[1][2] During his time at the USGS, Healy along with Lou Pakiser, Jerry Eaton, and Barry Raleigh founded the National Center for Earthquake Research at the US Geological Survey.

During his time there (1956-1961), his research and thesis revolved around shallow seismic refraction and gravity data from several basins on the eastern flank of the Sierra Nevada.

Fresh out of graduate school, Healy was hired by the US Geological Survey Branch of Crustal Studies in Denver, Colorado.

At the time, the branch was funded by the Department of Defense and research carried out was related to the monitoring of underground nuclear tests by studying seismic wave propagation.

Mark D. Zoback was hired by the USGS in 1975 and he and Healy began to revolutionize deep drilling by making in situ stress measurements along the San Andreas fault.