Mark Myers

Commissioner, Alaska Department of Natural Resources

Mark Myers was appointed Natural Resources Commissioner by Governor Bill Walker and he was confirmed by the Alaska Legislature on April 19, 2015.

Myers is a geologist with broad expertise in natural resource management, scientific research and petroleum geology. He has held senior positions in state and federal government and academia, including director of the U.S. Geological Survey from 2006 to 2009.

Prior to his current appointment, Myers was the vice chancellor of research at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, starting in that position in 2011. In this role he was the chief research officer for the university, which included supervising UAF’s Geophysical Institute, the International Arctic Research Center and the Institute of Arctic Biology.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Myers worked as a geologist with ARCO, Phillips Petroleum, and the State of Alaska. In 2001, he was appointed to lead DNR’s Division of Oil and Gas, and in 2005, his position at DNR expanded to include State Geologist and director of the Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys.

From 2009 to 2011, Myers led state efforts under the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act to commercialize the North Slope’s world-class natural gas resources.

Myers is a member of both the National Petroleum Council and the Methane Hydrate Advisory Committee, both of which advise the U.S. Secretary of Energy. He also serves as a U.S. delegate to the Arctic Council’s Scientific Cooperation Task Force and was a committee member and coauthor of the National Academy of Sciences’ 2014 report on U.S. Arctic oil spill response.

Myers earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in geology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and his Ph.D. in geology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Starting in 1977, Myers served in the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve as a pilot and intelligence officer, retiring as a Lt. Colonel in 2003.