Geophysicist McNutt Named to Lead U.S. Geological Survey

摘要

Even before she was officially nominated last week to be the next director of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Marcia McNutt was already angling for broader responsibilities. After her prospective boss, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, told her that he hoped to elevate science throughout the department, McNutt replied: "Then why don't you makernthe director of the Geological Survey your science adviser?" When Salazar said yes, he put the 57-year-old geophysicist in line to make history twice-as the first woman to lead the 130-year-old survey and as the department's first science adviser. "Now science advice is going to have a more direct way to be communicated to the other agencies," she says, adding quickly that nothing will happen unless the U.S. Senate confirms her appointment.