James F. Reilly II, PhD., was confirmed by the Senate via voice vote on April 9 to be director of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
Reilly spent 13 years as an astronaut for NASA where he logged over 856 hours in space, including three spaceflight missions and five spacewalks. He recently served as a subject matter expert on space operations for U.S. and allied military forces and as a technical adviser for the National Security Space Institute of the U.S. Air Force. Previously, Reilly was a chief geologist at Enserch Exploration, Inc., where he worked on “projects around the world including in Antarctica and on the continental slope of the Gulf of Mexico," according to the White House press release. He earned his PhD in geosciences from the University of Texas at Dallas.
The USGS provides a variety of resources, research and tools that can be valuable to AMWA members. In particular, the National Water Quality Program analyzes the quality of the nation’s water over time, while the Groundwater and Streamflow Information Program identifies, measures and assesses the nation’s water resources over time including during floods and droughts.