Dr. Margaret Benoit joins the Office of Polar Programs as executive officer
Benoit has been a program director in the Division of Earth Sciences within GEO since 2013, first as an IPA rotator and then as a permanent federal employee. As program director she has managed major and mid-scale facilities and centers, including the Seismological Facilities for the Advancement of Geoscience (SAGE) and Geodetic Facilities for the Advancement of Geoscience (GAGE), the Synchrotron for Earth and Environmental Science (SEES) and the Centers for Innovation and Community Engagement in Solid Earth Geohazards.
Since January 2024, Benoit has been on a detail assignment as the acting senior advisor for facilities in the office of the assistant director in the Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences. She works closely with directorate leaders to plan and oversee the scientific facilities, including strategic planning and budget preparations.
Benoit earned her PhD in geosciences from Pennsylvania State University and spent 10 years as a professor of physics at the University of New Jersey. She has experience working in the Arctic and Antarctica.