Career Profile

Title of Position: Gateway to the Earth Program, Coordinator

Employer: U.S. Geological Survey

Education: (degrees, universities, dates) B.S. Civil Engineering, Manhattan College, 1968 M.S. Civil Engineering, Stanford University, 1969 M.S. Business Administration, Virginia Tech, 1986

How many years have you been in this position or with this employer? One year in this position, 23 years with USGS

What are your duties now? I head a project to design the next generation of USGS websites and interfaces to our customers. The design team is looking at how people access our information, how they can search USGS's huge databases, and how we can deliver critical information on earthquakes and floods in a failure-resistant manner.

What lead you to this position? I've been involved in mathematical modeling and GIS for most of my career. It was the problem of distributing GIS data sets that led me to the World Wide Web. After co-chairing the team that established the USGS node of the National Spatial Data Infrastructure, I went on to found the "water.usgs.gov" website. My success in getting the webmasters of the USGS divisions - water, biology, geology, and mapping - to work together gave me a good background for my current position.

What do you like best about the position? Gateway to the Earth is critical to the future of the USGS. I like being where the action is!

What do you find most challenging about the position? The most challenging thing is keeping such a large project focused on its goals. You need the sophistication of a modern manager and the focus of an old-time preacher.

What advice do you have for students with interests in water resources? Learn to work with other scientists! The problems today are too complex for any individual to be an expert in everything. You need to learn how to listen to others, evaluate what they are saying, and take good advice.

Salary range typical for your position and experience/grade level (optional): $90,000 - $100,000

Are you willing to be contacted with questions? Yes

E-mail address (optional - it will only be used as a contact to seek additional information regarding your career path): lanfear@usgs.gov