Sheila Minor

Sheila Diane Minor (born 1946/1947 (age 73–74)[1]), formerly Sheila Minor[2] (now Sheila Minor Huff), is a former Environmental Protection Specialist whose 35-year career included positions at the U.S. Department of the Interior, Federal Energy Regulator Commission, Smithsonian Institution, Environmental Research Center, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USDOI).[3][4]

Sheila Minor
BornSheila Diane Minor 
Alma mater
Occupation
Scientific career
FieldsBiology, environmental science 
Institutions

Life and career

Mrs. Sheila Jones[5] (also Sheila Diane Minor) earned her bachelor's degree in biological sciences from American University in Washington, DC in 1970 and worked for Dr. Clyde Jones, chief of the mammal division, at the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.[6] When Sheila applied for her first job as a GS-5 with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the bureau insisted she had to be a secretary. Knowing the worth of her knowledge, Sheila didn't take that position.[7]

SHEILA MINOR HUFF (Retired GS-14/Step 10; Environmental Protection Specialist)

Education:

1970  B.S. Biology; minor in Chemistry; AMERICAN UNIVERSITY

1979  M.S. Biology; GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY

1979  CERTIFIED Wildlife Biologist; The Wildlife Society[8]

Ms. Huff is a native Washingtonian, and a product of the DC Public School System.  She began her thirty-five year federal career as a part time GS- 3 Clerk Typist, while attending undergraduate school at AU.  In 1970, she worked for the US Fish & Wildlife Service’s Mammal Division, located at the Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC.  As a GS-5 Biological Animal Technician, Sheila recorded taxonomic data on North American bats for renown scientists. There, she learned and practiced scientific taxidermy on specimens.[8]

In 1972, Sheila was hired by the Smithsonian Institution’s Environmental Research Center as a GS-7/9 Research Technician in Edgewater, MD.  She was the first African American at the Center.  Under the tutelage of Ph.D.’s, Huff conducted (catch and release) studies on small-mammal populations, located on The Poplar Islands, and other property owned by The Smithsonian. Ms. Minor served on the Smithsonian Women's Council.[9] In 1973, Huff began her graduate studies in Biology (as a part-time student at George Mason University) while employed full-time at the Research Center in Edgewater, MD.[8]

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission hired Huff as a GS-9/11 Wildlife Biologist, where she wrote Environmental Impact Statements and Assessments on hydroelectric power plants, under the jurisdiction of FERC  (1975-1977).[8]

From 1977-1980, Huff worked as a Schedule C; GS-11 to GS-14; Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks; US Department of The Interior. She traveled throughout the USA assisting The Carter Administration and The Assistant Secretary with implementation of major environmental programs. She completed her master’s degree in 1979; and earned certification as a Wildlife Biologist.[8]

As a GS-14, Sheila returned to Career Service, and was employed as the Department of the Interior’s Regional Environmental Officer in Chicago, IL.  She had responsibility for seven midwestern states from 1980-1994. Ms. Huff had signatory authority for Interior’s formal comments on Draft Environmental Impact Statements.  She was also a member on Interagency Regional Response Teams which coordinated Interior’s response to oil and hazardous materials incidents, occurring in the Midwest Region.[8]

In 1994, her position with the Office of Environmental Policy & Compliance transferred Ms. Huff back to the main Interior Building Washington, DC. Sheila continued work collating written comments on major Environmental Impact Statements.  Sheila Minor Huff retired in 2005, as a GS-14/10 ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION SPECIALIST.[8]

She had a 35-year-long career at various federal agencies[10] where she was responsible for assessing environmental impact statements for many projects, ranging from hydroelectric dams to .[11][12][13][14] At retirement in 2005,[15][16] Minor was a senior employee in the Department of the Interior.[1]

As of 2020, Huff lives in northern Virginia,[1] where she is an active member of her church and belly dances for a hobby.[17]

International Conference on the Biology of Whales

Sheila Minor Huff's story became a matter of public interest in 2018, when a photograph of conference attendees appeared on Twitter. Sheila Minor Huff was the only woman in the conference's group photo, and the only person labelled as 'not identified'. Candace Jean Anderson, an artist and writer from Salt Lake City, Utah, came across the photograph whilst researching a picture book on the Marine Mammal Protection Act.[6] She took to Twitter to find out who the unidentified woman was, and the tweet went viral.[6] Eventually over 11,000 people answered her initial call for help, including the Smithsonian Institution's Deborah Shapiro.[6][18][19] Anderson reached out to Huff on Facebook and the two spoke for a few hours.[16] The photograph was taken at the 1971 International Conference on the Biology of Whales. The conference was attended by almost 40 international scientists and conservationists, and co-organised by Matilene Spencer Berryman and Suzanne Montgomery Contos, who were also uncovered in the Twitter conversation.[20] The photograph was taken by G. Carleton Ray, who remembered Huff by name but had assumed she was an assistant administrator.[6] The story of the "mystery whale scientist" was covered extensively in the media.[21][4][22][18] Huff's story has drawn comparisons between her and the women in Margot Lee Shetterly's Hidden Figures.[18]

[23]== Personal life == Sheila Minor Huff lives in northern Virginia and has five grandchildren.[1]

References
  1. Fortin, Jacey (19 March 2018). "She Was the Only Woman in a Photo of 38 Scientists, and Now She's Been Identified". New York Times.
  2. Email from Sheila Minor Huff to Michele L. Simms-Burton, PhD, November 15, 2020
  3. Personal Conversation between Sheila Minor Huff and Michele L. Simms-Burton, Ph.D., November 15, 2020.
  4. Lagerquist, Jeff (16 March 2018). "Twitter helps solve decades-old mystery of lone black woman pictured among male scientists". CTV News Channel (Canada). Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  5. Conversation between Sheila Minor Huff and Michele L. Simms-Burton, Ph.D. on November 15, 2020.
  6. Mansky, Jackie. "How Smithsonian Helped Solve the Twitter Mystery of the Unknown Woman Scientist". Smithsonian. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  7. Fortin. "She was the Only Woman in a Photo of 38 Scientists, and Now She's Been Identified". New York Times. Retrieved 30 March 2018.
  8. Résumé from Sheila Minor Huff to Michele L. Simms-Burton, Ph.D., November 15, 2020.
  9. "Why There's A Quest To Uncover Who This 'Mystery Woman' Is". whimn. Retrieved 2018-03-18.
  10. Internal Revenue Service Facility, Detroit: Environmental Impact Statement. 1991.
  11. VA National Cemetery, Northeastern Illinois: Environmental Impact Statement. 1991.
  12. US 61, US 218 and IA-394 Highway Improvements, Lewis County, Clark County [MO], Lee County, Henry County [IA]: Environmental Impact Statement. 1999.
  13. Cleveland National Cemetery: Environmental Impact Statement. 1992.
  14. Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport, Air Traffic Control Noise Abatement Procedures: Environmental Impact Statement. 1992.
  15. Conversation between Sheila Minor Huff and Michele L. Simms-Burton, Ph.D., November 15, 2020.
  16. Williams, David. "The identity of the lone woman scientist in this 1971 photo was a mystery. Then Twitter cracked the case". CNN. Retrieved 2018-03-23.
  17. Branigin, Anne. "Meet the Trailblazing Black Scientist Twitter Helped Identify From a Single Photograph: Report". The Root. Retrieved 2018-07-05.
  18. Arboleda, Cindy. "Twitter found the name and history of this trailblazing black female scientist". Yahoo! News. Retrieved 2018-03-18.
  19. Llanos Martínez, Hector (2018-03-17). "El misterio de Sheila Minor, la única mujer entre hombres en una conferencia científica de 1971" [The mystery of Sheila Minor, the sole woman among men at a 1971 scientific conference]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-03-18.
  20. "A Hidden Figure, Identified | Wendy Brandes Jewelry Blog". www.wendybrandes.com. Retrieved 2018-03-18.
  21. "Twitter sleuths identify mystery whale scientist, unnamed woman in 1971 conference photograph". Newsweek. 2018-03-17. Retrieved 2018-03-18.
  22. Castillo, Monica. "History had forgotten this female scientist. Then a social media army found her. - The Lily". The Lily. Retrieved 2018-03-18.
  23. Oral Interview with Dr. Michele L. Simms-Burton, 2018
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