Dave Applegate takes on role of Chief Scientist for the USGS
The U.S. Geological Survey is pleased to announce that Dave Applegate is now serving as the Chief Scientist for the USGS.
As Chief Scientist, Dave Applegate is responsible for strategic leadership on bureau-wide science activities, partnerships, and opportunities. The Chief Scientist serves as an executive champion for the USGS scientific and technical practices and workforce.
Applegate has worked at the USGS for 21 years in several positions, most recently serving as the 18th Director of the USGS from 2022 to 2025. Prior to assuming that presidentially appointed position, he exercised the delegated authority of the USGS Director beginning in 2021.
From 2011 to 2021, Applegate served as the Associate Director for the Natural Hazards Mission Area, leading USGS emergency response activities and overseeing the bureau’s geologic hazards and coastal and marine programs. He acted as Deputy Director in 2015 and 2017-2018.
Applegate joined the USGS in 2004 as the first Senior Science Advisor for Earthquake and Geologic Hazards. Prior to that, he spent eight years with the American Geosciences Institute, which is a federation of geoscience societies. At AGI, he directed science policy and served as the editor of Geotimes, AGI’s news magazine for the earth sciences.
He has also served with the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources as the American Geophysical Union's Congressional Science Fellow and as a professional staff member. Applegate has taught at Johns Hopkins University and was an adjunct professor at the University of Utah.