Feds Appoint New Director for Corvallis USGS Headquarters

The U.S. Geological Survey has selected Sue Phillips as its new center director for the Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center, or FRESC. Headquartered here in Corvallis, the center oversees research offices in Boise, Idaho; Seattle, Washington; and Olympic National Park in Port Angeles, Washington.

Phillips had served as a FRESC research manager for the past 10 years.

“I am very honored and excited to be FRESC’s center director,” said Sue Phillips in a release from the USGS. “I look forward to helping FRESC’s scientists and staff conduct and deliver critical, timely and objective science to natural resource managers, policy makers and the public.”

In her prior role, Phillips advised  on the course of future research, and offered administration and technical support. Phillips worked with the prior director, supervising research scientists and science support staff.

She has also served in multiple roles within the USGS including FRESC acting center director, senior science adviser to the USGS Ecosystems Mission Area and as the wildfire science coordinator.

Before joining FRESC, Phillips worked for 12 years with the USGS Southwest Biological Science Center’s Canyonlands Field Station in Moab, Utah, eventually rising to the role of station leader. She also spent seven years as a research associate at the University of Utah. Phillips completed her undergraduate work at the University of Colorado Boulder and her master’s degree at the University of Utah. She has a scientific background in plant ecology.

“Sue brings a wealth of knowledge and experience from different levels in the USGS and is uniquely qualified to lead FRESC’s future science directions,” said Marijke van Heeswijk, acting director of the USGS Northwest-Pacific Islands Region, in the same USGS release. “Sue showed great leadership in facilitating multiagency collaborations to assist the Department of the Interior with its management of Western aridlands, and especially sagebrush ecosystems, for which she was awarded the DOI Meritorious Service Award. I know she will bring that same leadership to her new role as FRESC’s center director, helping keep FRESC and the USGS at the forefront of science in service of the public.”

By Andy Thompson

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