ODNR selects administrator for division

Staff report

Columbus

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources has named an Austintown native and Youngstown State University graduate as the new chief of its Geological Survey Division.

Thomas J. Serenko, 49, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in geology from YSU in 1985, started Sept. 26 as the division’s chief administrator. The Geological Survey oversees a host of functions, including mapping, educational outreach and the state’s seismic center.

Serenko has experience working as a geologist in Chile, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Switzerland. He most recently managed a mine in Nevada that produces 700,000 tons of limestone per year and 50,000 tons of clay per year.

Serenko said Monday that he always missed Ohio while working across the globe and made the move home to be closer to family.

He has a doctorate in geology from Imperial College in London, England, and a master’s degree in geology from the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colo.