Sarah J. Ryker, Ph.D.
In this capacity, Sarah oversees USGS science, supply chain analysis, and mapping of energy and mineral resources. This body of USGS science includes resources’ full life cycles from occurrence to supply, demand, extraction, and trade; economic and environmental effects of resource extraction and disposal; and mine waste and energy waste as a resource.
Dr. Ryker is the USGS Associate Director for Energy and Mineral Resources. As part of her USGS responsibilities, she co-chairs the National Science and Technology Council's interagency Critical Minerals Subcommittee coordinating body and is a member of the USE IT Act-directed Carbon Capture, Utilization and Sequestration Non-Federal Lands Permitting Task Force federal advisory committee. Prior to this role, she served as the Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Water and Science in the Department of the Interior, and held leadership roles in USGS science and policy for water, climate, and Earth observations. Her additional professional experience includes roles with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and Council on Environmental Quality, and an assignment at the U.S. Agency for International Development as Director for North Africa and Arabian Affairs. Her Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University’s Department of Engineering and Public Policy was supported by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.
Education and Certifications
Ph.D. in Engineering and Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University
Undergraduate studies at the University of Washington
Science and Products
USGS critical minerals review
The United States’ supply of critical minerals has been a concern and a source of potential strategic vulnerabilities for U.S. economic and national security interests for decades (for example, see Strategic and Critical Minerals Stockpiling Act, 1939). More recently, with the rapid increase in the types of materials being used in advanced technologies (Fortier et al. 2018a), and geopolitical even
Authors
Steven M. Fortier, Jane M. Hammarstrom, Sarah J. Ryker, Warren C. Day, Robert R. Seal
USGS critical minerals review
The United States’ supply of critical minerals has been a concern and a source of potential strategic vulnerabilities for U.S. economic and national security interests for decades (for example, see Strategic and Critical Minerals Stockpiling Act, 1939). More recently, with the rapid increase in the types of materials being used in advanced technologies (Fortier et al. 2018a), and geopolitical even
Authors
Steven M. Fortier, Jane M. Hammarstrom, Sarah J. Ryker, Warren C. Day, Robert R. Seal
The value of earth observations: methods and findings on the value of Landsat imagery
Data from Earth observation systems are used extensively in managing and monitoring natural resources, natural hazards, and the impacts of climate change, but the value of such data can be difficult to estimate, particularly when it is available at no cost. Assessing the socioeconomic and scientific value of these data provides a better understanding of the existing and emerging research, science,
Authors
Holly M. Miller, Larisa O. Serbina, Leslie A. Richardson, Sarah J. Ryker, Timothy R. Newman
Chemical mixtures in potable water in the U.S.
In recent years, regulators have devoted increasing attention to health risks from exposure to multiple chemicals. In 1996, the US Congress directed the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to study mixtures of chemicals in drinking water, with a particular focus on potential interactions affecting chemicals' joint toxicity. The task is complicated by the number of possible mixtures in drinkin
Authors
Sarah J. Ryker
Arsenic in ground water used for drinking water in the United States
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently established a new maximum contaminant level of 10 micrograms per liter for arsenic in drinking water in the United States. Ground water is the primary source of drinking water for half the population of the United States. Several national assessments have found that high arsenic concentrations (above 10 micrograms per liter) are widespread in drink
Authors
Sarah J. Ryker
A national look at water quality
Most water-quality problems we face today result from diffuse "nonpoint" sources of pollution from agricultural land, urban development, forest harvesting and the atmosphere (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers et al., 1999). It is difficult to quantify nonpoint sources because the contaminants they deliver vary in composition and concentrations from hour to hour and season to season. Moreover, the natur
Authors
Robert J. Gilliom, David K. Mueller, John S. Zogorski, Sarah J. Ryker
Summary of nitrate concentrations in ground water of Adams, Franklin, and Grant Counties, Washington, fall 1998 -- A baseline for future trend analysis
No abstract available.
Authors
Sarah J. Ryker, Lonna M. Frans
Water quality in the central Columbia Plateau, Washington and Idaho, 1992-95
Water quality in the Central Columbia Plateau of eastern Washington and western Idaho has been adversely affected by agriculture, especially in irrigated areas, according to the results of a five-year investigation by the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS). Some improvements, however, are noticeable, such as less sediment being washed into streams. These improvements may be the result of increased use
Authors
Alex K. Williamson, Mark D. Munn, Sarah J. Ryker, Richard J. Wagner, James C. Ebbert, Ann M. Vanderpool
Pesticides in Public Supply Wells of Washington State
No abstract available.
Authors
Sarah J. Ryker, Alex K. Williamson
Pesticides in Public Supply Wells of the Central Columbia Plateau
No abstract available.
Authors
Sarah J. Ryker, Alex K. Williamson
Agricultural pesticide applications and observed concentrations in surface waters from four drainage basins in the Central Columbia Plateau, Washington and Idaho, 1993-94
As part of the U.S. Geological Survey's National Water-Quality Assessment Program, the use and occurrence of agricultural pesticides were investigated in four drainage basins--two dominated by irrigated agriculture and two by dryland agriculture--in the Central Columbia Plateau of eastern Washington. For this study, 85 pesticides or pesticide metabolites were selected for analysis from a list of n
Authors
R. J. Wagner, J.C. Ebbert, L.M. Roberts, S.J. Ryker
Nitrate concentrations in ground water of the central Columbia Plateau
No abstract available.
Authors
Sarah J. Ryker, Joseph L. Jones
Science and Products
USGS critical minerals review
The United States’ supply of critical minerals has been a concern and a source of potential strategic vulnerabilities for U.S. economic and national security interests for decades (for example, see Strategic and Critical Minerals Stockpiling Act, 1939). More recently, with the rapid increase in the types of materials being used in advanced technologies (Fortier et al. 2018a), and geopolitical even
Authors
Steven M. Fortier, Jane M. Hammarstrom, Sarah J. Ryker, Warren C. Day, Robert R. Seal
USGS critical minerals review
The United States’ supply of critical minerals has been a concern and a source of potential strategic vulnerabilities for U.S. economic and national security interests for decades (for example, see Strategic and Critical Minerals Stockpiling Act, 1939). More recently, with the rapid increase in the types of materials being used in advanced technologies (Fortier et al. 2018a), and geopolitical even
Authors
Steven M. Fortier, Jane M. Hammarstrom, Sarah J. Ryker, Warren C. Day, Robert R. Seal
The value of earth observations: methods and findings on the value of Landsat imagery
Data from Earth observation systems are used extensively in managing and monitoring natural resources, natural hazards, and the impacts of climate change, but the value of such data can be difficult to estimate, particularly when it is available at no cost. Assessing the socioeconomic and scientific value of these data provides a better understanding of the existing and emerging research, science,
Authors
Holly M. Miller, Larisa O. Serbina, Leslie A. Richardson, Sarah J. Ryker, Timothy R. Newman
Chemical mixtures in potable water in the U.S.
In recent years, regulators have devoted increasing attention to health risks from exposure to multiple chemicals. In 1996, the US Congress directed the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to study mixtures of chemicals in drinking water, with a particular focus on potential interactions affecting chemicals' joint toxicity. The task is complicated by the number of possible mixtures in drinkin
Authors
Sarah J. Ryker
Arsenic in ground water used for drinking water in the United States
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently established a new maximum contaminant level of 10 micrograms per liter for arsenic in drinking water in the United States. Ground water is the primary source of drinking water for half the population of the United States. Several national assessments have found that high arsenic concentrations (above 10 micrograms per liter) are widespread in drink
Authors
Sarah J. Ryker
A national look at water quality
Most water-quality problems we face today result from diffuse "nonpoint" sources of pollution from agricultural land, urban development, forest harvesting and the atmosphere (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers et al., 1999). It is difficult to quantify nonpoint sources because the contaminants they deliver vary in composition and concentrations from hour to hour and season to season. Moreover, the natur
Authors
Robert J. Gilliom, David K. Mueller, John S. Zogorski, Sarah J. Ryker
Summary of nitrate concentrations in ground water of Adams, Franklin, and Grant Counties, Washington, fall 1998 -- A baseline for future trend analysis
No abstract available.
Authors
Sarah J. Ryker, Lonna M. Frans
Water quality in the central Columbia Plateau, Washington and Idaho, 1992-95
Water quality in the Central Columbia Plateau of eastern Washington and western Idaho has been adversely affected by agriculture, especially in irrigated areas, according to the results of a five-year investigation by the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS). Some improvements, however, are noticeable, such as less sediment being washed into streams. These improvements may be the result of increased use
Authors
Alex K. Williamson, Mark D. Munn, Sarah J. Ryker, Richard J. Wagner, James C. Ebbert, Ann M. Vanderpool
Pesticides in Public Supply Wells of Washington State
No abstract available.
Authors
Sarah J. Ryker, Alex K. Williamson
Pesticides in Public Supply Wells of the Central Columbia Plateau
No abstract available.
Authors
Sarah J. Ryker, Alex K. Williamson
Agricultural pesticide applications and observed concentrations in surface waters from four drainage basins in the Central Columbia Plateau, Washington and Idaho, 1993-94
As part of the U.S. Geological Survey's National Water-Quality Assessment Program, the use and occurrence of agricultural pesticides were investigated in four drainage basins--two dominated by irrigated agriculture and two by dryland agriculture--in the Central Columbia Plateau of eastern Washington. For this study, 85 pesticides or pesticide metabolites were selected for analysis from a list of n
Authors
R. J. Wagner, J.C. Ebbert, L.M. Roberts, S.J. Ryker
Nitrate concentrations in ground water of the central Columbia Plateau
No abstract available.
Authors
Sarah J. Ryker, Joseph L. Jones