Shelby Hunter

I assist regional staff, science center management, safety staff, and the Regional Safety Manager Nathan Smiley with implementing USGS safety policy, preventing accidents through safety assistance visits and audits. We also assist with emergency management, response, and investigations. We work with USGS centers that are located in 14 different states and 2 US territories.

I attended Northwestern Oklahoma State University in Alva, Oklahoma and majored in Wildlife Conservation.

I began working for the USGS in 2008 as a student in the Woodward Oklahoma office as part of the Oklahoma Water Science Center as a student internship working in surface water, groundwater, and water quality. I worked in Woodward for 3 years finishing my degree and was hired full time in the summer of 2011. Once full time I was transferred to the Oklahoma City USGS offices. In Oklahoma City I started in surface water as a Hydrologic Technician specializing in surface water data collection, levels, and surveying. As a Technician maintaining surface water sites all over the state of Oklahoma, I assisted in many surface water projects including seepage flow and dam breach studies. In 2017 I had the opportunity to become project chief overseeing my first bathymetric study surveying over 70 miles of rivers in Northeastern Oklahoma. In 2018 I received my USGS Drone Pilot Certification. While being certified I assisted in several surveys studying surface water cross sections, and piloted missions supporting in the 2018 Kilauea Volcano Eruption in Hawaii. The next several years included more Project Chief and collaboration opportunities including a Multi-Beam Bathymetric Study of Grand Lake O’ The Cherokees in Northeastern Oklahoma.

While working in surface water in 2015 I had the opportunity to take over the Safety Program for the Oklahoma USGS Water Science Center as the Collateral Duty Safety Program Coordinator. Over the five years serving as the CDSPC I found a passion for helping others and implementing safety policies. I served in this position until November of 2020 when I became the Full Time Safety and Occupational Health Specialist for the Southeast Region of the USGS.