President Joe Biden has nominated David Applegate to direct the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in the Department of the Interior, a news release said.

“Science is at the heart of Interior’s mission, and the U.S. Geological Survey is essential to helping provide and strengthen the scientific integrity of our agency’s work,” Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland said in a statement. "As the confirmed director, I am confident he will continue to empower the agency’s scientific and technical experts to use the best available science to help address the most pressing challenges of our time." 

Applegate, if confirmed, would be the first Senate-approved director at the USGS since the former director, Jim Reilly, left the post at the end of the Trump administration, EOS reported.

Applegate joined USGS in 2004 as the first senior science advisor for Earthquake and Geologic Hazards, the news release said.

He also serves as an Adjunct Professor of Geology & Geophysics at the University of Utah.      

As of April 11, Applegate's nomination had been delivered to the U.S Senate, but was still pending in the Energy & Natural Resources Committee.   

USGS is "the nation’s largest water, earth and biological science and civilian mapping agency," the news release said.

It is also "a leading scientific agency on climate science, playing an essential role in understanding the Earth’s past, present and future climate," the release said.