Summary:

The Old North State was the first state in our nation to establish a geological survey.  The North Carolina General Assembly established a geological survey in 1823 under the Board of Agriculture.  Denison Olmsted, Professor of Chemistry and Mineralogy at the University of North Carolina worked for two years between 1824 and 1825.  He traveled the state on horseback and traveled from Cape Lookout as far west as the Great Smoky Mountains.  His findings were compiled in “Report of the Geology of North Carolina, Part 1” dated November 10, 1824.  Olmstead also produced a geologic map which showed the extent of the major gold production region in the state, the two sandstone or coal formations in the north-central and south-central regions of the state, the iron beds, the Great Slate Formation, and the Plumbago of Wake (County).  Plumbago is the old term for graphite.  This geologic map is America’s First State Geologic Map and was finished in November 1825. Later another University of North Carolina faculty member – Elisha Mitchell, who was also a Professor of Chemistry and Mineralogy, continued the geologic investigations until 1827.

Twenty-four years later in 1851 the North Carolina General Assembly established the Geological Survey of North Carolina.  Ebenezer Emmons was the State Geologist from 1851 to 1863.  From Emmons time to today, there has been no break in the leadership of the North Carolina Geological Survey.  The Survey has documented the geology, mineral resources, and geologic hazards in geologic maps, hazard maps, reports and bulletins.

Did you know that diamonds have been found in North Carolina?  The first gold rush was not in California; it was in North Carolina.  The iron formations in the central part of North Carolina provided metals for weapons in the Civil War.  Coal was mined in the state as recently as the 1970s.  There is helium in the two of the shut-in oil and gas wells in the state.

Biography:

Dr. Kenneth B. Taylor, P.G., is the 13th person to serve as the State Geologist of North Carolina since the N.C. Geological Survey was authorized in 1823. His career has spanned more than 40 years, including 27 years in state government, a decade in academia, four years in the private sector, and a short time in federal service. He has shared his experience in emergency planning, disaster response, hazard mitigation, risk assessment, loss estimation, and geohazard analyses with other geoscientists and emergency managers in more than 60 abstracts and professional papers. As both a geologist and a geophysicist, he has responded to significant regional earthquakes to capture aftershock sequences for source analyses; worked in the Texas oil fields on secondary oil/gas recovery techniques; utilized geophysical methods to characterize geological problems; and analyzed energy and mineral resource potential.  He was the 1991-92 Congressional Science Fellow from the Geological Society of America (GSA) and is a fellow of GSA.

Professional Preparation:
1979 B.S.                Geology               University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
1981 M.S.               Geology               University of South Carolina – Columbia
1991 Ph.D.              Geophysics          Saint Louis University – St. Louis, MO
1991-1992               Congressional Science Fellow – AAAS/GSA – Washington, DC
Current Professional Licensure: 2002 – present:  Licensed Geologist (NC #1835).
 
Appointments:
N.C. Department of Environmental Quality (NC DEQ)
Fellow of The Geological Society of America – May 5, 2018 to present
State Geologist of North Carolina  -- July 20, 2012 to present
Assistant State Geologist – (March 2007 to July 2012).
Disaster Recovery Coordinator – (Aug 2005 to 2013).
N.C. Department of Crime Control and Public Safety 
Director, Division of Emergency Management in the (June 2002 to July 2005).
N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NC DENR)
Assistant State Geologist (Feb. 2001 to June 2002).
N.C. Department of Crime Control & Public Safety – Division of Emergency Management.
Risk Assessment and Training Branch Manager – Hazard Mitigation Section (1999 to 2001).
State Hazard Mitigation Officer (1998 to 2001).
Earthquake Program Manager (1996 to 2001).
Earthquake Planner (1994 – 1998).