Erin Campbell, then Wyoming's state geologist, points out features in the Snowy Range Mountains in the southeastern part of that state in 2021. She is showing isoclinal folds in the Paleoproterozoic French Slate Formation. Campbell is the newly appointed Alaska state geologist. (Photo by Andi Berry/provided by the Alaska Department of Natural Resources)
Alaska has a new state geologist, a scientist who served a similar role in Wyoming.
Erin Campbell has begun working as the Alaska state geologist and director of the Division of Geological and Geophysical Survey, the Department of Natural Resources announced on Aug. 19.
Campbell, who has a background in petroleum studies and structural geology, served as Wyoming’s state geologist from 2017 to this year.
Prior to that, she managed the energy and mineral resources division of the Wyoming State Geological Survey.
Before working for the state, Campbell taught undergraduate and graduate courses for several years at the University of Wyoming, where she received her doctoral degree and directed that university’s Geology Field Camp. Earlier in her career, she spent four years working as a geologist for Chevron in Louisiana and California.
The Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys has 70 employees who study and map geologic resources, manage hydrology and natural hazards programs and perform other functions. The division operates the Geological Materials Center in Anchorage, the state’s largest archive of geological samples.
“Dr. Campbell is superbly qualified for this technical role and brings an established record of state-level leadership,” DNR Commissioner John Boyle said in a statement. “I’m delighted to have such an impressive scientist serving as State Geologist, leading the division and guiding natural resource policy in Alaska.”
Melanie Werdon, who previously led the division, retired this year, DNR’s statement said.
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