Rick Mueller, Spatial Analysis Research Section Head, National Agricultural Statistics Service

This post is part of the Science Tuesday feature series on the USDA blog. Check back each week as we showcase stories and news from USDA’s rich science and research portfolio.

2013 is the International Year of Statistics. As part of this global event, every month this year USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service will profile careers of individuals who are making significant contributions to improve agricultural statistics in the United States.

While most of the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) statisticians studied mathematics, economics or agriculture in school, my career path started in a completely different place. I came to NASS in the 1990s as an IT specialist to help the agency evolve its use of geospatial technology and contribute to the remote sensing acreage estimation program. And so, while most of the agency staff learned about agriculture by visiting fields, my knowledge of this intricate subject came from studying and analyzing satellite imagery. Read more »

Kevin Megown (right), program manager at the Remote Sensing Applications Center in Salt Lake City, familiarizes Phub Dhendup (left) and Kinley Tshering (center) with the forest types found in the montane, basin and range ecosystems in Mill Creek Canyon on the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest in Utah. Dhendup and Tshering are official guests of the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Forest Service, and are assigned to the Department of Forests, Ministry of Agriculture and Forests in Bhutan. They are spending two combined months in Salt Lake City and Missoula, Mont. while working and training with the Forest Service on forestry and climate change issues.

Bhutan is a small mountainous kingdom nestled in the Himalayas. Some people know it as the country that measures gross national happiness in addition to its gross domestic product. Others may have heard about its innovative, eco-friendly approach to tourism or of its Dragon King’s royal wedding in 2011. Read more »