http://gallery.usgs.gov/images/logos/usgs_only.jpg USGS Multimedia Gallery Audio Collection for: Interviews http://gallery.usgs.gov/ en-us OC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications Web Group) http://gallery.usgs.gov/images/USGS.gif USGS http://gallery.usgs.gov/ <![CDATA[Press Conference: USGS World Estimate for Conventional Oil and Gas Resources]]> http://gallery.usgs.gov/audios/440 The USGS recently released a new world estimate of undiscovered, conventional oil and gas resources. This podcast is a recording of a press conference held on April 18, 2012, to announce this report. Speakers were Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, USGS Director Marcia McNutt, USGS Energy Resources Program Coordinator Brenda Pierce, and USGS Research Geologist Chris Schenk.

]]> <![CDATA[Briefing on New Science to Identify Sources of Excessive Nutrients in Rivers and Estuaries]]> http://gallery.usgs.gov/audios/431 The USGS held a Congressional briefing to demonstrate a new and innovative online decision support system used to identify sources of nutrients to downstream waters, such as the Gulf of Mexico, Long Island Sound and others. The decision support system provides access to six newly-developed regional SPARROW models that describe how rivers receive and transport nutrients to sensitive waters.

Steve Preston, a scientist for the USGS National Water-Quality Assessment Program demonstrated the decision support system and described the models. The briefing was moderated by Alan Vicory, Executive Director of the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission. Other speakers included Saya Qualls, Tenn. Department of Environment and Conservation Water Pollution Control and Wayne Anderson, Minn. Pollution Control Agency.

]]> <![CDATA[USGS Releases Resource Estimate for Afghanistan Rare Earth Prospect]]> http://gallery.usgs.gov/audios/427 The U.S. Geological Survey estimates at least 1 million metric tonnes of rare earth element resources within the Khanneshin carbonatite in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. This estimate comes from a 2009-2011 USGS study funded by the Department of Defense's Task Force for Business and Stability Operations.

]]> <![CDATA[New model gives insight to the potential future of the Pacific walrus]]> http://gallery.usgs.gov/audios/393 Walruses are important to human communities bordering the Chukchi and Bering seas in the United States and Russia, and the status of walrus provides information about the health of these highly productive marine ecosystems. Projecting the future population status of the Pacific walrus was investigated with a new model developed by scientists at the USGS Alaska Science Center.

The Bayesian network model integrates the potential effects of changing environmental conditions and human stressors to help identify the reasons associated with declines in projected walrus populations. Sea ice habitat, particularly in summer/fall, and harvest levels had the greatest influence on future population outcomes. The Bayesian network model for walrus provides the framework for an increased research effort on the Pacific walrus and its marine ecosystem, as part of the Changing Arctic Ecosystems initiative.

The purpose of this initiative is to understand how changes in the ice-dominated ecosystems of the Arctic affect biological communities. A report detailing this model and its findings are available in the journal Polar Biology.

]]> <![CDATA[Completion of Continent - Wide Soil Survey]]> http://gallery.usgs.gov/audios/382 The USGS recently completed sampling for the North American Soil Geochemical Landscapes Project on November 18, 2010. The last three samples of a total of 14,400 samples were collected at Bull Run Mountain in Virginia. During the multi-year project, about 20 students from a dozen different universities aided USGS employees and partners from Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), the University of Nebraska's School of Natural Resources, Conservation and Survey Division (Nebraska Geological Survey), the Pennsylvania Geological Survey, and the Minnesota Geological Survey in the sample collection. The samples are currently being analyzed for 44 major and trace elements, including most of the macronutrients and micronutrients, most potentially toxic elements, and organic carbon.

]]> <![CDATA[Making Waves: Hypoxia in U.S. Coastal Waters]]> http://gallery.usgs.gov/audios/369 Earlier this month, a new interagency report was delivered to Congress that warns of the growing threat of low oxygen ‘dead zones’ in coastal waters around the U.S. This condition is known as hypoxia — where oxygen levels drop so low that creatures in the water are stressed or killed. In this episode, we hear from two of the scientists behind the report: Dr. Libby Jewett from NOAA and Herb Buxton from the US Geological Survey. They help us learn more about the extent of this problem, its causes, and how this trend might be reversed.

Visit: NOAA's National Ocean Service for more information.

]]> <![CDATA[Big Invaders and Tiny Fish: Endangered Species Day]]> http://gallery.usgs.gov/audios/353 Kids! Listen up—it's Endangered Species Day, and we have two podcasts for you: giant, invasive predators that eat endangered animals, and the tiny Devil's Hole pupfish, which lives on a watery shelf no bigger than a walk-in closet.

Shaken, Not Stirred—Watch Devils Hole pupfish deal with a large earthquake that causes a ‘mini-tsunami’ in their watery habitat.

]]> <![CDATA[USGS Scientist New AGU President]]> http://gallery.usgs.gov/audios/361 We speak with Carol Finn about her new appointment to be the President of the American Geophysical Union as of July 2010.

]]> <![CDATA[Diving for Deep-Sea Coral Critters]]> http://gallery.usgs.gov/audios/346 Deep-sea coral ecosystems are thriving communities that are a vibrant and integral part of ocean ecosystems. Listen as Christina Kellogg, USGS microbiologist with the DISCOVRE program, explains why these ecosystems are important.

]]> <![CDATA[Help in Haiti - The Role of Science]]> http://gallery.usgs.gov/audios/342 <![CDATA[Debris Flow Danger Follows Storms in Southern California]]> http://gallery.usgs.gov/audios/334 The powerful storms that swept through Southern California dumped a lot of rain in that region, leaving behind the danger of debris flows.

Sue Cannon, USGS research geologist, explains the hazardous situation facing residents in and near the San Gabriel Mountains, how people in the area can respond to these hazards, and what the USGS is doing to respond.

]]> <![CDATA[Science Seeks to Stem Snake Surge]]> http://gallery.usgs.gov/audios/320 Right now in Florida, non-native, giant constrictor snakes—pythons, anacondas, and the boa constrictor—are being found in the wild, and two species have established several breeding populations. The snakes pose a considerable resource management challenge for agencies charged with preserving native ecosystems and species. USGS research wildlife biologist Bob Reed discusses how scientific research can help us find ways to understand, manage, and control these introduced predator snakes.

]]> <![CDATA[Loma Prieta: 20 Years Later, Bay Area Safer]]> http://gallery.usgs.gov/audios/311 Host Leslie Gordon interviews three USGS earthquake scientists, David Oppenheimer, Carol Prentice, and Tom Holzer about the scientific advances made in the last 20 years since the Loma Prieta earthquake struck northern California. Oppenheimer, Holzer and Prentice discuss the work they did immediately after the quake in 1989, and how 20 years of scientific and technological advances have changed their work, and made the San Francisco Bay Area safer and better prepared for the next big earthquake.

]]> <![CDATA[EDMAP: Training the Next Generation of Geoscientists]]> http://gallery.usgs.gov/audios/304 Geologic maps record the distribution of rock and soil materials at Earth's surface and help decision makers identify and protect valuable resources, avoid risks from natural hazards, and make wise land use choices.

Randy Orndorff, Associate Program Coordinator for the USGS National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program, talks about the grant for the academic component of the USGS NCGMP called EDMAP. He explains the importance of the EDMAP program, describes some of the benefits for involved university students and professors, and describes how to apply for the grant.

]]> <![CDATA[Coral Concern: The World's Reefs Face Big Issues]]> http://gallery.usgs.gov/audios/282 Coral reefs are one of Earth's most beautiful and vital ecosystems—and they are declining at a rapid pace.

Mike Field, Chief of the USGS Pacific Coral Reef Project, talks about the importance of coral reefs and how pollution, climate change, and other factors are affecting them.

]]> <![CDATA[USGS Volcanic Activity Alert-Notification System]]> http://gallery.usgs.gov/audios/258 The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Volcano Hazards Program has adopted an alert-notification system nationwide for characterizing the level of unrest and eruptive activity at volcanoes. The volcano alert-notification system is used by the Alaska Volcano Observatory, the Cascades Volcano Observatory, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, the Long Valley Observatory, and the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory.

USGS scientist Margaret Mangan discusses the Volcanic Activity Alert Notification System, how Volcano Alerts and Aviation Color Codes are determined and the difference between them.

]]> <![CDATA[Tanzanian Villagers Encouraged to Learn Hazards of Living Near Erupting Volcano]]> http://gallery.usgs.gov/audios/244