Sue Marcus recently retired after 14 years as the U.S. Geological Survey’s National American Indian/Alaska Native Liaison. She is passionate about providing information to Tribal governments and organizations to help them manage their lands and natural resources. She encourages more Native American students to blend their understanding of Native American and other perspectives on science to benefit their Tribes, their communities, our Nation as a whole.
Sue graduated from Grand Valley State College (now University) in Michigan, in 1973. Her training is in economic geology. She worked for the Manitoba Mines Branch in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Moving to southern California, she contributed mineral resource assessments to the Bureau of Land Management’s California Desert Plan. Sue continued working on mineral resources in Wilderness Study Ares for BLM, eventually managing that coordinated project with the USGS and the Bureau of Mines from the BLM headquarters in Washington, D.C. In 1984, Sue was detailed to USGS to manage the USGS wilderness study program. She joined USGS permanently to head the newly established Mineral Information Offices. She moved to Reno, where she ran the Mineral Information Office there. Moving east again, she managed USGS mineral resource work with Tribes, at the time, the largest USGS-Native American activity. Sue became the USGS “Indian Desk” in 1994, when then-Secretary Babbitt requested such points of contact within each DOI bureau. Since then, Sue was the USGS Native American Tribal Liaison though USGS several reorganizations. She lives with her husband in Fairfax, Va and is the proud Mother of a 20-year old daughter.