and Tom Holzer about the scientific advances made in the last 20 years since the Loma Prieta earthquake struck northern California. Oppenheimer, Holzer and Prentice discuss the work they did immediatel...

EDMAP: Training the Next Generation of Geoscientists
Geologic maps record the distribution of rock and soil materials at Earth's surface and help decision makers identify and protect valuable resources, avoid risks from natural hazards, and make wise land use choices. Randy Orndorff, Associate Program Coordinator for the USGS National Cooperative...

Coral Concern: The World's Reefs Face Big Issues
Coral reefs are one of Earth's most beautiful and vital ecosystems—and they are declining at a rapid pace. Mike Field, Chief of the USGS Pacific Coral Reef Project, talks about the importance of coral reefs and how pollution, climate change, and other factors are affecting them....

USGS Volcanic Activity Alert-Notification System
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Volcano Hazards Program has adopted an alert-notification system nationwide for characterizing the level of unrest and eruptive activity at volcanoes. The volcano alert-notification system is used by the Alaska Volcano Observatory, the Cascades Volcano Observatory, ...

Tanzanian Villagers Encouraged to Learn Hazards of Living Near Erupting Volcano
Audio interview with USGS scientists regarding the Ol Doinyo Lengai volcano in Tanzania....