Don Cline, Ph.D.
Don Cline is responsible for USGS research, monitoring, and assessment on the Nation's water resources.
Dr. Don Cline is the U.S. Geological Survey’s Associate Director for Water Resources. Don leads the USGS’ research, monitoring, assessment, modeling, and prediction of the nation’s water resources. The USGS Water Resources Mission Area (WMA) provides society with the information it needs on water quantity and quality across the Nation. Don oversees the WMA’s efforts to advance understanding of the controls over water availability; to better predict changes in water quantity and quality in response to natural and human-induced changes; to anticipate and respond to water-related emergencies and conflicts; and to deliver timely water data, analyses, and decision-support tools seamlessly across the Nation to support water-resource decisions.
Don joined USGS in 2016 following a 19-year career with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Weather Service, where he served as the Director of the National Water Center, the Chief of the Hydrology Laboratory, and the Director of the National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center. Don has been in the Senior Executive Service since 2010.
Don has over 20 years of research, development, and operational implementation experience in applied and basic hydrologic and cryospheric science, large-scale field experiments, integrated environmental modeling, development, and application of airborne and spaceborne observing systems, and applications of geographic information systems.