President Trump this week nominated geologist Ned Mamula to be director of the U.S. Geological Survey. Trump also nominated natural resources manager Andrea Travnicek earlier this month to be assistant secretary for water and science at the Department of the Interior, a role that oversees USGS and the Bureau of Reclamation. … During the first Trump administration, Mamula was part of the Department of the Interior’s transition team before becoming critical minerals program director at DOE. … Travnicek was most recently state director of water resources for North Dakota and, if confirmed by the Senate, would serve under her former boss, former North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum.

Other federal agency news:

• E&E News by Politico: Q&A: Trump’s USGS nominee plans to turbocharge American mining​
• Grand Forks Herald (N.D.): North Dakotan following Doug Burgum to Interior Department
• The New York Times: Firings expand at Interior Department with purge of probationary workers