Images

Over 30 organizations and agencies are testing a USGS-developed oral vaccine to prevent the spread of plague in prairie dogs. If successful, the sylvatic plague vaccine could help protect endangered black-footed ferrets in the western U.S. because the ferrets rely on prairie dogs for food.

Wild prairie dogs stand alert beside their burrow in Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota.

This prairie dog was trapped by scientists outside its burrow in Wind Cave National Park as part of a field test to determine the effectiveness of a USGS-developed oral sylvatic plague vaccine (SPV). This animal will be brought to a research van for tagging and blood, whisker, and hair sampling, and then released.

Over 30 organizations and agencies are testing a USGS-developed oral vaccine to prevent the spread of plague in prairie dogs. If successful, the sylvatic plague vaccine could help protect endangered black-footed ferrets in the western U.S. because the ferrets rely on prairie dogs for food.

An anaesthetized prairie dog is tagged in Wind Cave National Park. 

This prairie dog was trapped by scientists outside its burrow in Wind Cave National Park as part of a field test to determine the effectiveness of a USGS-developed oral sylvatic plague vaccine (SPV). This animal will be brought to a research van for tagging and blood, whisker, and hair sampling, and then released.

The chin of an anaesthetized prairie dog in Wind Cave National Park is marked before the animal is released back into the wild.

National Park Service veterinarian Kevin Castle places a prairie dog under anesthesia in Wind Cave National Park. He will tag this trapped prairie dog and take hair, whisker, and blood samples before scientists release the animal back into the wild.

A prairie dog returns to its burrow in Wind Cave National Park after scientists free it from a trap. The animal is part of a field test to determine the effectiveness of a USGS-developed oral sylvatic plague vaccine (SPV). This prairie dog was previously tagged, and its blood, hair, and whisker samples were taken. 

Wind Cave National Park is one of 34 areas testing a USGS-developed oral vaccine to prevent the spread of plague in prairie dogs. If successful, the sylvatic plague vaccine could help protect endangered black-footed ferrets in the western U.S. because the ferrets rely on prairie dogs for food.

Over 30 organizations and agencies are testing a USGS-developed oral vaccine to prevent the spread of plague in prairie dogs. If successful, the sylvatic plague vaccine could help protect endangered black-footed ferrets in the western U.S. because the ferrets rely on prairie dogs for food.

Photograph showing storm runoff in a concrete-lined channel in Albuquerque, New Mexico, July 14, 2018.

U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2020–5058

This global geologic map of Mars, which records the distribution of geologic units and landforms on the planet's surface through time, is based on unprecedented variety, quality, and quantity of remotely sensed data acquired since the Viking Orbiters.

USGS scientist Ren Thompson (in yellow) explaining the geology of Wild and scenic Rivers to the astronauts and fellow instructors and NASA staff.

In this view from the Washington Monument, the U.S. Department of the Interior, the department in which the U.S. Geological Survey resides, can be seen in the center of the image.

In this view from the Washington Monument, the White House and the Ellipse may be seen in the center of the image.

The Washington Monument, made of marble, granite, and bluestone gneiss, commemorates the first president of the United States. The monument was damaged in the 2011 Virginia earthquake, but has since been repaired.

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial is made of predominantly of marble. It sits in the National Mall.

In this image from the Washington Monument, the Jefferson Memorial and Tidal Basin may be seen in the center of the image.

The Washington Monument, made of marble, granite, and bluestone gneiss, commemorates the first president of the United States. It is the tallest stone structure, and is made of two kinds of marble due to a gap in funding. The monument was damaged in the 2011 Virginia earthquake, but has since been repaired.

In this view from the Washington Monument, the Old Post Office Pavillion can be seen in the center of the image, surrounded by the red-roofed Federal office-buildings of the Federal Triangle.