State Seismologist Austin Holland Leaves Oklahoma For USGS Job In New Mexico

• Logan Layden
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  Logan Layden is a reporter and managing editor for StateImpact Oklahoma. He is a native of McAlester, Oklahoma and graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 2009. Logan spent three years as a state capitol reporter and local host of All Things Considered for NPR member station KGOU in Norman and six years as a reporter with StateImpact from 2011 to 2017. Most recently, he was news director for McAlester Radio before returning to public radio in 2020.

Joe Wertz / StateImpact Oklahoma

Oklahoma Geological Survey seismologist Austin Holland.

As Oklahoma’s earthquake swarm developed over the past few years, State Seismologist Austin Holland’s work days got a lot longer. That’s the main reason Holland is leaving his position in Oklahoma to be a supervisory geophysicist at the Albuquerque Seismic Lab.

From The Oklahoman‘s Paul Monies:

“I have averaged about 80 hours each week for the 5 1/2 years I’ve been here,” Holland said Monday in an emailed statement. “I want to change my work-life balance, and this opportunity is a good way to do that.”

Since Holland came to the Oklahoma Geological Survey, the state has seen a rapid increase in earthquakes, some of which have been linked to disposal wells used for produced water from oil and gas activity.

As state seismologist, Holland researched the cause of Oklahoma’s quake uptick, and in April concluded it was “very likely” triggered by disposal wells associated with the hydraulic fracturing process. Holland was also part of a controversial meeting with University of Oklahoma President David Boren and Continental Resources Chairman and oil billionaire Harold Hamm Holland called “just a little bit intimidating.”

Holland says the workload got to be too much, even though the Oklahoma Geological Survey is hiring more staff to handle the increasing number of earthquakes. 

“If you were to drop the level of seismicity we’re having into most regional networks, they’d have a hard time keeping up, and most of them have larger staffs than us,” Holland said. “We are adding staff, so we’re increasing our staffing as far as monitoring earthquakes, but we could probably use about twice as much as the current staff we have available for such activities.”

Holland said he’s working with OU and the office of the Oklahoma secretary of energy and environment to offer his recommendations on how the state can advance its efforts on induced seismicity and search for his successor.