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As part of its mission to support young scientists, the U.S. Geological Survey
(USGS) in fiscal year 2001 started a new postdoctoral research program: the
Mendenhall Postdoctoral Fellowship Program.
Recent external and internal reviews of USGS programs, such as Geology for a
Changing World, have identified a critical need for hiring young postdoctoral
students. Pat Leahy, associate director for geology, has instituted the Mendenhall
program to answer this high priority.
The program honors Walter C. Mendenhall, the fifth director of the USGS, whose
directorate was pivotal in the Survey's history. Despite difficult times during
the Depression and the beginning of World War II, he encouraged the Survey,
as he had the Geologic Branch, to emphasize the necessity of basic research.
He created an environment in which, in the words of the Engineering and Mining
Journal, "scientific research, technical integrity and practical skill
could flourish."
President Hoover appointed Mendenhall director of the Survey after Mendenhall
had served a long career with the USGS. He joined the Survey in 1894, after
he graduated from Ohio Normal University. In 1903, he was one of the first groundwater
specialists to join the Water Resources Branch. His study of the principles
of groundwater hydrology helped to establish it as a field of scientific endeavor.
Mendenhall was also the chief geologist for eight years before he became director.
The Mendenhall Program is envisioned to bring current expertise in the earth
sciences to assist in implementing the USGS Strategic Plan and the science strategy.
Mendenhall selectees will have an opportunity to conduct concentrated research
with members of the USGS professional staff, often as a final element to their
formal career preparation. The program will also give postdoctoral fellows research
experiences that enhance their personal scientific stature and credentials.
Mendenhall fellows are appointed as federal employees under an excepted appointing
authority for two years. The positions are advertised through the U.S. Governments
official site for jobs and employment information provided by the United States
Office of Personnel Management. Applicants must be U.S. citizens. Selection
is based on merit without discrimination for any reason.
For fiscal year 2001, the USGS announced 24 research opportunities through advertisements
in professional journals, Web sites, and letters to Ph.D. granting earth science
departments. Ten Mendenhall fellows were hired to conduct studies spanning the
topics sediment transport modeling in coastal environments, geologic processes
and human health, environmental geochemistry, impacts of climate change in arid
and semi-arid lands, and geologic controls and ecosystem processes.
The Survey will announce 25 research opportunities for fiscal year 2002. Pending
availability of funding, up to 25 postdoctoral fellows will start USGS employment
Oct. 1, 2001 or later. Some of the research areas are: coastal erosion processes
and modeling coastal change, interdisciplinary application of remote sensing,
noble gas geochemistry, microbes and geologic substrates in estuaries, climate
change, geologic processes, land use and land-surface feedbacks, estimating
future strong ground motions, high-resolution imaging of earthquake rupture
processes and fault structure, controls on magma ascent, stagnation and eruption,
economic modeling of geologic energy resources and environmental biogeochemistry.
The USGS vision, mission and strategic direction focus on responsiveness and
customer service, underscoring the application of science to customer, partner
and other stakeholder needs. This mission directs the combined expertise of
our many scientific disciplines and defines our commitment to pursue an integrated
approach to providing science for a changing world. Over the last few years,
the opportunities for interdisciplinary studies have been increasing. With a
staff of approximately 10,000 located in every state, opportunities exist to
conduct scientific investigations in a wide variety of locales and in collaboration
with world-class scientists in the broad disciplines of geology, hydrology,
biology and geography.
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