October 25, 2023
SACRAMENTO – Jeremy Lancaster has been named the State Geologist of California and will lead the Department of Conservation’s
California Geological Survey (CGS), an organization that traces its history to the Gold Rush but whose work continues to evolve to meet today’s emerging climate challenges and opportunities.
“The work in CGS, rooted in the study of our earth’s structure and substance, is far-reaching and has profound impacts on all of us,” Conservation Director David Shabazian said in announcing the appointment. “Jeremy’s leadership and decades-long experience will be invaluable in helping our department continue to support policy, planning, and resource management that mitigates geologic risks while harnessing the fundamental minerals that underpin our economy and quality of life.”
From earthquakes to forest fires and the landslides that often follow, CGS's expertise helps local communities identify risks, prepare accordingly, and reduce impact and cost when disasters occur.
CGS is focused on providing scientific products and services relative to the state's geology, seismology, and minerals that affect the health, safety, and business interests of the people of California. It also partners with local government and stakeholders, as well as the California Office of Emergency Services, to advance planning and preparedness from natural and human-caused hazards.
“CGS' longstanding efforts to identify geologic hazards and mineral resources are cornerstones of the Department of Conservation's mission and falls in line with two of our fundamental pillars – hazards management and sustainable economic development,” Lancaster said. "I am honored to lead one of the nation's oldest and most respected state geological surveys, where we innovate and find solutions to protect our environment and our communities.”
Lancaster noted that there is a significant link between climate change and the potential for greater risk of geologic hazards.
“As climate change causes more extreme rainfall and floods, extreme heat, drought, wildfire, and sea level rise, these stressors result in more frequent and severe coastal bluff landslides, post-fire debris flows, and other potential landslide events,” he said. “At the same time, we can use California’s unique geology to store carbon that has been captured by industrial processes deep below ground as we drive toward achieving carbon neutrality by 2045.”
Lancaster began his new position on October 4, 2023. He first joined CGS in 2006 and has been part of many of the Survey’s technical programs. He most recently served as Associate State Geologist and chief of the CGS Watershed Hazards and Climate Adaptation Branch.
Lancaster has completed large multi-agency and multi-disciplinary projects that provide land-use planning tools, geologic mapping for wildlife habitat relationship assessments, and community planning tools for pre- and post- wildfire flash flood and debris flow hazards mitigation. He is a graduate of California State Polytechnic University-Pomona.
Lancaster will lead an organization that, under a variety of names, has existed since 1851, when the Legislature hired the first State Geologist one year after California was admitted to the Union. The Survey’s primary mission initially was to identify mineral resources. Major earthquakes in the 1970s changed the Survey’s focus to seismic safety.
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