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Christopher S Swezey, Ph.D.

Christopher Swezey is the Program Coordinator of the USGS National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program. He leads strategic planning and coordination to meet Program requirements, including implementation and funding of FEDMAP, STATEMAP, EDMAP, and the National Geologic Map Database. This work is done in collaboration with State Geological Surveys, federal scientists, and academic partners.

Employment

2024-Present: Program Coordinator, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program (NCGMP), Reston, Virginia

April 2022-January 2023: Acting Associate Program Coordinator (Science Lead for EDMAP, Earth MRI, and Great Lakes Geologic Mapping Coalition), USGS National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program, Reston, Virginia

2018-2023: Research Geologist, USGS Florence Bascom Geoscience Center, Reston, Virginia

            - Project Lead, Glaciated Regions Geologic Mapping Project (2022-2023)

            - Project Lead, Great Lakes Geologic Mapping Project (2019-2022)

            - Project Lead, Geology of the Appalachian and Illinois Basins (2018-2019)

2009-2018: Research Geologist, USGS Eastern Geology & Paleoclimate Science Center, Reston, Virginia

            - Project Lead, Eastern Coastal Plain Geologic Mapping Project (2017-2018)

            - Associate Project Lead, Eastern Coastal Plain Studies Project (2015-2017)

            - Geologist, Geology of Atlantic Watersheds Project (2009-2015)

2000-2009: Research Geologist, USGS Eastern Energy Resources Team, Reston, Virginia

            - Task Lead (2007-2009), Eastern Oil Shale Assessment Task of National Oil and Gas Assessment (NOGA)

            - Task Lead (2005-2009), Illinois Basin Oil and Gas Assessment Task of NOGA

            - Task Lead (2002-2005), Michigan Basin Oil and Gas Assessment Task of NOGA

            - Geologist (2000-2002), Appalachian Basin Oil and Gas Assessment Task of NOGA

1997-2000: Geologist, BP Exploration (Gulf of Mexico), Houston, Texas

1996-1997: Research Assistant, Texas Bureau of Economic Geology, Austin, Texas

1988-1992: Teaching Assistant, Department of Geology, The University of Texas at Austin

1987-1988: Physical Science Technician, USGS Branch of Paleontology & Stratigraphy, Menlo Park, California

Education and Certifications

  • Ph.D. (1997) - Geology, The University of Texas at Austin. Dissertation: Climatic and Tectonic Controls on Quaternary Eolian Sedimentary Sequences of the Chott Rharsa Basin, Southern Tunisia

  • M.A. (1991) - Geology, The University of Texas at Austin.  Thesis: Description and Interpretation of the Jurassic J-2 Unconformity of the Western Interior (U.S.A.)  

  • B.S. (1987) - Geology, French (double major), Duke University, Durham, North Carolina

    Université de Paris VII (1985-1986), Paris, France

    St. Christopher’s High School (1983), Richmond, Virginia

Honors and Awards

  • 2018  Fellow of the Geological Society of America

  • 2008  American Association of Petroleum Geologists George V. Cohee Public Service Award

  • 1995  Chateaubriand Scholarship, Université Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg, France

  • 1992-1993  J. William Fulbright Scholarship, Université Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg, France

  • 1992  Smithsonian Institution Fellowship, Center for Earth and Planetary Studies, National Air and Space Museum, Washington, DC

  • 1987  T.V. Laska Award, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina (Most outstanding undergraduate senior in geology)

Science and Products

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Filter Total Items: 35

Geologic cross section E-E' through the Appalachian basin from the Findlay arch, Wood County, Ohio, to the Valley and Ridge province, Pendleton County, West Virginia

This chapter is a re-release of U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Map 2985, of the same title, by Ryder and others (2008). For this chapter, two appendixes have been added that do not appear with the original version. Appendix A provides Log ASCII Standard (LAS) files for each drill hole along cross-section E–E'; they are text files which encode gamma-ray, neutron, density...
Authors
Robert T. Ryder, Christopher S. Swezey, Robert Crangle, Michael H. Trippi
By
Energy Resources Program, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center

In search of a Silurian total petroleum system in the Appalachian basin of New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia

Oil and gas fields in Silurian carbonate and sandstone reservoirs in the Appalachian basin probably originated from one or more of the following source rocks: (1) Upper Ordovician Utica Shale, (2) Middle to Upper Devonian black shale, and (3) Lower to Upper Silurian shale and carbonate units. In this reconnaissance study, selected Silurian shale and carbonate rocks in the subsurface of...
Authors
Robert T. Ryder, Christopher S. Swezey, Michael H. Trippi, Erika Lentz, K. Lee Avary, John M. Harper, William M. Kappel, Ronald G. Rea
By
Energy Resources Program, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center

Appalachian basin oil and natural gas: stratigraphic framework, total petroleum systems, and estimated ultimate recovery

The most recent U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources of the Appalachian basin was completed in 2002 (Milici and others, 2003). This assessment was based on the total petroleum system (TPS), a concept introduced by Magoon and Dow (1994) and developed during subsequent studies such as those by the U.S. Geological Survey World Energy Assessment Team...
Authors
Robert T. Ryder, Robert C. Milici, Christopher S. Swezey, Michael H. Trippi
By
Energy Resources Program, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center

Geology of the Devonian Marcellus Shale--Valley and Ridge province, Virginia and West Virginia--a field trip guidebook for the American Association of Petroleum Geologists Eastern Section Meeting, September 28-29, 2011

Detailed and reconnaissance field mapping and the results of geochemical and mineralogical analyses of outcrop samples indicate that the Devonian shales of the Broadtop Synclinorium from central Virginia to southern Pennsylvania have an organic content sufficiently high and a thermal maturity sufficiently moderate to be considered for a shale gas play. The organically rich Middle...
Authors
Catherine B. Enomoto, James L. Coleman, John T. Haynes, Steven J. Whitmeyer, Ronald R. McDowell, J. V. Lewis, Tyler P. Spear, Christopher S. Swezey
By
Energy Resources Program, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center

Notes on the geology and meteorology of sites infected with white-nose syndrome before July 2010 in Southeastern United States

Since 2006, numerous bat colonies in North America have experienced unusually high incidences of mortality. In these colonies, bats are infected by a white fungus named Geomyces destructans, which has been observed on bat muzzles, noses, ears, and (or) wings. Although it is not exactly certain how and why these bats are dying, this condition has been named white-nose syndrome (WNS). WNS...
Authors
Christopher S. Swezey, Christopher Garrity
By
Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

Geographical and geological data from caves and mines infected with white-nose syndrome (WNS) before September 2009 in the eastern United States

Since 2006, a white fungus named Geomyces destructans has been observed on the muzzles, noses, ears, and (or) wings of bats in the eastern United States, and bat colonies that are infected with this fungus have experienced dramatic incidences of mortality. Although it is not exactly certain how and why these bats are dying, this condition has been named white-nose syndrome (WNS). WNS...
Authors
Christopher S. Swezey, Christopher Garrity
By
Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

Non-USGS Publications**

Swezey, C., 1999, A very old Sahara: Science, v. 286, no. 5438, p. 243.
Swezey, C.S., 1999, The lifespan of the Complexe Terminal Aquifer, Algerian-Tunisian Sahara: Journal of African Earth Sciences, v. 28, no. 3, p. 751-756.
Swezey, C., Lancaster, N., Kocurek, G., Deynoux, M., Blum, M., Price, D., and Pion, J.-C., 1999, Response of aeolian systems to Holocene climatic and hydrologic changes on the northern margin of the Sahara: A high-resolution record from the Chott Rharsa basin, Tunisia: The Holocene, v. 9, no. 2, p. 141-147.
Swezey, C., 1998, The identification of eolian sands and sandstones: Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences [France], serie IIa, v. 327, no. 8, p. 513-518.
Swezey, C.S., 1997, Climatic and Tectonic Controls on Quaternary Eolian Sedimentary Sequences of the Chott Rharsa Basin, Southern Tunisia (Doctoral dissertation). https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/handle/2152/61424
Swezey, C., Deynoux, M., and Jeannette, D., 1996, Sandstone depositional environments of the Upper Permian Champenay Formation, Champenay Basin, northeast France: Sedimentary Geology, v. 105, nos. 1-2, p. 91-103.
Swezey, C.S., 1996, Structural controls on Quaternary depocentres within the Chotts Trough region of southern Tunisia: Journal of African Earth Sciences, v. 22, no. 3, p. 335-347.
Swezey, C.S., 1991, A review of changes in the geomorphology and hydrology of Waller Creek (Austin, Texas) as a result of urban development: The Texas Journal of Science, v. 43, no. 3, p. 315-323.
Swezey, C.S., 1991, Description and Interpretation of the Jurassic J-2 Unconformity of the Western Interior (U.S.A.) (Master's thesis). https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/handle/2152/19402

**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.

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