Elaine Padovani

Dr. Elaine Padovani received an AB from Vassar, an MS from Stanford, a Fulbright Scholarship to the Faculte des Sciences in Paris, and a Doctorate in geology from the University of Texas at Dallas. After postdoctoral research in geophysics and geochemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, she managed and coordinated multi-disciplinary domestic and international scientific research programs while working for the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

Additional experience included serving in the Department of the Interior's Office of Budget, Office of Environmental Policy and Compliance, and Office of the Assistant Secretary for Water and Science. From 1996 to 1999, Dr. Padovani worked in the Office of Science and Technology Policy, Executive Office of the President, as policy analyst focused on natural disaster mitigation. In 2000, she continued working on natural disaster mitigation activities at the USGS, co-chairing an Open GIS Consortium’s Special Interest Group; additional work involved initiating a pilot effort to conserve irreplaceable geologic research materials and scientific data.

In 2001 after a move to Tucson, Arizona, Dr. Padovani served as USGS Coordinator for the Southwest Strategy, a consortium of AZ and NM Governors’ Offices, State agencies, Federal agencies, Tribes, and Pueblos working on natural and cultural resource conservation and management issues. Since retiring from Federal service in 2004, she has supported students in the College of Science at the University of Arizona and completed a certificate in natural history illustration from Arizona Sonora Desert Museum. Golfing, hiking, bird watching and photography are activities of continuing interest. Dr. Padovani is married to John Sutter and has six grandchildren.

gsaf@geosociety.org (800) 472-1988 x 1054GSAF - P.O. Box 9140 - Boulder, CO 80301