Dr. Clare Falcon
Director and State Geologist
Email: cfalcon@lsu.edu
Telephone: 225-578-8035
Clare Falcon is the new state geologist of Louisiana and director of the Louisiana Geological Survey, or LGS, on Sept. 20. She brings more than 25 years of professional geoscience experience, most of which has been in industry, to the state leadership position.
Most recently, Falcon has worked in Houston for BHP, a global resources company headquartered in Melbourne, Australia. Since 2017, she served as a leadership coach, a geoscience manager and a geologist on Gulf of Mexico exploration and appraisal projects in the U.S. and Mexico for the company. Previously, she led the Gulf of Mexico exploration team as an exploration sedimentologist for Italian multinational oil and gas company, Eni. She has also worked for Amoco, Schlumberger and Statoil. She is originally from the village of Milverton in West Somerset in southwest England. She received her PhD from the University of Leeds, UK and bachelor’s degree in geology from Liverpool University.
The position of state geologist of Louisiana was established in 1870, and the present Louisiana Geological Survey was established by the Louisiana Legislature in 1934. Falcon will be the first woman to become Louisiana’s state geologist and the director of the Louisiana Geological Survey. The mission of the Louisiana Geological Survey is to develop, interpret and provide information about Louisiana geology and its relationship to mineral, water, energy and environmental resources. The Louisiana Geological Survey and LSU published the first geological map of Louisiana in 1870, and perhaps the world’s first-ever major study of a large river delta, the Mississippi river delta, in 1936.
As the director, Falcon will oversee nine full-time and two part-time staff, who run applied geosciences programs that support the stewardship and development of the state’s natural resources. She will expand upon the organization’s current strengths in geological mapping, water resources, geographic information system and cartography, and shallow crust geophysics. These activities support Louisiana Geological Survey’s charge to provide the state and its citizens with geological information relevant to economic resources, environmental protection and natural hazards. Falcon will help position the organization as a leader in coastal processes critical to the state’s economy and environment; innovative approaches to natural resources such as geothermal energy, oil, coal and natural gas, raw materials, water, coastal systems; and new opportunities such as carbon capture, use and storage.
As the state’s experts in subsurface, geological and geophysical analysis, LSU and Louisiana Geological Survey have received $1 million in funding from the state legislature to conduct a state-wide carbon sequestration study. Researchers will identify and map carbon dioxide point sources, well density and major pipeline infrastructure throughout the state, which will provide industry with unprecedented science-based insight for potential carbon capture, use and storage projects.