Susan Sawtelle, MN ’01, has had a lifelong interest in science and the environment, the history of science, and the polar regions. She is currently Managing Associate General Counsel at the U.S. Government Accountability Office in Washington, D.C., the independent investigative arm of the U.S. Congress whose work informs the U.S. Government’s policies, programs, and funding decisions. Susan is responsible for GAO’s legal reviews and recommendations on the environment and climate change, natural resources, energy, and meeting the nation’s science challenges, among other issues. She has received GAO’s highest awards for Distinguished Service, Integrity, and Outstanding Achievement.

Following a month on and along the Ross Ice Shelf from a Russian icebreaker, Susan served for 14 months in the U.S. Antarctic Program at the National Science Foundation’s research station at the South Pole. As the station’s Environment, Health, and Safety coordinator, she supported a 220-person science and operations summer crew and 50-person winterover crew exploring, among other things, the origins of the universe (by deployment of the DASI telescope and the AMANDA neutrino detection telescope) and the extent of stratospheric ozone depletion, i.e., the hole in the ozone layer (using balloon-borne ozonesondes). Susan also drafted the station’s first winter emergency survival standard operating procedure, oversaw carbon monoxide and drinking water incident responses, and coordinated accident investigations, fire safety monitoring, and waste management practices. Susan was awarded the United States Antarctica Service Medal from NSF “in recognition of valuable contributions to exploration and scientific achievement under the U.S. Antarctic Research Program,” and she maintains an active interest in the polar regions and other extreme environments.

Susan was a partner in private law practice for many years, specializing in environmental protection and other science-related matters, and she served as Special Assistant to the Director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Solid Waste. She earned her J.D. from the University of Virginia Law School, where she was a member of the Law Review, and her B.A. from Connecticut College, with Distinction in Anthropology. She holds a Certificate from the Senior Executive Fellows Program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. Susan is a former Vice Chair of the Explorers Club Washington Group and a member and former officer of the Society of Woman Geographers.