Mark Myers

While serving as USGS Director, Dr. Myers was instrumental in the revitalization of the USGS topographic mapping program. He supported the creation of a digital topographic system for producing the USGS 7.5-minute quadrangle maps that is capable of processing over 18,000 maps per year. Today, this assures that each quadrangle of the United States can be updated at least every seven years. 

Dr. Myers is an expert on North Slope sedimentary and petroleum geology, who served as survey chief for field programs in the Mackenzie Delta (ARCO, 1985), Cook Inlet (State of Alaska/U.S. Geological Survey, 1997), and North Slope (ARCO, 1999). He also served as sedimentologist for 13 other North Slope field programs prior to becoming USGS Director. 

Dr. Myers was also a past president and board member of the Alaska Geological Society; a certified professional geologist with the American Institute of Professional Geologists; a certified petroleum geologist with the American Association of Petroleum Geologists; and a licensed geologist with the State of Alaska. He served as an officer in the U.S. Air Force Reserve from 1977 to 2003, retiring as a lieutenant colonel. 

Dr. Myers received his Doctorate in Geology from the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 1994, specializing in sedimentology, clastic depositional environments, surface and subsurface sequence analysis, and sandstone petrography. He earned his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Geology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.