White House Nominates Retired Astronaut to Lead USGS

The Trump Administration has announced its intent to nominate Dr. James F. Reilly, a former NASA astronaut and exploration geologist, as the next Director of the United States Geological Survey. Reilly currently serves as a technical adviser and subject matter expert on space operations at the U.S. Air Force’s National Security Space Institute in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He worked at NASA for 13 years where he was first selected as an astronaut candidate in 1994. He flew three Space Shuttle missions, conducted 5 spacewalks, and logged over 856 hours in space, with his work primarily focused on assembling the International Space Station. Before NASA, he worked as an exploration geologist at Enserch Exploration, Inc., an oil-and-gas company based in Dallas, Texas. Reilly has also served as an administrator in academia and held management positions at TAEUS Corporation and PhotoStencil Corporation in Colorado Springs. He earned his Ph.D. in geosciences from the University of Texas at Dallas.      
Source: Public Policy Reports - Category: Biology Authors: Source Type: news