By kmulliken@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Jun 19, 2026.

Over the last year and a half, the historic episodic eruption at the summit of Kīlauea has had 49 episodes of lava fountaining, with episode 50 in the forecast for next week. But why are these individual fountaining events considered episodes instead of separate eruptions, and what’s the difference?

By kmulliken@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Jun 18, 2026.

Over the last year and a half, Kīlauea’s summit has produced an impressive 49 episodes of lava fountaining—and episode 50 may be just around the corner. Why are these considered episodes instead of separate eruptions?

By jolene_gittens@ios.doi.gov from All News. Published on Jun 18, 2026.

RESTON, Va. — The southern Appalachian region of the eastern United States contains an estimated 1.43 million metric tons of undiscovered, economically recoverable lithium oxide, enough to replace 201 years of U.S. imports at last year’s level, according to new research by the U.S. Geological Survey. 

By jolene_gittens@ios.doi.gov from All News. Published on Jun 18, 2026.

RESTON, Va. – The U.S. Geological Survey plans low-level helicopter flights over southern Colorado to image geology using airborne geophysical technology. The survey will begin in June and continue for two months, weather and other flight restrictions permitting.

By sernst@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Jun 18, 2026.

Around the world, scientists are using the Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere-Waves-Sediment Transport (COAWST) Modeling System to better understand and forecast short-term changes in coastal conditions. To showcase the breadth of this work, the USGS developed the COAWST Applications Catalog—a collection of published COAWST-based studies spanning multiple countries, coastlines, and scientific questions.

By ppearsall@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Jun 17, 2026.

On leg three of the American Samoa Mapping Project, an interagency-supported hydrograph survey project led by NOAA and in partnership with BOEM, USGS collected box cores and interdisciplinary datasets to inform prospectivity analyses throughout the region.

By shipra_shukla@ios.doi.gov from All News. Published on Jun 17, 2026.

Two scientists from the California Water Science Center will share their work at the 2026 Esri User Conference, highlighting innovative applications of Geographic Information System (GIS) and water science. Their presentations showcase how geospatial tools help advance scientific understanding and support informed resource management.

By kmulliken@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Jun 17, 2026.

On Wednesday, June 17, 2:14 a.m. HST, a magnitude-4.5 earthquake occurred 11 mi (17 km) southeast of Pāhala on the Island of Hawaiʻi at a depth of 21 mi (33 km) below sea level. The earthquake had no apparent impact on either Mauna Loa or Kīlauea volcanoes. 

By cdow@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Jun 17, 2026.

June 2026 issue of the KSWSC Quarterly Newsletter from the USGS Central Plains Water Science Center.

By cknapp@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Jun 17, 2026.

USGS research shows that Osprey reproduction declined when nests were located in areas with higher‑salinity water, a trend observed across multiple areas of the Chesapeake Bay.

By cdow@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Jun 17, 2026.

Topic: Pesticides in Streams and Other Environmental Matrices in Areas Impacted by Pesticide Coated Seeds.

By kknotts@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Jun 17, 2026.

June is National Ocean Month! Explore USGS ocean science and learn how environmental DNA (eDNA) helps Eastern Ecological Science Center study marine ecosystems. 

By kmulliken@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Jun 15, 2026.

Episode 49 of lava fountaining during the ongoing Halemaʻumaʻu eruption at the summit of Kīlauea took place for 7.5 hours on June 14. The eruption is currently paused.
 

By sally_house@ios.doi.gov from All News. Published on Jun 15, 2026.

NOAA has declared an El Niño in June 2026, with a "Super El Niño" expected to peak this winter. USGS researchers are tracking how warming waters threaten Alaska's ecosystems, from seabird die-offs and harmful algal blooms to heat-stressed salmon. USGS science helps reveal the connections between these climate events and the fish and wildlife that Alaskans and ecosystems depend on.

By sally_house@ios.doi.gov from All News. Published on Jun 15, 2026.

Join us for a Pollinator Week edition of Friday's Findings that highlights methods the USGS is developing to find undiscovered populations of the endangered rusty patched bumble bee.

Date:  Friday, June 26, 2026
Time:  2:00-2:30 PM Eastern/11:00 -11:30 AM Pacific
Speaker:  Clint Otto, Research Ecologist, USGS Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center

By mpoland@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Jun 14, 2026.

In the far southwest corner of Lower Geyser Basin is Imperial Geyser—a colorful pool that is also a perpetual spouter.  The feature seems to have formed in 1927 and for a time was the most spectacular geyser in Yellowstone National Park!

By tmcconnell@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Jun 12, 2026.

The Cooperative Research Units Program is excited to announce the winners of our 2026 Outstanding Awards selection for Best Student or Post-Doc led paper, Outstanding MS Student, Outstanding PhD Student, and Outstanding Alumni. 

By kmulliken@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Jun 11, 2026.

This past April marked one hundred years since Mauna Loa’s 1926 Southwest Rift Zone eruption — an eruption remembered for its dramatic lava flows, community impacts, and scientific firsts. 

By seth_amgott@ios.doi.gov from All News. Published on Jun 11, 2026.

RESTON, Va.  – The U.S. Geological Survey plans low-level airplane flights over eastern North Dakota and small nearby areas of Minnesota and South Dakota to image geology using airborne geophysical technology. The survey will begin in early June and will continue into the fall, weather and other flight restrictions permitting. 

By jason_burton@ios.doi.gov from All News. Published on Jun 11, 2026.

RESTON, Va. — The U.S. Geological Survey plans low-level helicopter flights over the Lake Superior Basin in western Michigan, northern Wisconsin, and northeastern Minnesota to image geology using airborne geophysical technology. The survey will begin in June and will continue into the fall, weather and other flight restrictions permitting.

By kmulliken@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Jun 11, 2026.

April marked the 100-year anniversary of Mauna Loa’s 1926 Southwest Rift Zone eruption. This eruption is most remembered for the destruction of Ho‘ōpūloa village, a few miles north of Miloliʻi Bay. It also marks the first known instance of aerial photography of an advancing Hawaiian lava flow, and well-organized police-led eruption crowd management.

By kmulliken@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Jun 10, 2026.

USGS scientists conduct Kīlauea summit monitoring overflight on June 9, 2026, to document changes to the eruptive vents and crater floor after episode 48 that took place on June 1. 

By kmulliken@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Jun 10, 2026.

On Tuesday, June 9, 10:37 p.m. HST, a magnitude-4.7 earthquake occurred 14 mi (23 km) east of Pāpa‘ikou on the Island of Hawaiʻi at a depth of 24 mi (39 km) below sea level. The earthquake had no apparent impact on either Mauna Loa or Kīlauea volcanoes. 

By kmalpeli@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Jun 09, 2026.

USGS staff from multiple centers participated in the 2026 Native American Fish and Wildlife Society’s national annual conference. 

By cduzet@contractor.usgs.gov from All News. Published on Jun 08, 2026.

In a recent episode of Ask MIT Climate, a climate-focused podcast of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northeast CASC Research Ecologist Toni Lyn Morelli and former Northeast CASC Fellow Alexej Sirén discuss how species are responding to a warming climate. 

By cduzet@contractor.usgs.gov from All News. Published on Jun 08, 2026.

New research shows that inland recreational fisheries likely harvest far more fish than previously reported. A recent article in The Conversation summarizes this research and highlights the significant and underestimated role recreational fisheries play in food security, ecosystems, and economies.

By smieszek@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Jun 08, 2026.

USGS hosted a delegation of scientists from Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Water Resources & Irrigation (MWRI), at the USGS Idaho Water Science Center in Boise (May 11–15, 2026). 

By mpoland@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Jun 07, 2026.

The Teton Range, just south of Yellowstone National Park, is the youngest mountain range in the Rockies, and possibly North America. The forces that built (and are still actively building) the Tetons differ fundamentally from those that formed the other mountain ranges in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

By kmulliken@usgs.gov from All News. Published on Jun 05, 2026.

For over a year, after each fountaining episode at Kīlauea's summit, USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory geologists have surveyed the elevation along a transect across the new pu‘u (cone) on the western margin of Halema‘uma‘u that has formed from the fallout of the lava fountains. 

By megan_evans@ios.doi.gov from All News. Published on Jun 05, 2026.

Scientists and engineers from the U.S. Geological Survey’s Eastern Ecological Science Center worked with Harford County, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to restore upstream access for American eels at Eden Mill Dam on Deer Creek. Together they designed and built a new eelway that now allows juvenile eels to safely bypass the barrier.