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Staff Profiles

Autumn L Helfrich

Geologist

Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center

ahelfrich@usgs.gov

Phone

650-439-2818

0000-0002-8288-7236

350 N Akron Rd
Moffett Field, CA 94035
United States

Expertise

Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

Management of Geospatial Inventories

Database Design

Landslide Hazards

Autumn Helfrich is a Geologist with the Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center in our Moffett Field, CA office. Autumn works primarily with the Landslide Hazards Program.

Professional Experience

2024 – Present, Geologist, Geology Minerals Energy and Geophysics Science Center, Moffett Field, CA
2023 – 2024, Physical Scientist, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, Denver, CO
2021 – 2022, SIP Geomorphology Assistant, Yosemite National Park, CA
2021 – 2021, SIP Geologic Technician, Denali National Park and Preserve, AK
2020 – 2021, GIP Geomorphology Assistant, Yosemite National Park, CA

Education and Certifications

M.S. Geological Sciences, University of Kentucky, 2020
B.S. Geology, Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, 2018

Science and Products

Data
Publications
Multimedia

Items per page

Label

January 20, 2026

National Mine Waste Inventory National Mine Waste Inventory

This U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) data release is a collaborative geospatial database compiled by the USGS and participating State geological surveys, with support from the Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI) program. The database represents the first phase of cataloging above-ground mine waste features —such as tailings and waste rock piles— that are remnants of historical...

Geology, Energy, and Minerals Mission Area, Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI)

April 23, 2025

Ground-Based LIDAR Data of a Section of the Point Bonita Lighthouse Trail, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Marin County, California, January 23, 2025 Ground-Based LIDAR Data of a Section of the Point Bonita Lighthouse Trail, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Marin County, California, January 23, 2025

A rockfall occurred between the night of January 5 and the morning of January 6, 2025 on the Point Bonita Trail in the National Park Service Golden Gate National Recreation Area, California. The rockfall originated from a granodiorite rock face in the Franciscan Formation and deposited approximately 25 cubic meters of rock on the pedestrian trail below. The U.S. Geological Survey...

Natural Hazards Mission Area, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center

February 19, 2025

Ground-based lidar data of the southeast face of El Capitan, Yosemite National Park, California, May 4, 2022 Ground-based lidar data of the southeast face of El Capitan, Yosemite National Park, California, May 4, 2022

We collected two ground-based (terrestrial) lidar scans of the southeast face of El Capitan cliff, located in Yosemite National Park, California. El Capitan is one of several iconic granitic cliffs in Yosemite and rises approximately 1000 meters above the floor of Yosemite Valley. The scans were collected from the same location and from a single vantage point on the edge of El Capitan...

Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center

Items per page

Label

August 19, 2025

Estimating the hypothetical endowment of critical minerals and other commodities in porphyry copper mine waste in the Four Corners states, USA Estimating the hypothetical endowment of critical minerals and other commodities in porphyry copper mine waste in the Four Corners states, USA

Society is fundamentally dependent upon commodities that are used in end-use products for the aerospace, defense, energy, telecommunication, and transportation sectors, resulting in centuries of mining to supply these commodities and materials. Waste from these mining operations can remain on the landscape indefinitely, but there is a lack of national understanding of the distribution...

Authors

Sean Patrick Gaynor, Nick Karl, Autumn Lynne Helfrich, Andrew Francis Smith, Jeffrey L. Mauk

Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center