OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR

The Office of the Director formulates division resource development, policy, planning, and administrative and fiscal management.

The Director is appointed by the Cabinet Secretary of the Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department to administer laws and regulations pertaining to hard rock and coal mining, mine registration and safeguarding, and annual industry reporting. The Director serves as the state’s representative on mining issues for EMNRD and, occasionally, for the Governor, and represents New Mexico on the Interstate Mining Compact Commission.

The Director and staff provide administrative and fiscal management, and liaison with the legislature on budget and legislation issues.

Erin McCullough, Director of the Mining & Minerals Division

In August 2025, Erin McCullough received an appointment to serve within the New Mexico Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources Department as the Director for the Mining and Minerals Division (MMD). This appointment follows a decade of decorated federal service centering around hazardous facilities (mining, natural gas, and nuclear). Most recently, Ms. McCullough joins MMD from the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, where she advanced interests in nuclear safety thought out the Department of Energy weapons complex at the presidential-appointee level. She is honored to have worked within the U.S. Geological Survey’s Mineral Intelligence Research Group, providing strategic institutional and technical insights culminating into the first official U.S. List of Critical Minerals. Her economic modelling of critical minerals, import reliance assessments, and original cobalt supply chain analyses defined her impact with the National Science and Technology Council, a White House advisory function. More than 20 academic publications acknowledge Ms. McCullough as an author, some of which have been cited in congressional deliberations and formal agency actions regarding mineral resource policy. She welcomes opportunities to critically examine the most pressing environmental, social, and technical challenges affecting the mining industry.

Ms. McCullough earned a B.S. in Mining Engineering from the South Dakota School of Mines, a Master’s degree in Mining Engineering and a Graduate Certificate in Political Science – Environmental Politics and Policy from Virginia Tech, and a Juris Doctor degree from Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University. She is a registered professional engineer in the Commonwealth of Virginia and is licensed to practice law in Texas and Washington, D.C.

In her spare time, Ms. McCullough enjoys teaching graduate courses covering public policy, national security, and community engagement within the Virginia Tech College of Natural Resources and Environment.