THE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY'S HIDDEN TREASURE (1961 - 2000)
When you pull your car into the parking lot and step out, the first thing that strikes you is the quiet.  In the summer, early arrival at the Albuquerque Seismological Lab gives your day a beautiful start -- blue skies, clean air, and a quiet stillness you won't find in the city.   Deer and coyote come to a stock tank to quench their thirst, and occasionally a rattlesnake ambles through the compound while nervous employees come out to watch.  Lab employees have also aided in the rescue of an injured mountain lion, and participated in rounding up wandering cattle who stray into the area.  Where else could you get interruptions like these?

Located in a remote area near the Manzano Mountains outside Albuquerque, New Mexico, is an office unlike any other in the Geological Survey -- the Albuquerque Seismological Lab.  The remote location is necessary because of the sensitive seismograph equipment operated at the Lab, which operates and supports a global network of more than 150 seismograph stations.  The Lab also develops and tests new instrumentation, and collects, compiles, and distributes data acquired from the network.

The Lab is staffed by 9 USGS employees and 31 contract employees.   Employees are located in 6 separate buildings, so there is a lot of walking involved when the telephone just won't do.  Nobody minds the walking, except when the snow is flying or the wind is cold.

Lab employees enjoy hosting foreign visitors -- we have had people here from Australia, Botswana, Brazil, Central African Republic, China, Cote d'Ivoire, India, New Zealand, Russia, and South Africa.  They come to the Lab for training on the seismograph equipment that has been installed in their country, so they will be able to operate and maintain the equipment on their own.  Telephone calls from various countries are also common, as well as a constant flow of faxes and e-mail from all over the world.  Foreign travel for USGS and contract employees is frequent and necessary.

As recently as 1990, water had to be trucked in to the Lab; however, a water well was drilled during that year.  Telephone service used to be sporadic, particularly during thunder-and-lightning storms, but that has also improved.  The lightning still wreaks havoc with computers, though -- employees are usually advised to shut down their computers during storms.

Although the remote location might seem like a drawback to outsiders, Lab employees consider it a plus.  The only traffic we need to watch for is the occasional roadrunner (the New Mexico State Bird)  or tarantula on the road.  We have no dress code, parking problems or fees, and nobody locks their cars.  At lunchtime, the activities range from volleyball to hiking, biking, and running.  Visitors are always encouraged to join in the volleyball game, which requires no skill whatsoever -- just enthusiasm and a thick skin to withstand the occasional insults from your teammates.